John W White

Liberation Literature and Higher Human Development John W White

Liberation is one of the traditional names for God-realization, enlightenment and return to the Source. Synonyms for it are spiritual freedom, unity consciousness, cosmic consciousness and nondual consciousness. Liberation is the discovery of your true identity beyond ego or the sense of "I" as a separate self. That discovery, that blissful recognition of divinity at the center of yourself (and all others) resolves all dualities into cosmic unity and confers the peace which passeth all understanding. Liberation/God-realization/enlightenment is the goal, the summum bonum, of all human growth and development, individually and collectively. Literature has been one of the best means throughout history for conveying to people a sense of the wisdom and peace with the universe which is conferred on the God-realized person. When a work of literature touches us deeply-whether it is an ancient story, a classic novel or a contemporary drama-when it moves us out of our usual narrow self-concerns and into a larger, more sympathetic relation with existence and a sense of the human potential for enlightenment, we naturally accord the work and the author high regard. The degree to which people experience self-transcendence through a novel, short story, poem, play or film is regarded as a primary criterion in assessing literary greatness. Although this is generally recognized, so far as I know this characteristic has not been considered by literary critics as the basis for a genre in its own right, let alone examined in a significant way.