Joe explains why the Art of Accomplishment work, which produces awakenings constantly, never makes awakening a goal. Aiming at it is “a lot of I”—the very sense of separate self that awakening dissolves. To know awakening is there and then strive to attain it sets up a subject reaching for an object, which is exactly the structure that has to dissolve.
“To know that it’s there and then to try to achieve it is a lot of I.”
He names the version of this he fell into himself: trying to perfect his way to a state he couldn’t even describe.
“I was just reminded suddenly of the time that you said enlightenment porn for perfectionists.”
A goal is a subject-object experience, so layering it on top of a practice of non-duality introduces distortion. The alternative isn’t apathy—it’s letting awakening happen as a natural byproduct of seeing yourself clearly. “Any version of seeing through the identity will lead you to awakening,” Joe says, “and any version of seeing yourself clearly will start to dismantle your identity. It just can’t not.” You don’t chase it; you keep bringing awareness to yourself and it arrives on its own.
Related Concepts
- Awakening is not a finish line — evolution keeps going
- Welcoming everything, not managing it, is what leads to awakening
- Searching for purpose assumes you lack it
- Meditation can become a form of self-management and dissociation
- Awakening is not a conclusion, just part of the journey
- Awakening is not what your mind can think it is
- Awakening doesn’t erase your humanity — it makes you more sensitive