ON THE WAY TO ENLIGHTENMENT

 On the way to “enlightenment,” if you will receive all things with thankfulness, you will enjoy the peace that passes all understanding, regardless of the way you
were, are, will be;
regardless of the experiences you had, are having, or will have;
whether in ego or out of ego;
whether you do or don’t have a way life must go;
do or don’t do what is in front of you;
do or don’t have  needs, wants, desires;
do or don’t chase needs, wants, desires;
do or don’t do your best for the joy of doing your best,
do or don’t have preferences, opinions, biases, prejudices;
do or don’t have a philosophy, theory, theology, belief, conclusions;
are or aren’t liberated;
think you are or aren’t your body, mind, emotions;
do or don’t experience energy shifts when things happen;
do or don’t get irritated, upset, angry;
get or don’t get depressed, anxious, stressed, afraid;
care or don’t care if you live or die;
care or don’t care what people think or say about you;
accept or don’t accept what you cannot influence or change;
stop or don’t stop trying to control others.

Wether you have or have not been, are, or will be trained, conditioned, programmed, indoctrinated, brainwashed, propagandized, and wether you think you are or are not bound, limited, finite, attached, entangled, identified, physically, mentally, emotionally to needs, wants, desires, people, places, things, if you will receive all things with thankfulness, every experience you have, you will, at a minimum walk through life in the peace that passes all understanding even when pissed off.

ENLIGHTENMENT:
1.  I was on the way to the annual Bikini & Boots outdoor wilderness festival with my “Best Wild Pizza Ever” catering truck and trailer.  I had spent my last money ($5,000 dollars) on ingredients, and was absolutely prepped to serve over 10,000 individual pizzas, when a boulder rolled down the mountain and crashed into my pickup and trailer and pushed me off a small cliff.  I awoke in an ambulance with a slight injury.  What was my first thought?  “Thank you for this experience.”

2.  I was on the way to meet my fiancee, the love of my life.  We were traveling in separate carts to the airport to catch a flight to Hawaii for the wedding.  Our families had already arrived in Hawaii.  I was quite a distance behind her and when I came around the mountains edge, I saw car from the opposite direction crossed the no passing lane and crashed into her head-on, killing her instantly.  What was my first thought?  “Fuck the universe.”  My second thought was, “Thank you for this experience, and for me feeling and saying, ‘Fuck the universe.’”

I am awed that I have been graced and blessed to receive all things with thankfulness.