My Enlightenment Experience by Jon Shore

I have been asked about my Enlightenment experience and thought this would make a good short article so here goes.

I began the search at 8 years old. I started with meditation and speaking with people from various religious backgrounds. Especially Eastern religious traditions. My understanding at that age was limited but I absorbed as much as I could. In my teen years I also tried various drugs but I finally realized that to experience spiritual Enlightenment I would need to give up drugs. So I did. I traveled and studied with a number of wonderful teachers. I also studied psychology in university and learned a great deal about the human mind and emotions. During my first year at university I came to realize that other people could not feel the emotions of others like I could. I came to understand that I was an empath and that feeling the emotions and beliefs of others as if they were my own was a rare talent. I used this ability to help others in my psychotherapy practice but also to explore the nature of existence and God in my search for Enlightenment.

I suppose after devoting my life to experiencing Enlightenment I was ready for this experience. My first Enlightenment experience was at 40 years old. I was walking my dog Dain in the desert near my home in Arizona. As I was walking, all of a sudden, I could not move. I was just held there, standing up straight with my hands at my sides. I was immediately concerned for my dog but felt a strong feeling that he would be fine. So I just relaxed completely. I went into a meditative state with no thoughts. I had been practicing meditation for 32 years so it was easy to do. As soon as I did that a light surrounded me and filled me. I felt absolute peace. Nothing else. This peace just held my body up and in the same position. I then surrendered to the peace. I dissolved into it until there was nothing left of Jon. No personality, no thoughts, no beliefs, no mind, no me, no life. Nothing. I was the Peace. I was everything and nothing. I was Bliss beyond anything a mind could explain or fathom. I just kept dissolving into this and expanding this awareness. But there was no me doing this. It was something other than a me. I recognized my Self as the Awareness of that which is beyond understanding, a Creator so far beyond understanding that It was impossible to know. I do not know how long, in time, this experience lasted. Dain was laying at my feet when I became aware of the desert around me again.  Beyond that there is no way to explain this experience in words. It can only be experienced. That is why I create meditations and teach with meditative experiences.

Now “I” am able to have this experience any time with just a deep breath. I do it periodically throughout the day and evening and even during the sleep state. I do not begin the day without this experience of the Self. I do not go to sleep without feeling the Self.

Putting this into words makes it sound like a dualistic experience. It is not. It is just the problem of explaining the Infinite in finite terms. I do my best but it does not even come close. I hope that one day I will be able to explain the experience of Enlightenment, awakening, in words.

Fortunately I also know that you and I are the same One. The Self that you are is the same One that I am. There is only One Awareness. The One writing these words is the same One reading them. There is no real lack of understanding. Enlightenment is your birthright. It is merely awakening to your true Identity, your true Self. Infinite, Immortal Consciousness.

I am just here as a mirror for you. A reminder of what you already are. What you always have been and always will be.

Take care,

Jon