Awakening… to what?

Like millions of others on the planet, I often turn to Facebook and allow myself to wander around and see what’s up in the world.  As one who is both mindful of the notion of being ‘awake’ or ‘awakening’ – for myself and in my engagements with others – I am always willing and able to consider that one new insight or that single compelling thought that just might allow me to awaken, or awaken to, more of myself.

What an interesting notion:  awakening.  Such is the philosophy and language that permeates so much of what now fills the sounds and sights of information shared, with one’s Self or others.  And I find myself asking:  “Awakening…. to what? And for what purpose?”

Much of what I see linked to on Facebook (and in other  places) holds little to no interest for me.  Perhaps it is that I began this journey when I was 18 and  am now 61; or perhaps it is that I am noticing – far too often – that, like bell bottom pants and sideburns, everything old is new again!  My memory still serves me well; and I recognize old news when I see it.

That I continue to see what was (now long repeated) continue to be without results, leaves me discouraged.  And perhaps that is the underpinning of my discouragement.  I began my journey at 18, seeking my own personal evolution; and for the last 20 years, have done nothing but!  I can honestly say that this journey of personal evolution – the journey of evolution of human consciousness – has filled my every waking moment for more than 40 years.  Because of this, there have been few ‘gaps’ in my journey; few breaks along the way with the usual distractions of daily living.

So, in this moment, I pause and reconsider:  Awakening… to what?

Many have awakened to the need to be more attentive to the physical body; to be more discerning (and mindful) of what foods we eat; of how much sleep we get; of the need to move our body if we are to remain energetic and enlivened.  Diets of one kind or another abound… and yet, I notice even there, what was ‘the thing’ to do five years ago is now questionable (if not lethal) from today’s point of view.

Many have awakened to the need to wake up to what we’re doing with our days!   The idea of ‘balance’ in personal and professional life; the notion of being reasonable in what we give and take in our interactions with others.  Greater consideration of our ‘relationships’ and what those are; what they mean to us; and the parameters we establish for determining what we keep and what we let go of.  Again, pivotal to this level of discovery is the recognition that over time, many of our determinations roll off to the side to be replaced by a newer one.  At least, for a while…

Many have awakened to the recognition that our strategies for living – as individuals, as a local community and as a global community – are no longer working.  We’re depleting the planet of its natural resources, which is bad enough – and we’re doing it in a way that is destroying the very eco-systems on which we rely for our existence!  Just how weird are we beginning to notice we are!!!  Our strategies for staying fit; for meaningful relationships; and for living effectively in our world, are proving themselves to be wanting in ways that leave us totally confused and unable to even recognize an alternative.  We are awakening to the recognition that something is driving us – and that ‘something’ can no longer take the lead.

Many of us are beginning to awaken to the need to take the long pause and wonder:  who am I? Why am I here?  We are beginning to notice that just because someone else is doing it; or just because we’ve been doing it for so long; or just because we had not thought to do otherwise, it does not mean we should just continue until we have a better plan.  We are awakening to our absolute, unquestionable need to STOP!!!!  STOP doing and being all that represents the most habituated, mindless and meaningless about us.  STOP doing things even though no one else has yet told us so.  STOP gliding along, waiting for someone/something outside of ourselves to carve out a new path; or show us a different or better way.  STOP… and be still… and wonder…..

And for many of us, this is the danger zone.  It is the point at which our awakening begins to drift slowly back into a gentle doze… sliding easily into the hazy, grey area of not knowing what else to do instead… or who else to be… and simply choosing to avoid the pain and discomfort of not knowing; and choose not to choose.  The groove of the past remains open and gaping, beckoning for a quick return to a hapless and ultimately, hopeless repetition of what was.

This is the point at which, in our awakened state, we look around and can’t see anything or anyone else ‘out there’ that calls us more fully into… into…. something else that we can learn to do/be.  And so, we slowly begin to curl in on ourselves and into a stupor of  uncertainty – longing for it not to be so and yet, deaf and blind to anything other than the truth of that moment, from one moment to the next.

Repetition and platitudes become the norm.

And yet, in my world, there is another layer of awakening.  There is a layer of awakening that can take us beyond any truth within an old and familiar context; a truth that lies in a much larger, more outrageous context that has long been held as inaccessible to us all.  And that awakening is to myself, as other than what I have been told I am.

Awakening to the possibility that for hundreds of years – possibly more – what I have been told I am, is not only incomplete it is inaccurate.

Awakening to the possibility that the still and outrageous truth within my being; that truth known innately from times long ago, is indeed an absolute truth for us all.

Awakening to the possibility that my destiny does not lie in awakening to all that my human being-ness is able/capable of, but to moving beyond my human being-ness to know that which sources it all.

I know it is time for us all to awaken to the inalienable truth that we are all – each of us – a living godforce in expression in a physical body.  And as the godforce that each of us is, we are creating it all!  How can it be otherwise?  How can godforces NOT create their world?  The challenge becomes:  when I create, am I awake to the power of that truth? Or am I deeply, soundly and unshakeably asleep to it?

What is in question is not that godforces create.  What is in question is whether or not the godforce that I AM creates, mindfully?

I know I am a living godforce in expression in a physical universe – and so are you.

I know that what I hold as truth inside my being will emanate, through my choices, and become my world.

I know that my unwillingness to own that much deeper inner truth – as I capitulate to the so-called external demands/requirements/preferences/etc. of those outside of me – will ultimately be my undoing.  And in that, the messages of that inner truth will not go away.  It will simply become louder and more urgent and more persistent… until I can no longer NOT claim and live from what I know.

Awakening to the ultimate choice within that simple truth –  that I am or I am not a living godforce in a physical universe – redefines my potential.

If I am not, then I am at the mercy of the external references that fill my life; at the mercy of all of the external powers-that-be (i.e. parents, teachers, bosses, experts, rulers, etc.) that seek to define my reality for me.  As we see from all that is moving in our much larger world, this is wearing thin.  We are losing our willingness to simply abdicate from that deeper inner truth and surrender to someone/something else by which to be shaped.

We are losing regard and respect for long-standing institutions that purported to have my/our best interests at heart.  My heart knows best what my best interests require!

As unrest, dis-ease and sheer unwillingness grows around the world – around the planet and in our own back yard! – we cannot help but STOP… and wonder… how else might I choose to live my life, today?

And if I am indeed, a living godforce expressing in a physical universe; and if I begin to awaken to manifestations that become my birthright, my world begins to shift.  Not because I assault it – but because I remove the creative force of my presence from all that I do not desire.  As the breath of my being withdraws, the boundaries of that ‘other’ begin to collapse.  Energy flows where attention goes – and when I shift the force of creation that I AM from one thing to the creation of another, that which was, ceases to be.

So many platitudes!  From one day to the next, I read words intended to be inspirational or motivational… and yet, how much does any given life change?  My personal favourite?   “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience but spiritual beings having a  human experience!”  Then, the question becomes:  How does a spiritual being LIVE in a world of flesh and blood, from one moment to the next?

Choice is indeed, the key.  But what kind of choice?  Choices within the long-held (and erroneous!) belief that we are not what we seek?  Or choices contextualized in a very different ‘truth’; a truth, for generations, fundamentally denied that we might more easily be kept in check.

Awaken to the truth of yourself as living godforce in tissue!

Awaken to the force of your presence… your breath… the vibration of your being; awaken to the power of the vibration of your own voice, not because it’s loud or insistent but because it carries the vibration of your ‘being’ into a material world.

Awaken to the brilliance your body offers as the metronome of your existence; that which keeps the rhythm and the beat of your expressed truth… assessing and measuring and reflecting the alignment of your inner truth with your external creations.

Awaken to your ability to know without content or evidence that you do; to know intuitively and instinctively what you need to say… to ask… to walk away from – and trust it!

The constraints of our own limited thinking are far more binding than any walls could ever be.  The limitations of our own thinking are more detrimental to our wellbeing than the limitations of any other.

We are at a threshold of imminent change.  It is not complicated:  change or die.  But change how?  Change what?  The change we so desperately both require and demand – of ourselves and of each other – is the change from form to energy; from matter to spirit; and from human being to godforce.  These are not incremental.  These will not come in baby steps, one safe move after the other.  These are leaps of our own potential!  They are big and bold; they are out loud and without secret; and they are the paradigm shift that we have now, for so long, so desparatly sought.

Awakening to the truth of WHAT we are will transform our lives.  Anything less, and we stay caught in the recycled web of the time before. It is a choice.