First, I would like to dispel the misconception that enlightenment and God-realization are one and the same. No, although they are related. I have already defined enlightenment as a certain state of consciousness. Enlightenment does not necessarily go hand in hand with God-realization. An enlightened person can know that the Law exists and think of it as an absolute reality without assuming God (e.g. Buddha). God-realization means dissolution in or service to some aspect of God. Consider a Kabbalistic Tree of Life, then, contrasting the Tree of Life with the Keter (Crown), there are three paths leading to it.
Using the Atlantean names for the paths of initiation, the path of Divinity runs into the ...