The Many Paths to Enlightenment

By Deirdre Hade

Twenty years ago, I had the experience of disappearing and becoming one with everything in the universe. And that was a real game-changer for me. Since then I’ve been speaking, sharing, and giving healings with the energy that I experienced during this awakening time.

So, what is enlightenment? Enlightenment is simple; it’s another kind of communication, a communication that is nonlinear, without words, a knowingness. When this communication occurs, the entire feel of your persona- your soul, spirit, physical body, ego body, and ego mind- explodes. It’s a supernova, it’s THE aha moment where you break through the prison wall, the energetic wall called the mind.

Yes, we need our minds. But the mind is also the barrier to enlightenment. Because the mind, the thinking mind, just thinks itself into all kinds of little traps and little muttering rooms where we try to figure it all out. And that’s all wonderful. We love the mind and we need the mind. But there is a window in this prison-like room of the mind where the light is always shining in through the bars. And you, who is a seeker, you are the one looking up within the small room of your mind saying, “I want that light. I want to fly out that window.”

Unfortunately, the path to that window gets very complicated. Because we’ve had thousands of years of incredible teachings and practices designed to help us find enlightenment, so much so the path has gotten very heavy. It’s loaded with the weight of all these ideas and thousands of big books, such that many of us say, “Oh, my gosh, I can never do this! It’s just too hard. There are so much dogma and so many rules. I don’t think I can do it!”

But the thing is, we all really do have help walking this path. And here’s how I know.

Back when 911 happened, I was living in Topanga Canyon outside of Los Angeles. I was in the grocery store at Gelson’s in Pacific Palisades, writing a check for the groceries, and suddenly, behind the clerk, a petite young woman appeared wearing an antiquated nun’s habit. I turned to the woman next to me and said, “Wow, isn’t it odd there’s a nun standing there in Gelson’s?” And from the look I got I realized, Oh, my gosh, she can’t see this person! So, I said nothing more and just kept writing the check. Finally, I got my groceries and left the store, and the nun followed me. I stopped outside, turned to her, looked right into her clear, crystalline blue eyes and said, “Okay, who are you? What’s going on?”

She smiled and said, “I am St. Catherine.”

“Why are you here?” I asked.

“I want you to know that I am watching over you and watching over the children of God,” she said. “We want humanity to know that there’s a great light coming, a great Ascension of Transformation that’s coming, and we want you to not be afraid. Even though events look terrible, please know that the saints and the angels of God are all here now on the Earth, walking among you to help nurture, love, and minister to humanity and the broken heart of humanity.”

She went on. “You are all always cared for and loved. Find relief letting go of the story that you and all humanity must suffer. Let those stories from another time wash away. You are here to live in joy. You are free, free from the prison.”

For me, the whole world changed at that moment, right in front of Gelson’s. And for years I contemplated this vision, wondering, Why me? And for heaven’s sakes, why at Gelson’s? This was one of the most powerful visions I’ve ever had and one of only five times in my life when I’ve seen the actual physical body of a saint, an archangel or prophet. I wasn’t in a church or a monastery. I wasn’t in a yoga studio. I wasn’t meditating. I was writing a check at the grocery store in a checkout line.

And the main lesson I got was: Don’t have a preconceived notion about where or when your aha moment—your awakening moment—will happen. Just throw that out. The lesson is to be in the moment and know that while doing the mundane work of living, Spirit is right there, the potential to awaken is right, all the time.

How to open the door for the aha moment of enlightenment

Step 1: First of all, be inquisitive. Be inquiring, be active. Ask to be given information. Look for the light, the goodness of life. Look for those moments, because they are there all the time. Enlightenment and receiving alignment require a commitment and an intention to live life fully present, to experience it fully. We just get so busy, we run right by those moments. So, the first thing is to be inquisitive. Be pro-active. Ask and ye shall receive.

Step 2: In the morning when you wake up, say to the universe, “I am ready for my enlightenment. I am ready for my awakening. I am ready to reconnect to the most magnificent, incredible creation of all that is.” And then, even while you’re doing the rest of your work, put your attention on that. This can’t be something you just casually think about once a week or remember on your way to yoga. It has to be an intention that is alive, living inside of you 24/7.

Step 3: Don’t have a timeline. Say, “I’m ready! But it’s on your time, Spirit.” When you say that, wow! The world, the creation, the mystery opens, the veils part and that inner eye, that Silent Watcher within you, gets activated. And that’s when the magic happens.

It may happen for just a few moments. But here’s the other thing about enlightenment. It’s very important to know that it’s not as though you have this experience and then you stay like that forever. Yes, that happens down the line. But in the beginning stages, you’ll have this moment of oneness, and then it’ll close down. At that moment it’s important to think, “Okay, I felt it! I felt it! Now, please know, I’m ready again!”

Pray to be in the moment and then seize the next time the opening happens. Do this and you are well on your way to having your greatest dream answered: The dream of living a fully connected and happy, joyous life.