What does Awakening mean (in your opinion)?

[Dargor]

Originally Posted by Shivani Devi

Short, sweet and directly on point. Kudos.

Good to know someone shares the same unpopular view for once. Thanks!

[django]

I was reading this today and thought it was relevant to this topic, it seems like a classic description of what might be called awakening. This was written in 1901, before every man/woman and his/her dog were awakened:

"Like a flash there is presented to his consciousness a clear conception (a vision) in outline of the meaning and drift of the universe. He does not come to believe merely; but he sees and knows that the cosmos, which to the Self Conscious mind seems made up of dead matter, is in fact far otherwise - is in very truth a living presence. He sees that instead of men being, as it were, patches of life scattered through an infinite sea of nonliving substance, they are in reality specks of relative death in an infinite ocean of life. He sees that the life which is within man is eternal; that the soul of man is as immortal as God is; that the universe is so built and ordered that without any pre-adventure all things work together for the good of each and all; that the foundation principle for the world is what we call love, and that the happiness of every individual is in the long run absolutely certain. The person who passes through this experience will learn in a few minutes, or even moments, of its continuance more than in months and years of study, and he will learn much that no study ever taught or can teach. Especially does he obtain such a conception of the whole, or least of an immense whole, as dwarfs all conception, imagination, or speculation, springing from or belonging to ordinary Self Consciousness, such a conception as makes the old attempts to mentally grasp the universe and its meaning petty and even ridiculous."
- Richard Bucke

Originally Posted by django

I was reading this today and thought it was relevant to this topic, it seems like a classic description of what might be called awakening. This was written in 1901, before every man/woman and his/her dog were awakened:

Exactly.



Just out of interest, I wonder if those that say they are awakened have asked what they are awakened to?

Originally Posted by django

"Like a flash there is presented to his consciousness a clear conception (a vision) in outline of the meaning and drift of the universe. He does not come to believe merely; but he sees and knows that the cosmos, which to the Self Conscious mind seems made up of dead matter, is in fact far otherwise - is in very truth a living presence. He sees that instead of men being, as it were, patches of life scattered through an infinite sea of nonliving substance, they are in reality specks of relative death in an infinite ocean of life. He sees that the life which is within man is eternal; that the soul of man is as immortal as God is; that the universe is so built and ordered that without any pre-adventure all things work together for the good of each and all; that the foundation principle for the world is what we call love, and that the happiness of every individual is in the long run absolutely certain. The person who passes through this experience will learn in a few minutes, or even moments, of its continuance more than in months and years of study, and he will learn much that no study ever taught or can teach. Especially does he obtain such a conception of the whole, or least of an immense whole, as dwarfs all conception, imagination, or speculation, springing from or belonging to ordinary Self Consciousness, such a conception as makes the old attempts to mentally grasp the universe and its meaning petty and even ridiculous."
- Richard Bucke

Exactly again.

[JustBe]

Originally Posted by janielee

Seems there are a thousand variations of people saying they are Ascended/Awakened/Enlightened on this Board.

What is your version?

That’s the beauty of creation.
There are thousands, upon thousands of ways to create and live this life.
I’m the version of my own creation.
I create.

Why are you curious to know versions of others, when you probably have your own?
In the end knowing others version of such things won’t give you yours. Only you will find and create yours.

Thanks, ImthatIm, GreenSlade, Lorelyn, US, Slayer etc. for your contributions. I appreciate them.

Namaste,

JL

Originally Posted by django

before every man/woman and his/her dog were awakened:

This is partly the point of inquiry for this thread - everyone and his/her dog is awakened because everyone (at least on this forum) seems to have a different concept of it.

It's like "being fashionable" (shows off new hat)

More seriously, I have the greatest respect for all people and their spiritual inclinations, progress, realities and experiences.

Greenslade asked the right question, which is, what did the Greats teach? That is where I prefer my axis to be, but not enough time for that discussion now.

seriously - thanks everyone.

JL

Originally Posted by JustBe

That’s the beauty of creation.
There are thousands, upon thousands of ways to create and live this life.
I’m the version of my own creation.
I create.

Why are you curious to know versions of others, when you probably have your own?
In the end knowing others version of such things won’t give you yours. Only you will find and create yours.

This is a forum so asking questions seems normal, but see above for the answer to this post..

JL

Originally Posted by JustBe

That’s the beauty of creation.
There are thousands, upon thousands of ways to create and live this life.
I’m the version of my own creation.
I create.

But it's a statement and statements are closures. "I create."

When does Spirituality become Spirituality? The full Hermetic Principle is "As Above, So Below. So Below, As Above." It sounds good on paper but.... what after that? Depending on your beliefs we choose our experiences as Spirit before we take human form, and the choices we make are just as much for the 'greater good' as they are for ourselves. Matt Khan talks tongue-in-cheek of the commandos of the Love Revolution but there's a seriousness behind that - the seriousness of people making that choice for the good of the planet. Is that forgotten about as we tell each other about how Ascended we are? Because most likely others are reading it and - if they have a Newbie label you have a Master label - they'll either buy into that because it's what Spiritual people do or they'll read it and wonder at the mentality of the person behind it.

Wave goodbye to the Hermetic Principle, at least in practical terms anyway.

Aren't we 'here to learn the lessons' and - in "As Below So Above" as is often discarded - as such aren't we 'creating an investment' for the future? Acknowledging that we're Awakened is one thing and yes, we create the inspiration or others if we are the embodiment of that creation. Equally though, if we are the embodiment of our own personal Frankensteins? What then of Awakened/Enlightened/Ascended?

Originally Posted by janielee

That is where I prefer my axis to be, but not enough time for that discussion now.

It's a Journey to Self and even if you want to think it's Journey to Spirituality, Truth or anything else, there you are in the centre just the same. Everything else is interaction and interconnectedness.


You're most welcome.

[Unseeking Seeker]

***

Hello friends! There are still doubts & questions and while undoubtedly those more qualified may shed light, here are some shared insights ...

Alright, let’s attempt to see as best as are able, what the shadow of intuition enabled awakening looks like as a depiction upon the canvas of the analytically questioning or let us say, curious mind asking the question.

Analysis fragments, bisects and then attempts to join parts to make the whole, more often than not based upon assumptions. Intuition cognises the whole instantly, clearly and unmistakably, knowing by direct seeing. The deduction vs cognition pathways can meet provided both are employed. However, the analytical mind does not recognise intuition! Rejection without investigation. A paradox, scientifically speaking.

But this was not the question.

First and foremost, what they are awakened to is the definitive knowing to what they have been awakened unlike vicarious knowledge. For the scientifically inclined ... yes, the engagements of awakening are replicable, albeit as always with divine grace and while colourations vary as do the hues of a setting sun, innumerable validations of patterns signal the one truth.

But this was not the question.

Comparisons. Let’s look at comparisons. Buddha recollected all past lives and knew the root cause of human suffering whereas Yogananda could see spherically through solidity and be ever connected to the Creator, others see auric fields, some are clairvoyant and variations thereof, some channel higher souls, others prefer silence. Did I read somewhere that Jesus walked on water, healed by touch and resurrected in the flesh? Or that Arjuna was shown Krishna’s vishwaroopa? Or that Maha Avtar Babaji can teleport at will? Truth or heresay? Who’s to say?

Whoops! It seems all mixed up even if true. Different enablements for different people!

Score a point for the analytical mind. But is it any wiser as compared to those who have directly ‘seen’ to the extent as at this time as the Universe has ordained? Perhaps not.

I guess the analytical mind must ask each person who has so ‘seen’ and been and so become what their individual journey is all about. If it seeks the truth that is, even analytically.

Dispensing with foreplay, recognising the futility of translation, the knowing is this:

We are the formless awareness, one with the That Oneness, dissolved in the current and unified with the Oneness, yet distinct. It may be affirmed that God IS. We are as He. Not God but yet as He.

The fabric of God is Love Absolute, the highest energy that dissolves all lower energies within it in timeless time.

We are already awakened to Love reception but not its transmission. Ascension is the path to be enabled as a love transmitter in sync with the all pervading divine pulsation.

Duality and the ego are necessary delusions encasing our formless presence in grossness. As we gradually uncover layer by layer the gross negativity, a higher percentage of awareness or divine light (a scientific term!) is admitted. We imbibe, assimilate and then are able to transmit the higher vibrational energy.

I was about to add that everything is vibration but let’s put this on hold for now.

Love being a nonjudging, non calculating, all embracing, ceaseless outpouring, our path needs to be voluntary. Once we accept that the ephemeral external does not offer any happiness in permanence we ourselves choose to turn inwards to the eternal. There is no path, no way. Our choice is itself the way.

So the partial awakening, since the ascension is unending, enables us owing to the definite knowing having seen, been and so become, to remain unwaveringly focused effortlessly upon the pathless path when back in form. There is no doubt, no hesitation, no delusion. As we progress there are secret unfoldings unique to each as of need.

The experiences sound out of the world because they are beyond imagination. Hence we have sceptics which is alright. Where’s the argument? One has seen and the other without basis says that the one who has seen has not actually seen ... must be hallucinating! Jesus walked on water ... I cannot, so it is impossible that He did. A fair enough view, leaving the sceptic no richer and the awakened no poorer. The awakening is such that it cannot be sized, weighed or measured and hence not provable ... yes, it’s conceding the point since there is no debate.

Rephrasing it simplistically, the one who has seen or been awakened ... to whatever degree, now knows absoluteness of Oneness lived reality, in thought, word & deed and by reflex is oriented accordingly. The fulcrum of consciousness shifts. Automatically.

Playfulness remains. Weaknesses are still present. How comforting!

And that my friends, is the tale.

***