The Stages Of
Enlightenment: One Man's Belief
by Bob Olson, OfSpirit.com Editor
Many
people have asked me what I know about the stages of
enlightenment. My first answer is that I know nothing; nobody
really knows until we cross-over. But I will share with you my
belief.
I
believe that we are all energy beams that reach out from the
Source, the light and love of God, like rays of light that reach
out from the sun. When we first leave the Source, we are blank
slates, eager to have experiences that will teach us all there
is to know. At first, our energy is low and dense because we are
new and inexperienced. As we have experiences that teach us
universal wisdom, our energy vibration (our frequency)
increases. And slowly, after many lives and many experiences,
our vibration slowly increases so that we work our way back to
the Source—the One with the highest vibration.
I
believe that we increase our energy and our knowledge by
experiencing the polar aspects of all there is to know. Our
knowledge gives us an appreciation and understanding that makes
us ever more complete with each new experience. In other words,
we learn from experiencing both sides of every possibility. In
order to fully understand and appreciate kindness, we must
experience cruelty. In order to fully understand and appreciate
joy, we must experience depression. In order to fully understand
and appreciate health, we must experience sickness. In order to
fully understand and appreciate comfort, we must experience
discomfort. And so it goes for every possible experience that
exists, we experience both sides of the spectrum in order to
understand and appreciate the opposite.
As
we reincarnate from one life to another, we can only take on so
many experiences at one time. In one life, we might learn about
loneliness and poverty. In another, we might grow to understand
addiction and codependency. In another, fame. In another,
companionship. In another, being needed and taking care of
someone in need. In another, mental illness. In another,
unconditional love. Sometimes we can handle two or three, or
maybe several, lessons in one lifetime. Sometimes one major
lesson may be all we can take and our life might be very short.
And some lives may even be strictly for the purpose of helping
someone else’s spiritual growth, although we always benefit
energetically whenever we help another soul in their journey.
As
we complete each lifetime, our energy frequency increases and we
grow closer to the Source. After several lifetimes, we are
vibrating at faster speeds and we have gained an understanding
and appreciation for many facets of being. It is my belief that
if someone finds themselves passionate about helping the
homeless or foster children or the mentally impaired, that they
have likely experienced that condition in a past life. This is
why they have compassion in this area and for these people,
because on a cellular and subconscious level they understand and
appreciate the circumstances and conditions that these people
know. This is why God, our Creator, has unconditional love,
compassion and understanding for us. He knows all sides of every
experience.
Some
people may choose not to return to earth for another lifetime
because lessons can also be learned in the spirit world. We can
help people on earth as spirit-guides ourselves, assist in
helping souls cross-over, comfort pets while they await their
earthly owners to return to heaven, or any number of possible
“jobs.” However, from what I have learned, we reincarnate
because spiritual growth is much faster here on earth. Similar
to the “No Pain, No Gain” philosophy regarding physical
fitness, the struggles we endure on earth are like going to the
health club to exercise. With each grueling work out (each
life), we return with rapid growth.
Every
time a life is ended, our souls return home to heaven. And each
time we return to the spirit world, we are instantly freed of
all pain and sickness, all fear and all earthly concerns. We are
instantaneously bathed in the comfort, joy and love of the
Ultimate Light. Regardless of how difficult our last lifetime
was, we sigh in our emancipation and think to ourselves, “Wow,
what a relief!” And as we discover the immense growth we
gained from that lifetime, we think, “Hey, that wasn’t so
bad. I can do that again.” And before we know it, we are
planning our next human journey.
With
each lifetime voyage we are even closer to reaching God’s
vibrational frequency—the ultimate, final destination. Then,
at some point we know all there is to know and have experienced
all there is to experience. We have the highest understanding
and appreciation attainable. And upon that last lesson, the
final earthly existence that completes us, we merge again with
our Creator to an eternity of euphoria and ecstasy.
That
is my interpretation of life and the afterlife according to my
experiences, research and beliefs over the last few years. I
can’t prove it, but it helps me to understand why bad things
happen to good people, why children suffer, and why God allows
the tragedies and sufferings of innocent human beings to exist.
Although it doesn’t make negative experiences any less tragic
or difficult to endure, and in no way do I intend to make light
of anyone’s suffering or hardships or suggest that we stand
idly by and watch people struggle—we should always do what we
can to ease the burdens of others—it helps me to believe there
is a spiritual purpose to life’s challenges. By believing that
we learn to know love as much by experiencing hate and suffering
as we do kindness and compassion, it helps me to make sense of
this world and trust that every person’s suffering will be
relieved and rewarded in the end.
