What does it mean to Awaken?

What does it mean to Awaken?

You hear this phrase a lot in spiritual circles. I woke-up when I was 10 years old. My world was turned upside down by my parents’ divorce and my mother taking us to live with her new boyfriend. I found myself living on beautiful Lake Travis in Austin, Texas. An hour from the closest grocery store or gas station. Only my slightly younger brother to keep me company.  Very little electronic entertainment. Our days consisted of experiencing time outdoors, eating only when we needed to, splashing in the lake often—and then it happened. I was standing in the hall, looking at the bedroom I shared with my brother, and I could see through the wall…to the outdoors. I could see the hotwheels and golf tees left in the dirt that made up our fantasy life. What I realized was nothing was what it appeared to be. Everything was there because I saw it as such. I stood there, staring for what felt like hours. It was only minutes. I could see in those moments that very little judgment and opinion mattered. I wanted more of the joy and pleasure of play. Thinking of the nearest friend being over an hour drive from my new home no longer bothered me. The loneliness of most of my days and nights with only my brother became my temple. As I got older, I didn’t dismiss ideas and thoughts as nonsense. For example, I came across a book on astrology and believed it was possible to have been born under the influence of the cosmos. It made for an easier childhood, though not traditional. It was part of God’s plan, destiny. This young awakening allowed me to go through life in that ‘strange’ way. Then, when I entered my 20’s I had the feeling I was doing life wrong. My re-awakening came in my mid 30’s. It feels peaceful to be awake.

But what does it mean to “awaken”? It can mean many things to different people. There is more than one type of awakening.

The most basic principle:  awakening is a process that challenges and supplants your framework for understanding the nature of reality. You shift your perspective on how you see the world. In doing so, you drop an older, more limited framework for understanding the world and incorporate new concepts that you had previously ignored or rejected. A genuine awakening causes you to recognize that much of what you previously thought or understood was quite limited or incomplete.

Your awakening will likely be one of the following:

  • an awakening to the construction of the hierarchy in society

  • the conditioned nature of the mind from requirements deemed from society

  • seeing yourself as having a mind, a physical body and being energy

  • what it means to be human in concert with the earth

I’ve read some other people’s experiences of awakening. I feel so much judgment coming from them when I read what they want me to know. What it means to awaken. Their new belief systems. So, from my experience, I will leave it for you to experience or share your experiences on your awakenings. I personally feel it’s best for me to stay in the question of what is being presented. There are many interesting points of view. The one I buy; I carry as a burden. I carry many as do you. In this case, less is more!

But, how to get there to the Awakening??

Awakening is the spiritual path that our minds take. We see that the world we have constructed is based on other people’s beliefs and those beliefs do not belong to us.

  • We can undo our mind’s conditioning by asking questions instead of judging something to be right or wrong, good or bad

  • We can meditate – silence for a few minutes a day or a guided meditation

  • We can read other ideas and consider them to be possible

  • Some people have a catastrophic event in their lives that leads them to the path of awakening

Consider that awakening is a process, not always an event. Each person’s path to awakening is unique to them. The key in the process is that the more you learn, the less you have the need to impose your learning on others. We all know that we can’t change someone’s opinion or thoughts when they’re not willing. You cannot force another person to awaken. You understand the resistance you have when someone tries to convince you that they know what’s best. Awakening happens when the mind is ready to accept and experience an aspect of reality that the person was unaware of or unable to acknowledge. Trust that each person is on their own path to awakening, whatever that looks like for them.

There is little is to be gained from comparing how “awake” you are to others. Some will awaken to society’s constructed nature but never consider the confines of their own conditioned minds. Some will experience the unseen realms of the universe, but never move beyond the self to question society’s constructs. Each awakening is unique and it doesn’t happen for everybody.

The process is never really over. We continue to live and interact with beings on Earth. We are all a part of the Earth’s consciousness. We have to continue to question what we encounter. In the first part of this article I mentioned how I fell out of questioning for 15 years. Those were the hardest times in my life. Be diligent. Keep-up with self-care using the Awake oil and spray in our shop.

 

Renee Robertson, is a Certified Crystal Healer, Reiki Master and Licensed NJ Massage Therapist. This information has been gathered over a lifetime of clients and self-practice.

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