Why are you here?

In the previous post, Wade cut to the core of our existence with a simple question:

Why are you here?

In response to one of the most important questions we will likely ever face, I've organized my "top 5 major concerns/desires in life" into a personal manifesto. This exercise was eye-opening and instilled a great sense of inner peace. In short, this exercise cannot be highly recommended enough. Seriously, create for yourself a personal manifesto this very minute - you will never once regret spending the time to write it out.

Noah Jeffrey's Personal Manifesto, or "Why are you here?"

Strive for enlightenment with a heart that loves unconditionally and a mind that fearlessly accepts reality. Work to bring greater happiness and liberation to those around you. Exist in the present moment, clear your mind of expectations, and turn negative circumstances into positive outcomes. Be mindful of the unity of all life and the illusion of self. Guard the purity of your thoughts as much as the sincerity of your words and actions. Embrace uncertainty, question dogma, and remember that change is inherent in all things.

7 Possible Steps to Enlightenment

In a recent journal entry, I attempted to chronicle 7 steps that have helped me stay on the path to enlightenment and live out my personal manifesto. Below is my second attempt at outlining these steps, with a short paragraph describing each step.

Note: These steps contain no special secrets to life, they contain only that which you can see for yourself. You have the ability to find meaning in these thoughts just the same as anyone. You can open the door to enlightenment just as simply as anyone. You are strongly encouraged to read these words with an open mind. Seek to find truth throughout and you surely will. These are mere words and are thus subject to the limitations of the English language. Take nothing I say as an absolute truth until you have put it into practice yourself and can validate its use. If you find a reflection that is not validated after such an experiment, throw it out and seek a new means of acquiring your enlightenment. 

1. Love yourself exactly as you are. Love yourself unconditionally, love yourself down to the very flaws that make you human. In this moment, you are perfect. All the influences in your life and the decisions you've made have brought you here today, exactly where you're supposed to be right now, exactly as you are right now. You are a god formed from clay. Once you love yourself just the way you are, it becomes much easier to take the next step and...
2. Love others exactly as they are. Love others for their differences, for what makes them unique. Love others for their quirks, love them for their own viewpoint, perspective, and opinions of the world. Love them and they will show you a new way to see. In all of us lies the same drive to find meaning, the same desire to serve a purpose. It is the very essence of being human. 
3. Boldly and courageously listen to your heart. Leave the world behind for a moment and dive into the depth of your being. Suspend your reality, forget everything you know, and then just listen. Step outside of time, step outside the realm of physical matter, and just be. If you listen to your heart, you will find happiness, but if you ignore it, you will only find suffering.
4. Strive to bring happiness and liberation into the world. Work to improve the lives of those around you. Offer your aid as a humble servant to all. Make the joy and freedom of others a priority in your day. Seek ways to liberate the people around you. With love and compassion, guide them to freedom from desire. Show them how to avoid suffering by letting go of desire, letting go of want. The greatest obstacle to eliminating suffering is acceptance of the following truth: suffering is the effect of desire. Desire causes suffering. Which leads to the next step...
5. Release all desires and expectations to eliminate suffering. Suffering is caused by attachment - attachment to the world, to people, to things. Remember the transient nature of this world, that decay is inherent in all things. Experience bliss by releasing desire and expectation. True peace can be attained in the present moment by letting go of your personal wants. Open your being to pure acceptance and only love and beauty will flow in. Forget the self and see life for the flowing continuum that it is. Se how everything is intertwined, everything is connected, everything is one. Happiness can only be sustained by letting go. It seems we are genetically programmed to believe that wanting leads to obtaining, and obtaining leads to being happy. This is partially true. Wanting, and consequently obtaining, will in fact lead to a brief flash of happiness, but a happiness that can never be sustained. It will always be just a glimpse of true happiness, a snapshot of the bliss attainable by releasing desire. When you let go of desire, you let go of a preconceived idea of the present moment. This means that you will harbor no expectations for how the current scenario will unfold. This frees your mind to appreciate the beauty of the unfolding itself, regardless of the end result. It raises your awareness of everything, heightens all of your senses, allows you to see the pure realm of reality. You are removing the filter checking for 'right' and 'wrong' and seeing the phenomenon for what it is. When you open a door with a clear mind, everything beyond will be a surprise. Everything will be unexpected, beautiful, perfect. When you open a door with a clear mind, you will open a door to the entire universe, to nirvana, to heaven.
6. Practice achieving greater enlightenment every day. Decay is inherent in all things, so strive with clarity of mind and persistence. Enlightenment can be attained through anything, even by contemplating a single grain of sand, but it can only be attained in the present moment. Practice meditation daily, get into a routine that ensure repetition. Use a mantra or physical trigger (such as your breath) to raise awareness of the present moment. By repeating a mantra in a clear and deep meditative trance, that same mantra, when recited outside of meditation, can act as a trigger for mindfulness. The mantra can trigger your brain and body to assume the same state of peace and awareness that you experience in deep meditation. 
7. Learn to control your mind and you can change the world. Your thoughts are the most powerful tool you wield. Your ability to create reality, to change reality, to change the world, all lies within your ability to control your thoughts. Learn to control your thoughts and you will learn to control your reality. The world exists within your mind. Everything you see, touch, smell, is nothing more than a reality created from your own neurons. The reality you experience is built from your own thoughts. Every person who has impacted the world was no smarter or more talented than you are. When you can harness your thoughts and focus them with honest conviction, you can accomplish anything. Anything. Purify your mind to purify your actions. You are capable of great feats. Stay on the straight path and study these steps often. Your journey begins right now. Your journey beings in the eternity of the present moment. Enlightenment is just beyond that door. Take a deep breath, clear your mind, and open the world.