Update

“Well, wow!  That Enlightenment Manifesto email was pretty nutty to receive, am I right?  Wowza.  Sounded like someone was really riding the crazy train.  And I can totally understand that reaction.  Makes perfect sense.  How often do you receive a multipage treatise on the meaning of life from someone who claims to have experienced Enlightenment.  Lemme try to remember how many *I've* received in my lifetime...hmmmmmm...ah...yeah, zero.  Such an occurrence doesn't happen every day.  And when it does happen, it's totally understandable that red flags would go up.

To the people who reached out to me concerned about my well being, thank you.  I totally understand why you would and where that impulse comes from.  I think it comes from a place of love for me and that makes me feel so wonderful.  You literally took your love for me and put it into physical form and action.  What is usually just a beautiful, invisible, intangible feeling, you made manifest in the real, physical world.  That makes me so happy and makes me feel so loved.  And I love you in return.

But let's talk logistics.  I have no idea what caused/triggered this.  I have some theories, but they're only theories.  And it kinda doesn't matter because what I put to paper I believe was true and still is true.  But now it's out there by itself in the world.  It is separate from me.  It stands on its own for people to examine and consider.   It's a bunch of ones and zeros floating around on the Internet in the form of a Google Doc (note:  this spiritual awakening is not in any way sponsored by Google).  It's not me, Matt Daly.  It is my thoughts, but now it exists out on its own and is no longer a ton of thoughts rolling around in my head.  I feel like I have successfully "emptied" out those thoughts from my brain and can relax now.  My primary mission is complete.  I recorded my thoughts for the record and shared them with people I love hoping it would benefit them in any way no matter how small.  Done.

But what happens next?  People are concerned with my mental and physical wellbeing.  As of right now, I feel great mentally.  I can still access and feel that overwhelming, infinite, priceless, precious, endless, fathomless, unconditional love that I have for the Universe and that the Universe has for me that fills me with feelings of endless, infinite bliss, euphoria, and ecstasy.  Pretty cool, right?  I don't feel those feelings overwhelmingly when I'm doing things.  If I'm doing something like making some coffee or typing this email or eating food or talking on the phone with someone, I still feel those feelings, but they are quiet and not overwhelming and kinda in the background.  I can bring them to the forefront, but only by sitting quietly and reflecting or, say, talking a quiet walk outside.  So they're kinda always with me (as of right now), but they ebb and flow throughout the day depending on what I'm doing.

What's causing this?  Beats me.  But I've got some professionals on the case.  My psychiatrist is fully aware of everything that has and is happening to me.  We are meeting on Tuesday, April 6 to discuss.   As such I think we're doing the right things when it comes to investigating any mental and physical issues (your brain generates your mental state/subjective reality, but it is a physical thing and as such, can be affected by drugs and chemicals which can in turn affect your mental state).  So brain/body are kinda covered.

Because this experience has been so profound for me, I have reached out to a number of spiritual advisors/teachers (most in the Buddhist tradition) to discuss and investigate this occurrence as well.  I have one call Monday, April 5, another Tuesday, April 6, and one more on Wednesday, April 21.  Three different advisors/teachers.  So we're getting some experts on the case when it comes to the spiritual side of things.

All this to say, I'm safe, I'm happy, and everything that can be done to handle this occurrence in a safe, informed, skilled way is being done.   I especially thank my family and close friends for reaching out to express their concern during this time.  I know that comes from a place of love and it makes me feel so wonderful.  And I love you, too.  And I think everything is being handled correctly (as correctly is possible). I'm optimistic that the ultimate outcome will be positive.  That said, the future is unknowable.  It will have to unfold as it may.  But I think we've got the systems in place to handle things well and safely should they take a turn for the negative.  I sure hope they don't!  Eeek!

There has been concern that I'm going to alter my current life in some drastic way.  I don't have any crazy wild plans for my life at this time.  Yes, there was an initial surge of these incredible feelings and revelations, but they have quieted down considerably.  Getting the thoughts out and recorded for posterity really helped reduce the surge.  So did making sure the people I love most had access to those thoughts/realizations.  Again, primary mission accomplished.  That done, we move on to the future.

As of right now, I'm planning to keep my day job and work it like I usually do M - F 9 - 5.  I love my day job and what I do to pay the bills (I know I'm in the minority.  And I know how lucky I am).  I loved it before this all happened, and I still love it right now.  And I'm not about to cut off the cash supply that keeps me in my sweet Brooklyn apartment, takes care of me and Cat Daly, and affords me resources to afford the lifestyle to which I am accustomed. So we should be good on the employment, income, and health benefits front.  It's a shame health benefits are tied to employment but that's America. 

I plan to add to the Manifesto as new thoughts arise.  I already added some new stuff to it today.  Nothing mind blowing, just some additional musings.  If you read it when I first emailed about it, then you have already read my "core tenets" and accessed the most important stuff.  No need to go back for the new additions, but you can if you're curious.

Since I got the vast majority of my Manifesto out the door and to the people most important to me, the quantity of new thoughts has reduced immensely.  So it's not going to take much time during the day to add new thoughts to the Manifesto if they pop up.  That's something I can do in my free time after work. So I don't think I'm gonna become some crazed author who spends their entire day writing out their musings.

I would love to get my epiphanies out to more people in addition to my friends and family.  I think/hope that maybe they could help people live better, happier lives.  No guarantee people will experience something like I have/am, but if they follow what I've outlined as The Greatest Thing, they should have more love and happiness in their lives and the more of that you have, the better your life will be.  Reminder:  As a precious, priceless spark of life (whatever "life" is), the greatest thing you'll ever do is recognize that same precious, priceless spark of life in other beings and know that loving and comforting them is what one should do to other beings.  It makes them feel happy, loved, safe, and accepted. It makes their fears go away.  Let other beings love you that same way, too.  And you love yourself that way as well.  Unconditional, infinite love.  "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return"

When it comes to potentially reaching more people, I'm going to consult with those spiritual advisors/teachers about that.  First and foremost, am I on to something?  If I am, then how does one spread it to others?  Teach classes?  Give seminars?  Like, what does a person physically do to get a message from themselves to as many people as possible?  So we'll see where that discussion goes when I speak with those three advisors. The work necessary to explore what I've experienced with the help of advisors and the possibility of further dissemination, I'm sure I can do in my free time as well. So I don't think all my time will be chewed up by that either.

Short version:  I'm still gonna work my current job.  And I'm going to explore this amazing spiritual revelation in my spare time.  Sounds safe and balanced to me.

That's the deal, people.  Just wanted to get all this info out to you guys in the hopes of allaying any fears and/or anxieties.

Wow, that was a lot of typing.  A thousand pardons for such a long read, but I wanted to provide as much information as possible.  I hope it brings you peace.

If you wanna chat, shoot me an email and we can set up a phone call or a Zoom to catch up.  I'd love to hear from you!

And, yes, this is a "canned" email, but I just wanted to be as efficient as possible.  Yes, I *know* I should have personalized each and every copy of this message so it was specific to the recipient, but I'm lazy.  Easier to just blast something out ASAP, get the information into peoples' hands and follow up with any personal stuff later.

Let me know if you have any questions!  I love you!

I hope you have a wonderful day today and everyday! I hope you get everything your heart desires and all your dreams come true!

Love,

Matt”