Enlightenment can come in an instant or it may take many life cycles.

The shortest distance between two points is in a straight line and so the fastest way to achieve enlightenment is to know that you are already enlightened.

Few of us will be able to do that on demand because we all have lifetimes of experiences and circumstances that say we cannot do it. So we have to wrestle with all our memories and the wisdom of others that we have adopted to get to a place where we can accept our new awareness.

Changing a lifestyle can be met with great difficulty and struggle or wild abandonment and joy. It is simply another trip or a course along a different path that has an alternative purpose. It is not going to be any easier or more difficult than the one that you already chose and it will mean sacrifice or clearing depending on how you think of it.

Because there will be a profound change in you and your lifestyle you will lose people along the way, including friends and family. For one thing as you move along your new path you will learn a different language and as you start to master this language your friends and family will no longer understand you; it will not be so easy to communicate with them, nor they with you.

Along with having difficulties communicating with each other you will not be able to relate to each other just as a grade one student will not be able to relate to another in grade 12 except on the most basic levels. As you empty your mind of old business and memory, new concepts and awareness will replace them and become your new truth. You will travel lighter and pay little notice of others that are around you, they will call you crazy or weird and as your awareness increases you will eventually move to a state of transformation.

One transforms when one has raised his/her vibration level so high that they virtually disappear and enter another realm of awareness. You will become invisible to all in the old realm.

If your feet are firmly planted in the physical world and this is where you are strongly focused, transformation may take several lifetimes. Death is a human or physical concept and in truth you do not have to leave your physical body behind.

The first step in the thousand mile journey is to make a choice or decision for enlightenment. With this choice comes the eventual transformation that will take you out of this physical realm and into another.

With this level of awareness comes rejection of all physical things and people. The truth is we are all headed there anyways. Those that have a higher level of enlightenment or awareness simply move faster and with anticipation lacking any fear of what is to come. It is the tendency for all things to move back to its source, it is a natural law of cause and effect or Karma.

There is a Buddhist teaching that says if you want to put new tea in your cup you must make sure you have an empty cup.

In preparing for this new enlightenment you must let go of old belief systems and thoughts. You must clear your mind to make way for new concepts and ideas. Enlightenment will not come when your mind is busy with old thoughts. Neither will it come while you try to analyse it, acceptance is the key to enlightenment.

There are many who say that they want enlightenment but few will receive it. The pull of the physical world is strong, and addictive. For those that have found great meaning in the earth experience they will find it hard to let go.