Awakened

[mojomojo]

As a spiritual seeker, who has had experience of spirit and odd glimpses of truth, I still consider myself merely to have placed my foot on the bottom rung of the spiritual ladder, I think it was a never ending quest to find the truth that brought me to the path, I do not even consider myself knowledgable on the matter, as I feel intellect is of the mind, and while entertaining and interesting, seems a different direction, to my basic understanding, which is to transcend that.

To become awakened or reach enlightenment seems to be the ultimate goal.
How many here consider themselves to be awakened.
Many people speak of having more than one awakening, which suggests that it is an ongoing process of varying levels.
There  also seem to be people who have a hard time coping with awakening, is this because they were not ready.
When you have become awakened, how are you different, more sensitive seems to be a common factor.
It has been said and printed that tripping is a very close comparison, but doesn't show you how to get there.

Does becoming awakened, make it more difficult to cope with every day life, more sensitive.
Is there value to been awakened, or does that come when we hit the magic number.

Before enlightenment chop wood carry water, after enlightenment chop wood carry water.

I have often watched documentaries of people who have been awakened, and a lot do come across in their speech and manner as if they were tripping, is to reach a state of awakening, to reach a state of natural tripping.

Those who are awake, how would you describe it?

[chris86]

Sensitivity is the main part of spirituality i think, its being more open minded and how to deal with situations, thoughts, either good or bad, each sensitive moment absorbs the good and bad and lets you choose to let it go or embrace that moment, i guess without feeling from not being sensitive makes us only think, which seems a little dreamy i think, so feelings make situations more real to deal with thoughts or situations, its a practice worth experiancing, through experiance i find it helps, so i think sensitivity is part of spirituality and is good practice, hope this adds to your opinion, though it could be a special trait thats shared among eachother, though some or many not might feel or notice untill they open up to how they feel to deal with life.

[tribunalofmercy]

There is a recently-published book by Sam Harris, entitled Waking Up, that you may find interesting to read, Robert. I know I have. These are the books, now, that assure me the entire ‘waking’ western world is not All “stumbling around like field mice after a night in the grain bin”, as I like to put it. Lol


Many people experience the ‘awakening’ many different ways, and we know it. My own background, though leaving me Completely unprepared for m experience back in 1987, led me to believe that charismatic Christians associated it with ‘the Baptism of the Holy Spirit’, which often involved speaking in tongues, falling to the floor and convulsing, etc. (up til then, watching charismatic Christians in a Church service was scary enough to have me thinking of crawling under a Chair, lol)

When it did happen I was not in Church, or meditating, or anywhere Near a state of “grace” – it just Happened. (I was at home, sick with a cold at the time – but I Was talking to God, like always) It came with the OBE, the ball of fire, etc – but there was no emotion; no convulsing or falling to the floor; no initial evidence of Anything other than a Profound sense of Awareness, when I had this Silence, yet this sense of Everything saying, “BEHOLD, GOD”. In a different way that I had Ever imagined. It was Peace; that was the first night of my life, that I slept with the light off


I asked people about it afterward, because at the time I truly Believed it was probably what other people were praying for me to experience, ‘finally’ – but they did not understand. Some were frightened; some tried to convince me it was Delusional; my doctor tried to explain it as a temporal lobe seizure. Sometimes I wished, like Ishtahota mentioned, that I had someone around who Did know what was happening, but I’m sure the Universe knows better than I…it was a purifying fire, which “cured” me of ignorance, drinking, rock music, television, fear, etc etc – gave me gifts and powers - but it did not last more than a couple of years, for I did not understand I had to Work to keep this vibrational “high” I experienced. Some people sensed a miracle and expected me to behave like the prophets now, so when I made very human mistakes they (and myself) were Devasted, and shunned me.


In my opinion only, no matter How far we fall from the “high” of expanded consciousness, or an awakening, there are things we Do not lose – after all, how do we experience those things of This life that become part of our experience? Things that Happen to us, positive or negative, that we may later release our attachment to, still Expand us because of the experience, yes? And awakenings are even Deeper, because they come from other than our Own perceived reality.


Harris quotes Rumi in his book: “One day you will find yourself outside this world which is like a mother’s womb. You will leave this earth to enter, while you are yet in the body, a vast expanse, and know that the words, “God’s earth is vast” name this region from which the saints have come.”


What are your thoughts on this, Robert? There is now, which we see And you have mentioned before....?

[mojomojo]

Hi all,
Thank you for your replies,
Yes, it seems sensitivity, is an emotion that is enhanced, even though it should make us more aware of dealings with others, not sure I would consider it a bonus, but as has been said, " life is a trade off."
One thing surprises me, I was of the belief, that once you became awakened, that was it, job done, from what you are saying Mary Anne, it's a constant effort to remain there, so having more than one awakening, doesn't necessarily mean, higher levels attained.
So, is it fair to say, it only comes in glimpses and is not a permanent state, but as you put it a fall from grace, doesn't necessarily put you back on the start line, but is an ongoing spiritual roller coaster ride of peaks and troughs, and very rarely a constant.
In short then, it never ends.

[chris86]

Bastille - Flaws
Dig them up, so nothing is left unturned, We see that we need them, to be who we are, without them we be doomed

[mojomojo]

While reading over replies to posts, and information from other sources, it seems people's views on the same question can vary greatly, while their intent is always to help.
I believe this is a sole path, for the greater path must be travelled alone, to try to build a truth from the collective knowledge of others, only leads to confusion, real truth can only come from personal experience.
We are cast among a vast sea, forever changeable, sometimes calm, sometimes turbulent, sometimes rest is found, when we uncover and cling to a truth, but this will also be pulled from our grasp, we can willingly partake in this journey, but a time will come when we are cast into its depths, to sink or swim.
Is it the hour of birthing pains we must endure to reach our destiny, our fate unknown, and what of free will?, the choice of sinking or swimming, but even to swim is a death of sorts.
Must death be something we rush towards, eagerly, fearlessly, welcoming, is death the release and birth the fearful fate, is it the exit and not the entrance that should be celebrated.
Is death, the one we run from, our greatest fear, is he our only true friend, in its arms do we find release, as above so below, but if mirror'd, it's the opposites we should seek.


p.s. Death here refers to the death of the ego, and nothing else.


Robert.

[Ishtahota]

Ego is part of the animal body, we can not live without it in this body. It keeps our heart beating, it keeps us breathing while we sleep. It helps all of our body functions keep going while we do other things. The Mystics only asked (who serves who). Do we serve our ego or does it serve us? The martial artist train their bodies to react without thought, this is the ego being trained. Reactions are mostly based in fear. While actions can be based more from the love aspect.

[mojomojo]

Very good point Ishtahota,
I have often wondered where the ego came from,
And going back to hunter, gatherer times, we have been told violence was almost non existent, life was a much more communal affair, more peaceful.
But if food became scarce, mans instinct for survival must kick in, I have always thought this is where the ego arose,
But your view makes more sense, the ego must have had a purpose, that been, to make sure man survived,
But the servant, took over and became the master.
It's not the death of the ego that is required, it is like the mind, a tool to be used for certain functions and then laid down.
Again, it is the middle path.
If the master leaves the house, and leaves the servant in charge, and does not return, when due, his absence allows the servant to think he has become the master.

[chris86]

So cricify the ego, before its far to late, leave behind this place so negative, blind and sinical, and you will come to find, we are all one mind, capable of all thats imaginable and all concievable, so when the lights touch you, forever worst still do, let them pass right through, bringing out our hope and reason, before we pine away - james maynard keenen

[aceofcups]

Hi Robert, some of questions you asked of late,,,, they were intriguing but I didn't feel I wanted to add more stuff to the many varied answers you received...

This article I found below agrees with a lot I understand and agree with from my experiences:



The Esoteric postulates there is a Divine Plan, and that Plan is Spiritual Evolution. The basic postulates of the Ancient Wisdom are:

One Life pervades the universe and sustains it. The universe is not just a place where nature's forces operate by chance. Every event that has happened from the beginning of time has happened according to certain laws inherent in the universe. These laws are the expressions of a Consciousness of Life. Everything that exists, from the electron to the largest star is impregnated with that Consciousness.

The phenomenal universe is the manifestation of an eternal, boundless and immutable Principle. This fundamental Reality is what sages and saints have called Law, the Great Architect, Evolution. Each person, according to their temperament and their experience, must determine how they will regard the Consciousness which directs everything.

Spirit (or consciousness) and Matter are the two polar aspects of the Ultimate Reality. These two with the interplay between them comprise a trinity from which proceed innumerable universes, which come and go in an endless cycle of manifestation and dissolution, all being expressions of that Reality.

There are many solar systems of which ours is one. Every Solar System is an orderly scheme governed by laws of nature that reflect transcendental intelligence. "Deity is Law". The visible planets of the solar system are its densest parts; it also contains invisible worlds of exceedingly tenuous matter interpenetrating the physical. The entire system is the scene of a great scheme of evolution.

The Spirit of Individuals is in essence identical with the Supreme Spirit, all pervasive Consciousness "that Unity, that Oversoul, within which every person's particular being is contained and made one with all other". The gradual unfolding of this latent divinity takes place by means of a process of reincarnation, in accordance with the Cyclic Law, seen everywhere in Nature, of periods of activity alternating with periods of rest and assimilation. Men and women are units of consciousness.

The nature of the Absolute resides in every man and woman, and we are not these bodies which perish; they are only garments which we wear for a while and cast aside. We are immortal souls. The perfection of a "God" dwells in us also, for we "live and move and have our being" in IT.

Our multiple births are an entrance into a workshop or laboratory, where we work slowly to unfold our faculties and realize our true nature. But it is not possible to realize the divine nature in us by the experiences of one lifetime. So, we reincarnate again and again. We enter the phenomenal world, we are born, we grow, we act, we finish our work and we return. to the earth or others places in evolution. Our return is death. After a rest in inner levels of consciousness, growing by realizing the joys we planned  but did not achieve and looking to grow more , we return to birth again, more purified, stronger, wiser, to work again, so as to become more perfect in thought and feeling and action. This is reincarnation.

"Whatsoever a person soweth, that shall they also reap". This is the law of Karma, under which people weave their own destiny through the ages. This is the great hope for humanity, for people can indeed become the master of their future by what they do in the present. As we live and act, sometimes we succeed, sometimes we fail. We do good and we do inharmonious actions, guided by our altruism or our selfishness. When we are inharmonious, we create discord in the universal harmony and within our being, and we must restore that harmony. This process of sowing and reaping is called Karma. It is a law of readjustment of forces which a person sets into motion by every one of their thoughts, words and deeds. Since all the units of consciousness or the souls are divine, all souls are equal. There are young souls and old souls, according to their experiences but all are connected. In spite of every difference of birth, capacity, environment; of race, creed, sex, caste or color; of goodness or negativeness - all people form an indivisible Brother/Sisterhood of humanity. All of us, high or low, ignorant or wise, make a chain, and grow stronger by helping the weaker. Brother/Sisterhood is the Law of growth for all people.

But this connectiveness extends to all - animals, birds, fishes, even the plants, mountains and seas. We grow by our unity with all things. The Divine Nature, which is latent in them as in us, helping our inherent Divinity to step forth in its beauty in its Unfoldment.

[mojomojo]

Hello Ace,
As always, thank you for your reply,
Yes, I agree with everything you wrote,
For the last few months, I have replaced meditation for prayer, both to see if it works, and because I was fed up with energies wanting to come and live with me through meditation,
but I feel I might go back meditating, as it seems a more powerful tool for keeping the ego under control.

When I first entertained spirituality back in the 90's, I was very quickly drawn to Zen, it was like slipping back into an old habit, I woke every morning at 5 am, meditated for an hour, then read for a while, went to work, came home, ate, meditated, more reading, no television, very simple rigid life style, but I loved it, it was like a light had been switched on overnight.
It seemed the ego didn't slip back in as quick.

Now, even though, when I'am in tune, and it seems at a deeper level, I seem to slip out more easily, then I get frustrated, and fall more out of alignment, but I think I may have answered my own question, I need to go back meditating, but what to do with my uninvited guests. LOL.
I'am beginning to wonder if my so called guests, are a part of my own energy, which separates and stares back at me.

For the last few days and nights I have a surge of energy running through me, has me hyper and can not sleep at night, probably has the mind over active as well, last night it dawned on me, I looked under the curtains, and there it was, that big shinning, white globe in the night sky, I could even feel its energy, looking at it, am I right in saying, that artistic intuition is meant to emanate from the moon, but that it also has a dark side, hence the term loony, I do hope it's the artistic, I pick up on. LOL.(but I'm not quite sure.)
Again, thank you,
Robert.

[chris86]

Would you say awakening is being aware of the self and being spatially aware, or alert and aware also, consciously aware, well not right now because im being logical about this, though being non verbal cant be explained in words right? And i tried to atleast explain in words.

[chris86]

So to meditate on the future, will end up being a present moment, then become part of the past, so meditation is about the present moment, or present awareness, or alert too, some mention being alert or sensitive to thier surroundings, though its them that is sensitive about them selves, surroundings was always there, why feel alert because of surroundings all of a sudden,, its feeling self aware for a moment, thats here and now, soon as you start to think about it, the less aware of the self you are, though we are ourselves under all the thoughts, worry is one amplified example, it doesnt feel right, thought gets in the way, can seem why some moments are missed even though you was there, thoughts take you away for a moment, seperating your body from your mind, that isnt me, i am myself when im non verbally aware of myself with no thought form, hope this makes sense, been researching and you can guess who obviously.

[chris86]

Hope i made sense in the comment above, i posted a video of awakening in the spiritual video section, hoping the video might help explain our topic here, sure you all might have seen it or read about present awareness, so i hope you still enjoy the video
i have edited this comment to add a link to the video
spiritualforum.me.uk/thread/5994/video-awakening-awakened-present-awareness

[aceofcups]

Namaste Robert,

Thanks for reply back, BTW- the exact Full Moon isn't until late Thursday afternoon in UK.

Sometimes it feels like the tricks of the joker ego become more subtle as we move on towards a deeper integration with our Higher Self.  Or that we have to face directly our attached shadows, as the mirror gets more polished.

You mentioned the uninvited guest , which brings to mind the poem by Rumi "The Guest House".  The Guest House is of course of Ego where we rent out rooms to ourself for a short while.  Or as Mary Anne said it is not our Home.  Here is a greeting card I had a made of poem a few years ago.          Peace, aceofcups

[mojomojo]

Hi Chris,
I presume your name is Chris, thanks for your input,
I have read Tolle's books, and agree living in the present moment is a powerful practise for putting us in alignment with spirit,
Not sure I would regard that as been awakened though, it may lead to it, but as for myself that hasn't happened as of yet.
Mindful meditation probably does the same thing, stilling the mind and focusing on the now,
but other meditating can take us beyond the mind and travelling through other realms, and after seems easier to stay connected.
I always practise, living in the present moment, the trick been to stay there.


Hi Ace,
I always seem to pick up the energy of a full moon, a few days before, and after, so that's no sleep Thursday night then.
The joker ego becoming more subtle, is exactly what it feels like.
Rumi's poem had me laughing, very good,
I have read none of his stuff, but he seems popular with a lot here, must look into it,
But it's getting to the stage, where it's hard to justify another book, when they are literally stacked every where,
Many thanks,
Robert.

[chris86]

Only physically can someone wake us up, well if they try hard enough, im a deep sleeper lol
Not sure sombody could wake me up mentally or spiritually other than myself, so i understand only you can awaken yourself,
I see alert aware and awake as the same as eachother, not exactly the same, but along the lines of not sleeping or dreaming, or getting carried away with thoughts that blinds the self, the silent gaps between thoughts are important.
Sleeping means your not awake, dreaming means your not alert, thinking means your not aware,
Aware means your aware, alert means your alert, awake means your either aware or alert, anything between is thoughts and analysis

[Ishtahota]

Mar 3, 2015 16:30:23 GMT chris86 said:

Only physically can someone wake us up, well if they try hard enough, im a deep sleeper lol
Not sure sombody could wake me up mentally or spiritually other than myself, so i understand only you can awaken yourself,
I see alert aware and awake as the same as eachother, not exactly the same, but along the lines of not sleeping or dreaming, or getting carried away with thoughts that blinds the self, the silent gaps between thoughts are important.
Sleeping means your not awake, dreaming means your not alert, thinking means your not aware,
Aware means your aware, alert means your alert, awake means your either aware or alert, anything between is thoughts and analysis

Other people can pop open around you and if you are close to doing it on your own, they can set you off. We have had this happen in our sweat lodges. Others popping open close to you can set you off.

[aceofcups]

Hi Robert.. that poem is a bit different then a lot of Rumi poems.. sometimes they are more symbolic or metaphoric.  But no need to buy a book, you can get lots of his poems on-line. ( text or video versions).  I personally like ones translated by Coleman Barks.

 Rumi created and spoke his poems outloud in Persian while he was in a deep awakened meditative frame of mind supposedly spinning around a pole. ( The Whirling Dervishes came about from Rumi).  They were copied later into written form by his students.

peace
aceofcups

[Bartholomew]

Mar 1, 2015 10:23:16 GMT mojomojo said:

Those who are awake, how would you describe it?



Don't ask me.  My axe got dull and I tripped and spilled the water.   Check with me after another hundred or so lifetimes.

[alvinw333]

I found a way to tune in to the Holy Spirit, we chant HU for about 10 min or so we hear a sound like your esrs ring in a high pitch and see a light it verrys in colar, this is the light and suund of God the Holy Spirit, it sloly awakens us, its not a big shock or anything, things become new and fresh agsin like you were a child again, it gives you awarness of how things realy are.now the presents of the Holy Spirit doesent last forever, we just chant HU again and it stays longer at times, it works with you to be sware of the ego, and other negitive things. Any one can chant HU, we call it a love song to GOD