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As I take on the challenge of talking about the subject of “awakening”, I have to admit that I do not feel particularly “awake” today. Neither in the physical manner of getting enough sleep nor in the psychological slash mystical manner either. Perhaps this current disadvantage will force this exercise down a different path than I originally intended and perhaps that is just fine.
I suppose it is necessary to first examine why I deem the subject of “awakening” to be so important. To explain in short I would say that I consider it a terrible waste of a life to stagnate, to never change, to always be the same. I believe that change and growth are absolute necessities to reach some level of regular contentment—dare I even say happiness?—in one’s life. Change and growth in one’s life require at least some small amount of “awakening”.
Before I progress further into this talk, it seems that the term “awakening” gets thrown around a fair amount, but I am not certain if it ever is applied a specific definition that everyone immediately understands.
Honestly, I like the fact that specifics can be somewhat shadowed when it comes to terms such as awakening and enlightenment and spiritual journeys (and, by the way, I use these terms very loosely). Specifics often pertain to dogmas and formulas and tend not to lend themselves to being open to interpretation.
However, in this case let us use the standard dictionary definitions of awakening:
a·wak·en·ing
noun
1.
an act of waking from sleep.
2.
an act or moment of becoming suddenly aware of something.
adjective
1.
coming into existence or awareness.
We can use all of these definitions when it comes to describing an awakening conscience. We often come into awareness very slowly—much like waking from a heavy night’s sleep—but sometimes it can be a sudden shock. As our knowledge of “self” increases, we come further into existence and awareness.
In a more formal sense and to further the concepts of this talk we really should attempt to consider awakening as a verb. Awakening is active, it requires participation, it demands attention: “awakening” is the act of becoming aware of who you are, what you are, and how you react to circumstances around you—awareness of your emotions and emotional health if I am to put it in terms that are most meaningful to myself.
Awakening is also an awareness of how disconnected most people are from their “self” and an awareness that most of the concepts and actions we accept as “normal” in our human societies are almost certainly ridiculous and unnatural—for that matter, they are outright lies.
It is very improbable that any awakening, whether slow or sudden, is a “full” or “complete” awakening straight into enlightenment from the start. I have to concede that immediate enlightenment may be possible, but would be extremely unlikely as awakening is an active and ongoing process. Awakening is one realization and then another and then another and then another and so on. To be completely honest about my feelings in regards to awakening, I presume that most people who claim to be “awakened” are still in the stages of “waking up”. Those who teach are merely (hopefully) further along their paths than those of us just beginning our journeys.
I am not certain what it would be like to be fully awake and/or enlightened. I am not certain that anyone actually can be. How would one even know if they are fully awake or enlightened? It is not as if anyone can confirm the notion for them unless there happen to be beings on the other side of consciousness that can give one the proverbial “thumbs up” on achieving enlightenment. Then again, at that point you may have to consider the possibility of having gone completely mad or having become schizophrenic.
Buddhists say that the Buddha was the enlightened one, but did the Buddha actually claim he was? Perhaps only other people claimed he was enlightened. We ultimately have no idea and we can’t possibly know for certain.
Still, the path to enlightenment has to start somewhere and generally there is a first moment or inkling of awakening. If we were to really examine our personal histories, I am certain we would all find that our initial spark of awakening began somewhere long ago in our past.
My path to awakening began that way. There was a small spark—a chink in the armour of my worldview. That chink spread and spider-webbed for nine years until I had a big hammer-blow moment of awakening where everything fell to pieces. That hammer-blow moment was ten years ago and I have spent nearly every day since then working to further understand myself and the world I live in.
Awakening most likely does not happen that way for everyone and probably has not happened that way for you, but if it has, you have both my congratulations and my sorrows for your loss, because I have no doubt that you experienced loss and much pain during that time.
I am certain I will hear objections to that last statement. Does awakening cause one to experience loss and pain? Most gurus and teachers and psychologists and even whole religions that focus on awakening and/or enlightenment virtually all state that the goal of awakening and/or enlightenment is to alleviate suffering—specifically, in my opinion, the emotional pain we carry with us throughout our lives. Perhaps it is most accurate to say that the intent of awakening is not only to alleviate your own suffering, but also the suffering that your actions may be creating in others.
This is all true, but awakening is work and that work is likely to be painful. Change and growth cannot happen without awakening. Change and growth cannot happen without work or pain—whether a little or a lot...and I hope you are prepared for a lot. There is no point in sugarcoating the truth here. “Ignorance is bliss” is not just a cliche, it is a very accurate truth. If you want to “wake up” to the reality of life, you may be in for a lot of hard work and a world of suffering.
However, the intent of awakening is to alleviate suffering. Alleviate does not mean “to remove or take away”. Alleviate means “to make less severe” and your suffering will be less severe if you are awakened to your emotions and sense of self. The suffering you cause in others will be less severe as you become aware of your actions and/or behaviours and, thus (hopefully), take steps to change said actions and/or behaviours.
Being put through the fire, being tempered like steel, being beaten and shaped by the hammer and anvil are all extremely poetic and extremely accurate metaphors for the act of awakening.
Awakening makes you stronger.
Awakening has possible exponential benefits for everyone and everything around us. By doing work in your own life, it is possible to influence others. Influencing others to awaken may create a snowball effect of change throughout large groups of people. It seems that everyone is crying for change these days. Can you imagine the shift in our world if everyone started to look within and changed their self first?
I do realize that particular hope is mildly futile. It is a great hope, but the unfortunate truth is that most people prefer to stay asleep. Most people seem to prefer to clamour for change and wave placards and march and protest rather than look deep within and face their own emotional turmoil.
Is there a time to clamour and wave and march and protest? Absolutely! But those types of actions require dedication and inspiration and well-thought planning. They also require sacrifice. The greatest revolutionaries often sacrifice their physical lives to their causes. Until you are prepared to do that there is no point in taking up any cause.
Awakening is a potential engine for creating great and very real change in our world without the need for placards and marches and protests. Can we sacrifice our pride? Can we look within and actually feel our emotions? Can we face our pain?
We can and we must if we ever hope for the civilized world to survive. There is no more important step I can think of than for mankind, as a whole, to shake off the shackles of sleep and to awaken the inner conscience locked inside all of us.
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