Actualization Ah-Kine Enlightenment
by Dagmar Magdalena Ceki
I was asked to write an article about enlightenment and I thought –„gush, how can I do that ?„
So much is said about it already – many people have written about it .
Is there anything new I can write ?
Maybe by sharing part of my EarthWalk I can give an idea of what Enlightenment might be ....
My consequently walking a spiritual path started in 1998 when both my parents died in a very short period of time.
My mother was diagnosed with an extremely aggressive type of cancer which progressed very quickly .
It was a gift for me that we still had enough time to heal our lifelong issues with each other and that we
were able to experience a special kind of closeness that often only dying makes possible .
It rids us of all conventional behaviours and attitudes and thoughts , we come to the very essence of our being.
During this process , my father- as an alcohol addict - , could not cope with the situation . He went in and out psychiatry , but always started drinking again. So after my mother passed it took not long until he died one night in the street , because he lost his key and couldn’t enter his house again.
It was cold and he already was ill , so they found him dead on the next morning.
Death is one of the greatest teachers and brought me into a deep commitment to find out more about life and spirituality.
First I met Roshi Joan Halifax at a Buddhist Women Congress in Cologne / Germany. As she held workshops about death and dying , I went to see her . Listening to her talks and participating in a workshop , made me wanting to continue studying with her.
For several years I practiced Zen and had the blessings of deep and profound buddhist teachings.
Enlightenment in buddhist practice is a topic that seems very central to the teachings.
Enlightenment is like the fuel that runs the practice ...but what is this „Enlightenment“ we are striving for ?
There are many different approaches already in Zen practice , even more when we take all buddhist traditions in account.
On my way, to be honest , I lost interest in this question. I felt being here NOW is a task already big enough.
While in retreat with Joan Halifax, I came in touch with women who practiced shamanism and were students of a Native American teacher. After an invite to a Sweat Lodge I felt a deep longing of going deeper into it.
But it took me a while to find my own teacher.
2003 I started a traditional apprenticeship with Maria Yraceburu, a Quero Apache HolyOne of the Tlish Diyan ( Snake Clan).
In a traditional apprenticeship there are several circles and spirals in personal growth and spiritual re-connection that we have to go through. First we have to free ourselves from the Ego, this part we usually mis-identify with the I or Me, the part that has a lot of „Likes and Dislikes“ and very personal intention in all it does and decides .
We go through all our issues and, like an onion, get rid of one layer after the other as long as it takes to be freed from at least the biggest Ego parts and have kind of a sense of connection to our True Self, to our authenticity and to the spiritual source that we might call God/ess – Spirit – Emptiness or whatever.
This is followed by a period of time in which we need to learn how to go with the flow, integrate our knowledge into daily life and get more insights about our purpose here on Earth.
Enlightenment in the Tlish Diyan Tradition is called Ah – Kine and means Actualization.
People who come to that actualization are called the same , as there is no longer a gap between Enlightenment and the Enlightened person.
Ah- Kine means to be aware of our Oneness and Diversity in a profound way. Not in the meaning of a short and spontaneous moment ( like e.g. Sartori in Rinzai Zen ) but in the moment to moment living our evolutionary role.
Of course I know there are moments of Enlightenment ever now and then , spontaneous experiences of Being One .
But where does it lead to ... ?
In our times of Narcism and Egoism as valued attitudes and ways of living , in our times where „being One „ is often misunderstood as „I am okay , you are okay“- no matter how I behave- , and the fact that we are all already enlightened on our deepest mindground leads to the thought of „ we do not have to work any more on it“ – we need more to the concept of Enlightenment.
I had dozens of opportunities to observe so called Enlightened Masters or students having these Sartori moments, and I was puzzled by the way they lived ...about the amount of sexual, financial abuse and addictional behaviour to be found..
Explanations as „don’t expect teachers to be perfect „ wouldn’t work for me. I felt that if somebody is enlightened this should go hand in hand with a authentic, ethical behaviour towards all sentient beings.
Meanwhile I understand that Enlightenment might happen in a moment , but if it it not intristically connected to a profound spiritual and personal growth in this person it means nothing but an EgoTrip . It does not serve the community , not the world and not the Universe.
Enlightenment unfolds, and only if we join into with ALL efforts to grow personally , become more authentic , live ethically it becomes Enlightenment that serves humanity and All That Is.
Only Enlightenment that is more then just a nice moment of personal feeling and insight can be called Actualization – Ah- Kine .... Walk your Talk ...
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