How personally developed do you have to be to pursue enlightenment?

[Mada_]

What are the prerequisites to pursuing enlightenment? Can such a generalisation be made?

I feel like a lifestyle change that could be made could be developing health and well-being, and I believe I struggle to effectively maintain myself. Perhaps I should "begin the process all over again". 

 

 

[ShivaShakti]

The prerequisite is just being willing to do what needs to be done. The true difficulty is getting to that place where you are willing to make it your sole focus. You have to kill your ego somehow. Some people do it by accident, some people do it through action (See the movie Revolver), I achieved it by finding the root of my sense identity and taking away its only weapon (Intellectually). Your sense of identity is made up of thought. Thought is made up of language. You have to stop the language in your mind. To achieve this strategically I fasted for 3 days, drinking only water. Then I used the following techniques to kill my thoughts (it took me 12 days of effort):

 

Hold the breath for a moment, let language of mind stop

Focus between the eyebrows, let language of mind stop

Repeat this sentence in your mind "I am not my mind, I am not my mind, I am not my mind" but maintain concentration at all times (Constantly altering the speed of the sentence helps to maintain focus on it). Do not let this become an unconscious activity. The purpose of this is to block out uncontrollable thoughts (So don't let it become one).

Do these 3 as much as possible.

Lastly, after the 3 days of fasting each evening I gazed at my reflection in the mirror. My goal was to stare at myself until I failed to see myself. Do this once per day.

I can't promise this will work for you but it did for me