Knowledge, Enlightenment and Selfless Service

While knowledge is important, I’ve struggled to enthusiastically research and learn new things; mainly because various spiritual teachers have discouraged a focus on knowledge, which they see as a distraction from enlightenment. While I’ve never religiously followed any teacher’s advice, I can see how the drive for knowledge can be spiritually confining if we focus only on it and not on personal transformation.

Some teachers say the drive for knowledge traps us in the mind, and only by getting into a space beyond the mind where we can observe its habits and tendencies can we glimpse enlightenment. Anything less causes us to feed the mind and subsequently, the ego, and in their eyes, the most effective way to find enlightenment is to give up the desire for worldly things (like knowledge) and empty the mind so the spirit can flow.

I’ve struggled with this because I enjoy learning new things and writing about what I learn, which is new for me. I never really cared about researching or writing reports before, but now that I’ve found so many subjects that interest me (spirituality, social awareness, psychedelics, topics that have to do with the spiritual community, etc.), I want to learn and share as much as I can. I feel like I’m awakening to the value of knowledge and the satisfaction that comes with sharing it.

I still want to live from the heart, but I’m becoming passionate about what I can do with the mind, a powerful instrument that I believe can be used to assist in this transformation if we remember to use it with love. The mind and heart are the two most powerful tools in our arsenal, and together, they can help us transform this world with love, knowledge, wisdom, compassion and understanding.

A colleague and friend of mine, who’s probably the most dedicated spiritual seeker I know (and the most dedicated seeker of knowledge), recently cleared up the issue for me.

His perspective is that most of us who are spiritually aware are already ascended/evolved/enlightened at heart, and we’ve come to this world to serve its evolution however we see fit. Thus, we don’t have to strive for enlightenment because it’s already a natural part of us and we’ll return to it when our work here is done.

“One bright day when my work is over, I’m gonna fly away home, to Zion” – Bob Marley

I do believe we’ve come here from a place wherein we’re already enlightened, and I’ve always been interested in the idea of the ‘wanderer’ – a term coined by the channeled entity ‘Ra’ who spoke through Carla Rueckert.

A ‘wanderer’ is a soul who comes to earth from a higher dimension to help the planet and its people evolve, and I used to wear the label proudly. I don’t write about wanderers or claim I’m one of them as much as I used to, but the general idea that we came here from a higher state of consciousness to help the world evolve will always resonate with me.

Realizing that we’re here to move the world forward and not necessarily to find enlightenment frees us up to serve this evolution however we want. As long as we genuinely want to help the world, we can do so in the ways we’re the most passionate about without worrying that we’ll miss out on the enlightenment we’ll enjoy when we’re done here.

This gives me more freedom to research and write about whatever I want as long as I feel it’s relevant to collective evolution and social/spiritual revolution, and it gives me the freedom to embrace music and other creative outlets that some of the stricter spiritual teachers think distract us from enlightenment.

I don’t think music is a distraction from enlightenment or general spirituality at all, and the right kind of music puts its listeners on a good vibration and encourages them to keep walking the path in tough times. I don’t know what could serve our evolution in a more helpful way.

I don’t think writing or sharing knowledge and information is a distraction either, because they move the world forward and help people grow; if not spiritually, than intellectually. I don’t know why that has to be such a bad thing despite what spiritual teachers say.

If an article is written from the heart and it informs and uplifts people, I don’t see any reason why it should be considered a distraction besides the fact that it isn’t meditation or another spiritual practice that brings you closer to enlightenment.

I can share all kinds of information about enlightenment, ascension, general spiritual evolution, social revolution, health and wellness, and everything else that’s important to me, and all of it will serve our evolution by encouraging people to think more, learn more and hopefully do more to bring the world into the light.

It’s just a matter of figuring out what we want to do, and we don’t have to worry that we’ll miss out on enlightenment by doing this work because enlightenment will be there for us when we’re done. We’ll return to the universal state of consciousness from which we incarnated on our planet when this life is finished, so we can do whatever we want while we’re here as long as it helps the planet and its people evolve.

We might want to take some time each day to explore our enlightened consciousness with meditation or something similar, but beyond that, we don’t have to worry that we’ll fail to achieve enlightenment by embracing knowledge or another so-called distraction. We’re using it to inform, inspire and uplift people, and that alone shows that it’s useful.

I might have more researched reports in the weeks and months ahead, because I’m feeling more and more passionate about learning and spreading the intellectual and heart-centered wealth with all of you who enjoy learning too.

Knowledge is liberating, and regardless of whether we’re already enlightened or not, the path of service (commonly known as Karma Yoga), will get us there if we remember to be selfless with our service instead of wanting fame or recognition. When you realize you’re a conduit for your higher creative consciousness, you realize you can’t really take credit for your work because you were open to (and willing to record) your higher self’s insight.

Our purpose is to serve, not to become famous, and knowing that I’m free to define how I want to serve takes a big weight off of my shoulders. I’m dedicated to spirituality and the pursuit of knowledge about things I feel are important, and when this work is done and I/we all are back in a higher realm, we’ll be glad we used our unique interests to wholeheartedly contribute.

By Wes Annac, Culture of Awareness, November 13, 2015 – https://tinyurl.com/nczqtyc