Introduction to spiritual awakening
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What is spiritual awakening?
One talks about awakening in all spiritual schools, from Buddhism to
the most recent waves of the New Age. After having known "saints",
"wise" men and "illuminated" beings, for a while now we have been
dealing with "awakened" ones. Spiritual awakening is a notion that
describes something precious but, as is the case with many others,
this notion has lost some of its meaning.
What is therefore the meaning of this expression? What does it
describe?
At the beginning, the invitation to awaken spiritually is extended
to beings dozing away in some kind of sleep. The type of sleep we
are talking about attempts to cinvey the fact of living in a dream
or in an illusion. Spiritual awakening is therefore the emergence of
consciousness from the phantasmagorical world of illusions, in a
somewhat similar fashion to awareness waking us up from a sleep full
of nightmares.
What are these illusions?
The first illusion, which determines all others, is the belief that
life is being handled by our personal intelligence (control,
expertise, projections upon the future). This illusion indicates
that we have lost sight of the Intelligence of Life which organizes
everything at all times.
The second illusion, which results from the
preceding one, is the belief that we are an "isolated individual",
facing
others or against
others, separate
from all, and in permanent danger
(therefore in constant need of protecting oneself). Such a
perception causes wars, conflicts, violence, and leads to the
impossibility of being in relationship with whom or what ever.
The third illusion, a more dynamic one, and based on the first two,
is reflected in the fact that all of our energy is exclusively
invested in transient aspects as if those were eternal (family,
careers, possessions). This illusion leads to revolt and suffering
each time our projects crumble.
Another dynamic illusion is believing that a
person
exists – or a group – capable of
bringing happiness to us (this illusion
creates the myth of the soul mate), or, on the contrary,
responsible for our misfortune.
Many tears are shed on the account of this belief since this
"outward" quest is unending and always in vain.
Finally, the last illusion, notably active in
philosophical and spiritual circles, leads to believe in the
authority and supremacy of thought,
of the intellect,
and therefore of judgement.
Its corollary consists of fixing oneself objectives based upon wild
imaginations, one of the most frequent being the one which promises
to "lead us to achieve a permanent state of bliss", and – of course
– making us despair from never being able to reach it.
What does spiritual awakening generate?
Spiritual awakening, via the dissolution of
beliefs and illusions mentioned above, reveals our intrinsic unity
with life's movement (against which we ceaselessly have fought), our
connection with our fellow humans (veiled by the feeling of being
separate), the eternity of existence (beyond the projects and
objects of personal realms). With this awakening, we realize that
our illusions were the cause of all our suffering. But of awakening
we mainly witness the emergence of joy and peace that are born from
the acceptance of what is;
the resulting opening of the heart spontaneously releases the mind's
grip, the vice of intellectual certainty, and all the narrow
concepts that we had taken as "our life".
Now what?
It is rather unlikely that these words will result in a spontaneous
awakening of any sort. The mind will perhaps find here some
intellectual confirmations, or additional reasons for discussions,
but for an awakening to be a living reality, it is necessary at some
point to step outside of the frames of concepts.
In order to achieve this, the Intelligence of
Life will at times mischievously slip a few banana peals under our
feet (that we interpret to be obstacles drawn up to slow down our
unbridled race to nowhere); It creates surprises in the continuum of
our personal projects (that we consider to be impediments to our
need to control); It makes us face reminders of our true nature
(that we tragically see as feelings of loss, whereas illusion alone
may be lost); and It invites us (roughly, at times) to come back to
what is,
to wake up from the mirage of what we
would like to be, and to return as
participants and servants of this immense and masterful process
called Life.
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