Among the best reasons to hike into the wilderness is to find peace.  A lasting peace.

What does it mean to find Enlightenment?  All the texts say the same–we already are Enlightened, that we are just unaware.  Awakening would be a more accurate term.

“How can I live in the moment?”  It’s got to be an ironic question–we are  in the present moment.  But as Eckhart Tolle says, when we make the present moment an obstacle, life become the problem.  He goes on to advise, “Don’t treat the present as no more than a means to an end–make it your friend.”  This is the dysfunction, the ego.

Just be.  We all have moments when we get it right–that deeply peaceful time in nature, the incredible love-making glow with someone so very dear, the playful laughter of a child, playing fetch with the dog, absorption in work we find meaningful, all these make time collapse, worry vanish, and for a time, we just live.  In these moments, we are Awakened.  We know how to do it.  The problem is, we feel these are fleeting adventures;  we’re unaware it’s how we’re supposed to feel all the time.  All the time.

What gets in the way?  Ego.  We want to run the show, but in doing so, we separate ourselves from it, and are no longer Enlightened, and no longer see ourselves as connected to All in the Moment–we’ve become Unaware, and ironically, by choice, even as we deny that choice.    “I want to be Enlightened” already puts the Ego as separate and ourselves as distant from something that we already are.

The Buddha’s last obstacle to Enlightenment was his own ego.  “Architect, I have met you at last.”  It’s the ego that constructs the imaginary world of our Unenlightenment.  And when his Ego challenged him, asking if he did this great thing, who would be there to see it, if not even his own Ego?  That’s the genius of The Buddha’s final realization:  “The Earth is my witness,” and touching the ground, entered Nirvana.

To get out of self, be of service to others.  At first, I found this hard to do.  I had many tasks, and if I didn’t do them, then who?  I had no time.  But in time, looking for opportunities to truly help when the need arose, I found more and more opportunities–and I found these opportunities detracted from my other tasks very little.  In fact, things ran much better when I focused on being of service than when I was just out for my own endeavors.  I also found life far more enjoyable and rewarding.

So get up in the morning and ask to be guided to where you can best be of service.  This accomplishes several things.  You’ll be more open to opportunities and new experiences.  You’ll have greater opportunities to express your unique talents, and enjoy life all the more because of it.  Notice that all those transcendentally happy moments above involve getting outside of ourselves and our own minds?  You’ll start experiencing more of these moments, closer and closer, sacred moments, until naturally, easily, as it was meant to be, you’ll find these moments coming continually, each moment of each day a sacred event, rich with profound enjoyment, unattached for the outcomes, letting them unfold, peaceful in the process.

And when that happens–it will happen prior to you becoming aware of it–you will realize what The Buddha meant.  You are Awakened.  You are Enlightened.

A scene along my daily walk near my home.

Share it freely.

Are you interested in hearing more about Wilderness Hikes as projects evolve in the future? Let me know here, so I have a list of those interested ready to go, by clicking here (and page all the way down to click “Sign Up” at the bottom):
Join the “Wilderness Hike” list.

If you’d like to hear about my “Getting Unstuck” book as it gets closer to release, let me know by clicking here (and you’re welcome to do *both,* of course–page all the way down to click “Sign Up” at the bottom):
Join the “Getting Unstuck” list.

October 2012 is a series of daily posts about “A Wilderness Hike,” taking readers through the healing of wilderness experience and glimpses of my work at Kwan Yin Healing and of my book, “Getting Unstuck.”

You can read the series from the start via the links here:

Oct. 1:    A Wilderness Hike
Oct. 2:   The Sixth Hour
Oct. 3:   Snowy Mountain
Oct. 4:   Letting Go of Baggage–the Wilderness Way
Oct. 5:   “Bear” the Thought
Oct. 6:   Mountain.  Buddha.  Impermanence.
Oct. 7:   The Rewards of Rain
Oct. 8:   Finding the Keys
Oct. 9:   “I’d love to, but times are bad.”
Oct. 10:  Attracting the Law of Attraction
Oct. 11:  We are not our thoughts
Oct. 12:  Honesty, Forgiveness, Healing
Oct. 13:  Getting Unstuck:  Feeling Overwhelmed
Oct. 14:  Money is remarkably easy to come by, if that’s all you want.
Oct. 15:  To be Time Rich, Learn to Be
Oct. 16:  Changing Thoughts for Changing Work
Oct. 17:  Finding and Sharing your Gifts
Oct. 18:  Do you want to be the boss?  Be sure you want to run the show.
Oct. 19:  Finding jobs within jobs
Oct. 20: Bright Mountain Dream
Oct. 21: Escape the Wilderness of Addictions
Oct. 22: The Importance of Spiritual Direction
Oct. 23: In Search of Enlightenment
Oct. 24: Relationship Thoughts from the Wilderness
Oct. 25: We learn in realtionships
Oct. 26: Chrysalis
Oct. 27: Self-Healing, part 1
Oct. 28: Self-Healing, part 2:  Time for a new perspective
Oct. 29: Dix Mountain
Oct. 30: The Mist-Filled Path
Oct. 31: From Wilderness to Wondrousness

Enjoy!