Achieving Enlightenment through Self-Acceptance with Wade Lightheart

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Do you have to be completely calm and serene to achieve enlightenment? The answer is, in a nutshell: no. You don't have to box in the different traits of yourself. Enlightenment is a journey by which you learn to accept yourself and your experiences. By continuously practicing yoga, you realize that the negative aspects go away by themselves.

In today's episode, Wade Lightheart shares how we can embrace the transcendent experience to enlightenment. Here, he talks about his personal journey in his spiritual practice. We also glean some wisdom from his stories of near death experiences. Wade further enlightens us on how we can immerse yoga with the human experience. His story reminds us that we can always go through all aspects of human emotions and experiences and still thrive and live.

If you want to find inspiration in your spiritual journey, then this episode is for you!

Here are three reasons why you should listen to the full episode:

  1. Discover how you can cultivate your practice towards enlightenment.

  2. Learn how Wade accepted and managed the nefarious characters within himself. 

  3. Get insights from Wade’s stories of near death experiences.

Resources

    Episode Highlights

    Events that Led to Wade’s Spiritual Practice 

    • Wade shares that his journey to spiritual practices has been through a series of miracles.

    • He had a near death experience when he was 22. This event gave him clarity about faith, divinity, and a deeper exploration of the self. 

    • Wade also shares how he went through a series of past lives. 

    • He was given the book by a former workmate, Autobiography of a Yogi, which resolved his issues with organized religion. 

    The Turning Point 

    • Life had a different turn of events for Wade. He had several experiences in the underground scene, some of which he shares in the episode.

    • He soon came across a brother and sister who gave him three books on yoga. It was from one of these books that he realized he needed a mentor in his practice. 

    • Yogananda appeared in his room, and through silent transmission, advised him to do Kriya Yoga. 

    Managing the Nefarious Character

    • Wade shares that although he cultivated his meditation and spiritual practice, he didn’t fully extricate himself from the party lifestyle. 

    • With self-realization, he recognized the nefarious parts of him. He learned that acceptance was the answer and not resolution. 

    • If you go deeper into your spiritual, internal realm, the less frequent the nefarious characters emerge. If they do, they come out in a more wholesome way. 

    Accepting versus Resolving

    • In meditation and yoga practice, there's often the notion that you have to tone down your "wild side," or that you have to look or behave a certain way. 

    • But Wade clarifies that yoga is not a way of restriction; yoga is all-encompassing and accepting. 

    • By practicing yoga and being inspired by divinity, the negative aspects of oneself go away on their own. 

    Enlightenment versus Sainthood

    • Sainthood is glorified in the West, while the East aims for Buddhahood or enlightenment. 

    • The former is the perfection of the personality, while the latter is the transcendence of it. 

    Stories of Near Death Experiences

    • Wade shares that he had two more near death experiences, one of which was the ultimate death experience. 

    • Listen to the full episode to hear more about these near death experiences!

    • This death is not only of the physical body but of the ego itself. David Hawkins refers to this as the "final door." 

    • Death is an opening up to something far more than our lives and experiences. 

    • A lot of Eastern practices are preparations for death, which is something that we have to transcend.

    Navigating Daily Life

    • For Wade, not relying on faith puts things in perspective for him. 

    • When you feel like you lack something, it's easy to get ensnared by sensory experiences instead of enjoying them.

    • Something that can help you avoid ensnarement is yoga, a practice you have to remember to do. 

    Recognizing Ensnarements

    • It could take years to escape sensory ensnarements. 

    • Samsara is the karmic seeds that lie in one's consciousness. 

    • Karmic seeds need to be undone, realized, or unrealized as your level of awareness moves up.

    • You need to harness spiritual company—people you can give honest feedback and with whom you can be transparent. 

    • You may experience separation from divinity after your practice and still choose to continue without looking for an outcome. 

    Dark Nights of the Soul 

    • After Wade’s experience of the dissolution of the ego, it was hard for him to come to terms with the feeling that his body would leave at any second. 

    • To deal with this, Wade focuses on love. Through this, he can pursue his mission to end physical suffering and biologically optimize health. 

    • To stabilize energies and stay on this planet, Wade holds on to the idea of his future children.

    • When he becomes a parent, he wants to cultivate a life of engaged non-attachment.

    How Wade Feels Radically Loved 

    • For Wade, existence is proof that we’re radically loved. 

    • Only love could create something magnificent, unusual, and unique. 

    5 Powerful Quotes from This Episode

    [11:23] “I don't think the nefarious characters ever dropped away. I'm not so sure that you actually resolve those things; I think you learn how to manage those things.”

    [13:15] “There’s a nefarious character within all of us. [There needs] to be an acceptance and recognition of that, and recognize that that’s innately part of me and will never drop away.” 

    [21:22] “Maybe I can just bypass sainthood and become enlightened and just let the body and my personality and my ego do whatever it is because I’m in charge of those anyway.”

    [24:54] “Every time you go further into the truth, there’s a part of you that has to die.”

    [26:09] “Death is what enlightenment is. Death of what you think you are into that which has always been.”

    About Wade

    Wade Lightheart is a three-time Canadian National Natural Bodybuilding Champion and world-renowned authority in nutrition and training methods. He is the president of BiOptimizers, a company that aims to help others better their health. Wade is also the author of several books on health, exercise, and nutrition. His works have been sold in over 80 countries. 

    If you want to connect with Wade, visit him on Instagram or Facebook. You can also check out his company website, BiOptimizers.

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    To feeling radically loved,

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    Rosie Acosta