Tag Archive for: enlightenment

What it means to awaken

What Does it Mean to “Awaken?”

Reading Time: 3 minutes

There are many ways to talk about awakening. In one sense, “awaken” means to shift from the identification with the ego self to identification with the spiritual self. The ego operates from all of the programming and conditioning learned through life experiences, while the spiritual self transcends the physical reality.

Keep in mind we are multi-dimensional beings…part of us grows and changes physically, mentally, emotionally and also as a soul. However, another part of us does not. What part of you doesn’t change? What part of you can say “I’m sad” when you’re five, and then 50 years later can say “I’m sad”? Who or what is this permanent “I” that can notice  feelings and beliefs that come and go? There’s a dimension of you that transcends your ego-based emotions and beliefs, as well as your body. As we awaken we begin to become aware of this permanent life within and yet beyond the form.

One result of awakening is freedom from the fear-based conditioning that the ego lives from and is governed by. Fear is a major component of the ego. Ego = Separation. It’s true that we have separate bodies, but it’s more true that we are souls using a body, and even truer that all souls come from the same one energy source. To fully awaken means to live from the One Self. Christ consciousness means oneness consciousness, and that is why Jesus was also known as Christ, and preached about treating others as yourself…because ultimately they are your Self.

Therefore, waking up is really a radical shift in identity, according to Adyashanti. To awaken is to begin to live from the vantage point of spirit, which is what you can never really separate yourself from because you ultimately are it. To fully awaken is to understand this first as an intellectual concept, then from the heart, and finally from the gut as an absolute inner knowing.

Another way of deciphering your ego self from your spiritual self is to view it through the frame that author Neile Walsch puts it. He suggests that all human thought and actions are based in either fear or love (ego or spirit). He articulates, “Fear is the energy which contracts, closes down, draws in, runs, hides, hoards, harms. Love is the energy which expands, opens up, sends out, stays, reveals, shares, heals.” He says, fear judges, is intolerant, lies beneath anger and holds onto it, whereas love empathizes, is tolerant and seeks understanding. Fear feels lack. Love feels wholeness, completeness, that all needs are met. Fear separates, divides, and is based on conditional acceptance. Love sees and feels Oneness. Love unites, and is based on unconditional acceptance. The communication of fear is vague, indirect and withholding of truth, whereas the communication of love is clear, direct, honest and specific.

Where does the love in your heart come from? You are not separate from it. It is there at your core when you peel back the layers of the ego-self. You can fully experience this with any deep inner journey experience like past life regression or life-between-lives, because the ego-self is rendered silent during these inward sojourns.

In closing, here is some pertinent wisdom from Tarun Sardana: “We don’t need a reason to be happy. We need a reason to be unhappy. Happiness is our real nature. When a seeker reaches the Self, bliss is experienced, as that is the very nature of the Self. To make a river flow, we need not give any instructions or reasons. We just need to remove the barriers that we have put up and the river will start flowing on its own because flowing is its very nature. In the same way, bliss is the very nature of the Self, one needs no reason to welcome it; just remove the barriers of the ego-self and the Self shall show up as Sat-Chit-Anand (truth-consciousness-bliss).”

To wake up is to know who and what you really are, and then to live from this place. It’s what we are all trying to learn, whether we are conscious of it or not.

Past Life Regression’s Greatest Attribute

Reading Time: 4 minutes

One of the most important insights that past life regression offers is the realization that you are an immortal being. This truth more deeply sinks into the subconscious mind as a result of connecting to the soul part of you that already knows this truth, and the trickle-down benefits are subtle, yet profound. You are a soul here and now, which means that you never die. Something that would significantly help the planet would be for individuals to wake up to their immortality. Evidence of our immortality is reflected in the thousands of cases of accurate past life recall.

As we deepen in the awareness of our immortality, it slowly dawns on us that we are merely role-playing here. The goal of this game of human life is to find lasting happiness. We search outside of ourselves for awhile until a turning point in the soul’s evolution steers our focus inward. As we deepen our search, we can experience peace, lightness and love, until one day we realize that these states are not states at all, but characteristics of the deepest part of our being, available when we’re free of the mind’s buzzing turmoil. Eckhart Tolle points out that the key to this freedom is to take the focus off of the content of our minds and place it on the eternal ‘beingness’ or pure, unfiltered conscious-awareness that provides the backdrop of all of our mind’s content…the part of you that can be aware of a passing mood or thought. Yet forgetfulness happens repeatedly, and again we identify with the human part of us that is burdened with our opinions and worries until we once again remember the truth of our being.

The human experience is one of forgetfulness, and also of getting lost…lost in the world of the mind and all of our beliefs about what’s true, about who we are, and things on the ‘to-do’ list. This is my challenge, as well as most of us.

A natural quality of waking up to the most permanent part of you is acceptance. As we live from surrendered acceptance, we can fully participate in the ups and downs that life offers without wanting to escape or be fearful. There is a natural acceptance of ‘what is’, even if it brings unwanted emotions, because it becomes safe to fully feel emotions. When you know you’re role-playing, any emotion can be a rich, textured experience, even the grief from loss. I know people who won’t allow themselves to love again because of the pain of loss. Past life regression usually unveils the illusion of loss, making it safe to love, and feel hurt, and then deeply love again. It also cuts through the illusion of fear, allowing you to know what it would feel like to securely live from your full potential, free of any limiting beliefs and subtle anxieties that hold you back.

A natural acceptance of other’s beliefs is an important, key by-product of identifying with our true immortal selves, given the diversity on our planet. Nobody’s beliefs or dogmas, including our own, need to be taken personally. It’s recognized that all beliefs are products of the human conditioning process, and who and what we ultimately are transcends all beliefs. Then we can accept one another. We don’t have to agree with or even like each other’s limiting beliefs, but there can be a recognition that beneath all beliefs there is something in common….we are immortal, we come from the same energy source, and we have each blindly forgotten this truth. Yet that’s not a problem, because it’s that way by design. It’s the play of the divine Oneness, also known as God’s “Lila” in the Hindu tradition, that we’re all a part of. The goal of this play is to awaken to who we really are, and therefore out of our judgments of ourselves and others. Adyashanti, an awakened teacher, says the best indicator of our spiritual growth is how accepting and tolerant we are with those of opposing belief systems. From the vantage point of the highest dimension of yourself, there is no effort to accept, you are acceptance itself because everyone and everything else is a part of you, whether they’re conscious of that fact or not. Furthermore, it’s impossible to be separated from this part of you, as it’s the backdrop of your beingness. It merely gets overlooked during the human hypnotic experience. A deep inner journey, whether self-guided or guided, can make this evident.

It has been said by many these days that it is imperative that we wake up to our immortality which transcends all of our worries and judgments about ourselves and others. When we can sense and know the sameness beneath our differences, then we can realize that we are all one consciousness, albeit lost and operating through seven billion unique filters of programming and conditioning, resulting in various degrees of suffering. The natural emotion that arises from this realization is compassion. The differences that divide can be washed away by a mere perception shift towards truth and away from the illusion that is mind-created. As Thich Nhat Hanh says, “We are here to awaken from the illusion of our separateness.” That which divides is illusion. In fact, the only thing that separates anyone from all of their divine qualities is an illusory thought and perspective. This is not a philosophy, but a truth that can be known only in one’s own direct, immediate experience. Deep inner journeys such as past life regression can help you remember not only the truth of yourself, but also offer a glimpse of the reality behind the trials of human life. What is the next level of evolution that your soul is nudging your personality to experience? Go within and find out.

The Treatment of Others as a Reflection of Spiritual Evolution

Reading Time: 2 minutes

I would like to share an article that a client of mine found very helpful in regards to conflicts arising in her relationship. The article was written by Adyashanti, a liberated spiritual teacher who talks about awakening and enlightenment as another dimension of ourselves that we unconsciously overlook in this human experience. “Enlightened” teachers are popping up more often in this age of higher consciousness with the common message that whatever you think enlightenment is, that’s precisely what it’s not…it’s really just a radical shift in identity. Another teacher named Scott Kiloby sums it up as, “Enlightenment is not a goal to achieve or an idea to grasp. It’s the timeless presence that you already are.” You are ultimately the life that’s giving animation to your body right now, and try as you might, you cannot separate yourself from this life and the consciousness/awareness that goes with it. However, you can overlook it and identify primarily with the form that will decompose one day. This is the human experience.

I think you’ll find this article valuable.

How You Treat Others

Spiritual people often want unconditional support and understanding from their friends, family, and mates, but all too often seem blind to their own shortcomings when it comes to the amount of unconditional support and understanding that they give to others. I have seen many spiritual people become obsessed with how unspiritual others are and assume an arrogant and superior attitude while completely missing the fact that they themselves are not nearly as spiritually enlightened as they would like to think they are.

Enlightenment can be measured by how compassionately and wisely you interact with others—with all others, not just those who support you in the way that you want. How you interact with those who do not support you shows how enlightened you really are.

As long as you perceive that anyone is holding you back, you have not taken full responsibility for your own liberation. Liberation means that you stand free of making demands on others and life to make you happy. When you discover yourself to be nothing but Freedom, you stop setting up conditions and requirements that need to be satisfied in order for you to be happy.

It is in the absolute surrender of all conditions and requirements that Liberation is discovered to be who and what you are. Then the love and wisdom that flows out of you has a liberating effect on others. The biggest challenge for most spiritual seekers is to surrender their self importance, and see the emptiness of their own personal story. It is your personal story that you need to awaken from in order to be free.

To give up being either ignorant or enlightened is the mark of liberation and allows you to treat others as your Self. What I am describing is the birth of true Love.

For more information about Adyashanti, visit www.adyashanti.org.

Raising Your Consciousness

Reading Time: < 1 minute

One thing that may help to reduce stress is to try being the witness of your mind. Be the one to use your thoughts, rather than allowing your thoughts to subtly use you and well as dictate your mood. Eckhart Tolle writes, “The moment you start watching your thoughts, a higher level of consciousness becomes activated.” Here is a quote from his book “Practicing the Power of Now”:

“The single most vital step on your journey toward enlightenment is this: Learn to disidentify from your mind. Every time you create a gap in the stream of mind, the light of your consciousness grows stronger. One day you may catch yourself smiling at the voice in your head (from past conditioning) as you would smile at the antics of a child. This means that you no longer take the content of your mind all that seriously, as your sense of self does not depend on it.”

Imagine yourself to be the sun, unaffected by the racing clouds of thoughts that come and go passing beneath it. Or think of yourself as the screen upon which all thoughts and opinions, etc. come and go. Throughout our life there has a continual stream of ever-changing thoughts and moods. But what is the one thing that remains the same in this world of impermanence? The part of you that can observe a passing feeling or thought. The “I” that can say, “I’m feeling sad,” while the next day say, “I’m now feeling happy.”

It’s a very subtle yet profound process, which can help one move toward a sense of freedom.