For some reason there is the belief in the human mind that physical reality is what’s real, but it is nothing more than just a belief. It’s the illusion.
When awareness gets amped up and it’s realized there is nothing but awareness, the content that awareness focuses on feels so… empty and light.
Everything is nothing.
What’s the difference between physical reality, imagination, the dream world we visit at night, wherever we go after we die, locations experienced when astrally projecting, experiences that arise in deep states of meditation, and everything else?
The rules are different. Certain laws, like the laws of physics, may apply in one place and not another. Certain colors and forms and shapes appear in one and not another, but that’s about it. They’re all just different illusions appearing within awareness. They’re all like different movies that awareness can watch.
Awareness is.
and awareness is SO much more real than any observable reality.
This awakening of mass consciousness that we’re seeing in humanity today, let’s put it into a larger context so that we can see where this fits. Enlightenment is not the final stage in our journey as spiritual beings, not by a long shot.
Alright, let’s get straight to the point. How do you actually do this? How do you get enlightened?
There’s so many gurus we can follow, all of whom give similar instructions, but they’re all variations on a theme. What’s the best path? The fastest path? The path that’s most appropriate for me? Is there even a best/fastest/right path at all?
How do you get enlightened? Let’s strip away the fluff and look at the core instructions on exactly HOW to do it as instructed from a variety of teachers:
Gangaji, an awakened woman whose teachings are very similar to those of Ramana Maharshi, has an excellent video about her core message of Silent Awareness.
In this video, she discusses:
The Silent Awareness that is always alive in you
Non-dualistic silence
Dropping all beliefs
Realizing who you are rather than Believing who you are
How we’ve heard Truth, but haven’t Discovered it directly yet
What’s your impression of her teachings and her message?
This morning I was at Unity when about halfway through the service, it was suddenly realized that the veil of separation dropped again. Awakening happened again. Since it has happened before in this lifetime, there was less clinging to it, wanting to sustain it, or trying to do anything to change anything. Instead it was something to sit back and enjoy for what it is.
The Experience of Awakening
The first thing that I noticed was that there was no longer any separation between anything. The idea of separation became ludicrous because everything was realized to literally all be the one same thing. How could anything be separate from itself if there is only the One thing?
The second thing I noticed was that no matter what direction I looked in, every direction was the same. All sense of space had dropped away because there no longer was any space. There is only here. Everything is here because it’s all the same thing. There is nowhere else.
The third thing I noticed was this sense of transparency. That’s the best way I can describe it. It’s not like you could literally see through things as if you had x-ray vision, but that suddenly there was the radiant glow of essence. The beauty of Divine beingness. I can’t describe it other than to say it seemed transparent, as if everything emanated this translucent colorless golden glow.
The fourth thing I noticed was that everything seemed so much lighter. Suddenly everything seemed to be almost weightless. Everything felt airy and almost like it could levitate as if it was lighter than air.
The fifth thing I noticed was that nothing in this world was taken seriously. It was all like a big joke. It had no more reality than smoke and mirrors. It’s like taking a movie seriously. It’s all just a play of energy. Life is a game of make-believe. There is literally nothing to it, nothing to take seriously. What a place of ease and relief!
People talk about having a “spiritual awakening” and being a “conscious being,” but what does this really mean?
Awakening and consciousness are words that attempt to define the undefinable, so it’s only natural that there will be numerous definitions and descriptions of awakening and consciousness. Not only this, but the word means different things at different points along the spiritual path so not everyone is always talking about the same thing.
Some people use the term “awakening” to mean that I am awake and not being currently controlled by the ego. If I’m Present in the Now, I am awake, but this is only one stage in the process of awakening.
I actually use the word “awakening” to mean something very different. In my vocabulary, it is synonymous with “enlightenment.” It means to realize your true nature, not just intellectually, but to actually BE it. It is a radical shift of identity that involves the direct realization of the nonexistence of the “me” that I think I am. It is the direct experience of Oneness and Infinity/Nothingness as One’s actual Reality.
Let’s take a look at several different stages of awakening.
The following is not by any means an all-inclusive list, but it does highlight some of the common stages along the path to enlightenment.
We tend to think that there’s an objective world out there and that we can affect and are affected by this outside world. There is a world “out there” that we are born into and interact with.
If we like the interaction between us and the outside world, we call this “good.” If we don’t like it, we call it “bad.”
The above drawing (awesome, I know, thank you ) is how we typically perceive the world.
Notice that there is a “me” independent of the outside world who is perceiving what’s happening in the outside world. There is a sense of separation.
What’s actually going on is quite different. Let’s take a look.
So a question came up recently about looking at the world without mental distortion. How do you look at the world without getting the ego involved? How do you see beauty where there is so much ugliness?
The short answer is to simply look without judging, labeling, categorizing, or adding any sort of mental commentary. Allow awareness itself to be aware and allow attention to rest solely upon the witnessing itself. Thought doesn’t enter into the picture whatsoever. Just look.
I was watching TV with my mom the other night. When she asked me about seeing beauty, awareness kicked into high gear.
I explained that there is a difference between human beauty and divine beauty, human love and divine love.
The mind has its preferences and reasons for why it deems something beautiful or worthy. The mind has its reasons why it loves someone. The reasons are its conditions and thus the love is conditional.
The human definition of beauty requires that something appeals to us for whatever reason. Divine beauty, on the other hand, shines forth when mental commentary is withdrawn. Pure essence becomes visible instead of mere appearance.
I can’t describe what’s being seen, but there’s an intuitive understanding that you’re looking purely at what is. A flower is seen to be just as beautiful as garbage, for literally no reason at all. Just because it is. Thought actually muddles over this realization, distracts from it.
Beyond thought, there is a recognition of the formless Unmanifest expressing itself as manifest form.
Everyone has this capacity, including you. Yes you. There’s no need to try and see this, to learn to develop this skill, or look for what I’m describing because it shines forth automatically when you stop putting everything into little mental boxes and attaching descriptions to and creating stories around what you’re seeing.
Just look, as purely and innocently as possible. Allow the looking itself to do the looking. Awareness itself is witnessing, not you. Read More …
You Are Truly Loved features content designed to guide people towards enlightenment, unconditional love, and living a life of joy through Self-realization and proper application of the Law of Attraction.
photo credit: Michele Catania
The first thing that I noticed was that there was no longer any separation between anything. The idea of separation became ludicrous because everything was realized to literally all be the one same thing. How could anything be separate from itself if there is only the One thing?
People talk about having a “spiritual awakening” and being a “conscious being,” but what does this really mean?
) is how we typically perceive the world.
