1.3 The stages leading from ignorance of the true nature of reality to enlightenment, through direct intuitive experience.

The goal is reached through developing a genuine, unselfish and unselfseeking humility. As you progress along the path, you will come to understand that your sense of individuality is part of the illusion. Be clear: it is not you who lives, but that which lives you.

Ordinary life, as experienced and understood by the unenlightened mind, is a product of ignorance and illusion. Ordinary life, as experienced and understood by the enlightened mind, is clarity, wisdom and delight. The movement, stage by stage, from ignorance to enlightenment is achieved through realising the illusory nature of the ego, the individual sense of ‘I’.

This secular Implicate Technology teaching will enable you to make that transition from ignorance to enlightenment by providing detailed and practical instruction on:

Ch 1. A fully articulated model of reality, which describes how reality works and explains your central role in the process that is reality;

Ch 2. Setting yourself clearly on the path to realising unity: the transition to an intermediate state of enlightened understanding, begun in chapter 5 of The beginner’s guide to enlightenment, is set in a wider cultural and personal context;

Ch 3. The second stage of enlightenment, the attainment of a still mind: a mind capable of concentrating on one thought at a time, for as long as is necessary;

Ch 4. The third stage of enlightenment, the awakening of the transcendental mind: a mind capable of glimpsing dimly and briefly at first, and then, as understanding develops, capable of experiencing clearly and for sustained periods the underlying transcendental nature of what seems objectively real to the five senses;

Ch 5. The fourth and final stage of enlightenment, the development of a mind integrated and unified with all of reality: a mind which sees only the inherent unity of all that is, and that all separateness of people, places and things is illusory;

Ch 6. The four formless adsorptions: explorations of the final stage of enlightenment, designed to round out and enhance the newly enlightened mind.

All of this will be taught with the help of simple and practical meditative disciplines which use the ordinary experiences of everyday life as their raw material.

What follows in this chapter is written from a perspective rooted in the realisation of the final stage of enlightenment. This material makes no concessions to the limitations of unenlightened minds. It is written for the guidance and benefit of those who seek the final stage of enlightenment.

Return to this chapter again and again as you travel along the path. Your understanding will change and deepen as you make progress with the advanced meditations in this book. As your understanding moves from the merely intellectual to the intuitive certainty of direct understanding based on experience, you will be able to measure your progress towards realising the final stage of enlightenment.