What Is the difference between ascension and enlightenment?

I have been talking about ascension for a long time. This has been the major focus since I began communicating through Michael over thirty years ago. For those of you whose native language is Swedish, there is no word that directly translates this concept. The closest is “himlafärd”, which means “a trip to heaven”. This provides a beginning in grasping the term, but still contains a sense of going somewhere. In English, ascending literally means to go up, again indicating the involvement of motion. A clearer understanding would be to associate ascension with the realization of your divine nature. The idea of “going up” assumes that your ascension is not right here, right now. The thought of having to travel to find your ascension only leaves you separate from its realization. However, there is also an accuracy in these literal translations because when you fully realize your divine nature, this earth plane loses any reality it might have previously held for you. In the challenging attempt to define ascension, I have often talked about what it isn’t. Ascension is not something that is realized through following specific practices, disciplines, or beliefs. It does not happen because you are good, or because you do things in the right way. Ascension is the full realization that you are one with God, you are loved unconditionally, you are love, that there is only love.

I have talked about all of this before, but today I wish to introduce another term which is commonly used and, at times, seems to be interchangeable with ascension. That word is enlightenment, which in Swedish translates as “upplysning”, meaning “putting the spotlight on”, a more direct translation. I want to compare these terms, beginning with a disclaimer. The differentiation I will establish is connected to the manner in which I define these words. Other sources may have different definitions. Enlightenment could be seen as a subset of ascension. All who realize their ascension are also, certainly, enlightened. However, those who are enlightened do not necessarily realize their ascension. What is the difference? Enlightenment means that you realize that this physical plane is all illusion. You understand that you are the creator of all that you experience. You know that time doesn’t truly exist, nor does your physical body. You realize that you are. That is your only truth. You always are. That full awareness is called enlightenment. Often, enlightenment is seen as the highest spiritual goal. It is a term that is used within the Buddhist tradition. The Buddha became enlightened, and so Buddhists seek a similar experience.

If you experience enlightenment, you continue to deal with the world about you, but with an absolutely different perspective. You are still in a body dealing with everyday life, but you no longer take it seriously. The only thing that remains real is self. You know that you always are. The enlightened one has no idea whether others have any true existence. I wouldn’t know if there is such a thing as “you”, an entity that also creates everything that you see. All that I can know is that your existence is my creation. In ascension, you have this enlightened perspective, but here is a distinction. When we speak of enlightenment, there is usually no reference to God. There is only the “light”, the eternal is-ness. The assumption of the enlightened one may be that the existence of God is beyond knowing, that all that can be known for sure is the existence of self. There are no answers to any of the deep questions such as: “Why do I exist?” “Where did I come from?” or “Why did I create this body and this universe?” Some who are enlightened will argue that your existence is all you can know. This knowingness of the unreality of the human experience allows almost all pain to evaporate.

The difference with ascension is that it does deal with these questions. It recognizes divinity and a creative source, which I call God. It understands that the earth experience and physical creations emanate not from God, but from the souls we call human. This manifestation came out of fear of God and separation from Him. We created this universe to hide from God, out of our fear of punishment. Without the acceptance of the existence of God, you can realize that all of this is a movie, but still have a vague sense of emptiness. The deep questions do not totally disappear. Strands of judgment persist. In fact, enlightenment might be the last refuge of the ego. The answer to the deep questions is that you are here to heal your relationship with your creator. Denial of His existence won’t make Him go away. He has nowhere to go. Nor do you. This understanding allows you to ask God, or Spirit, for support in aligning with truth, in reconnecting to your divinity. You realize the importance of forgiveness in the process. You become absolutely intolerant of the slightest judgments you might hold. You seek to see divinity everywhere.

There has been a great confusion because most of those who believe in God do not believe in enlightenment, while most of those who believe in enlightenment don’t believe in God. Ascension requires both beliefs. The connective energy is unconditional love. Without God, unconditional love may not be of importance. You could be enlightened, but not fully surrendered to and guided by Spirit. The void or emptiness of the enlightened state allows a place for the voice of ego, because your mind has not been fully offered to Spirit. In Buddhism, there exist bodhisattvas who are on the threshold of enlightenment but hold back, waiting for everyone to join them. They reincarnate over and over, coming as teachers. The confusion is that one’s primary reason for incarnating becomes the serving of others. This is in denial of God and your separation. It is the lack of recognition that what you see in others is only a reflection of yourself, which is all that you can affect. The ascended masters comprehended that their own realization of divinity was the reason for their physical experience. Ironically, their ascension is also the greatest gift they could offer to others in supporting spiritual development. Ascension understands the oneness. It knows that personal ascension raises all ships, shines light on all souls.

God Blesses You,

Sanhia