As it’s used here, the word ‘enlightenment’ has its roots in the eastern spiritual traditions of Buddhism and Hinduism. These traditions view enlightenment as the rare and cherished outcome of solitary spiritual practices and long hours of meditation. The specific forms of spiritual practice vary according to the particular path or teacher one follows.

In the last four decades, westerners have spent millions of dollars and countless hours reading books and attending retreats and workshops on eastern spirituality. Many of us have even incorporated eastern spiritual practices like meditation, tai chi, yoga, and so forth into our daily life. But why is it that so few have actually remembered enlightenment via these practices? Is it for lack of trying or because of a lack of sincerity? We don’t think so. In our view, the most reasonable explanation for why westerners aren’t getting enlightened is that the solitary spiritual practices of the eastern traditions are not entirely applicable to the western way of life. Those of us who’ve been formed, and informed, by western languages, values, and cultures need a form of spiritual practice more suited to our world, the world of personal relationships.

This treatise not only westernizes the concept of enlightenment but suggests a path leading to its remembrance which is practiced in the context of personal relationships. We’ve deliberately chosen the phrase Spiritual Enlightenment in the title to make it clear that we’re writing about something really big, something that, because of its rarity in the east, we’ve tended to see as outside the realm of possibility for ourselves here in the west.

The treatise addresses two basic questions. First, what’s keeping us from remembering enlightenment? And second, what can we do to remember it as soon as possible? The first question is answered in brief discussions of what we’ve been experiencing on the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual levels of being that’s been blocking the remembrance of enlightenment. The second question is addressed by proposing a four-step path to enlightenment which is a more fitting spiritual practice for westerners than the traditional eastern practices. Each of the four steps corresponds to one of the four levels of being mentioned above.

Step One brings into focus our relationship to our physical body; Step Two, our relationship to our emotional nature; Step Three, our relationship to our conscious mind; and Step Four, our relationship to life itself. Taken together, the steps allow us to explore and heal our relationship with ourselves, with each other, and with the Divine. We call this path ‘The Path of Remembrance’ because remembering its four steps prepares us to receive the ultimate remembrance, namely Spiritual Enlightenment. This path is not about seeking to change ourselves or anyone else but a preparation for experiencing a wholly (holy) new (to us in this lifetime) reality. Each of the first four chapters discusses one level of being along with its corresponding step. These chapters are introduced with brief accounts of our personal experiences as they relate to the step being presented. The last chapter presents a brief description of our workshops and retreats, all of which offer a direct experience of how the four steps work in real life to awaken the remembrance of Spiritual Enlightenment.