Enlightenment is such a heavy word, something lofty, something out of the grasp of a “normal” person. It is simply a process where one goes through from one state of consciousness in life into another, as exemplified by the three phases of initiation. The person starts out with a particular worldview, molded by the circumstances of his birth and the upbringing by society. There comes a point that these long-held beliefs are challenged, cracks can be found in this worldview, there is this magnificent confusion that is the precursor to the journey ahead, of giving up the old way for something that is unknown, yet new and refreshing. 

It is imperative that this phase is mediated by a ritual elder to facilitate the process, just like John the Baptist opening up Jesus to the divine light of the Holy Spirit, or to give that final nudge that takes you to a ministry, as Mother Mary urge Jesus to take the first step of performing the miracle of turning water into wine, such an analogy of transmuting the water abundant in our daily life, to the fine wine of a higher state. This is a point where one is attuned to the sacred space, when Gautama realises that the enlightened state, is something beyond the two extremes of the ascetic lifestyle and the excess culture of courtly life, where the ritual elder is the Source itself. It is a point where a lifestream has touched the divine, or is closest to the Oneness present in All. 

The last part of initiation is being integrated again to the everyday life with a new sense of normality. After the first miracle, Jesus began his ministry to teach the way of radical forgiveness, loving your neighbor as yourself. After Nirvana, Gautama steps down from the sacred space to teach the way to escape suffering through a balanced life. Once touched by divinity, you return to the world as someone with a purpose, a calling to teach, to heal, or to change the world.

We have discussed enlightenment according to the three phases of initiation, but it is necessary that neurotic conflicts are resolved to attain enlightenment. We can see Peter, saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of living God”. This shows that Peter was touched by the divine to detect a higher state of consciousness exemplified by Jesus. However, in another instance he denied any connection to Christ, “I do not know him”. This shows that when adversity strikes, Peter was “moving away” from identifying with something higher. Even at the conclusion of his life, this unworthiness to be like Christ, to be crucified like Christ, exemplifies the dynamic of the Peter consciousness. Peter wanted to be the foundation to build the Church, but cannot see himself as someone who can be associated with Christ, to be like Christ. This will result in a failed initiation. 

Another example is Moses, who was called to lead the Israelites to the promised land from Egypt. Even the Archetype of Initiation realises that his encounter with the burning bush was a touching divine experience. However, in anger, he broke the initial tablets, which God carved with his own fingers, when he saw the Israelites worshiping the golden calf. Another instance that led to his failed initiation was when he struck the rock twice, out of his frustration from the sins of his people, to bring forth water instead of speaking to it as God commanded him to do. In these instances, we can see that Moses was consumed by rage, of “moving against” the very people he was to lead to the promised land. You can see the consciousness of Moses as someone who wants to lead his people but at the same time, he is quick to anger that he makes rash decisions that leads to these outbursts of not honoring the sacred labor he was called to do. 

A final example are monks or recluses who spend their entire life in contemplation and never completed the third phase of initiation. They “move towards” the divine, but lack the capacity to partake in raising the whole, in oneness with the divinity present in all beings.

Enlightenment is never a one-time thing. It is constantly tested through experience; if you have given up all lower states of consciousness, all inner conflicts in your psyche, constantly seeing yourself as an embodiment of divine, but not of someone who is higher than anyone else, but someone who is a servant of all because you want your brothers and sisters to also see their oneness with the divine. It was not the fact that Jesus and the Buddha were immune to the surfacing of these conflicts. We can see Jesus was tempted in the desert; would he fulfill his mission or seek out worldly desires of this world? What would have happened if he did not give up the last ghost, and surrender to the divine? Gautama Buddha could have reacted to the temptations of this world, to fear and doubts of his worthiness to being enlightened. Gautama may have chosen not to teach, believing that his truth may have been far too complex in a world filled with greed and self-centeredness.

Enlightenment requires several instances of the traditional three phases of initiation, with each cycle resolving more of one’s inner conflicts, with each cycle becoming more of what he is before, with each cycle working towards union with the true divine Self.