Consciousness
Wake Up!
I am people watcher. I admit it. The
people I find most interesting to watch are those whose
breathing slows down, and grace begins to glaze across
their eyes and knowing arrives from some place pulled
forward from the past when we talk about becoming enlightened.
Now, I don’t doubt for a moment that we all want
to be awake, but that ego of ours whose job it is to
help us survive with power, position and perfect presentation
all in tact, works overtime. I think we all know on
some level that there is a better way to live – a
higher level of happiness and contentment to be had.
But how in the world do we get there?
Spiritual awakening is about a journey - a journey to enlightenment. The journey
itself, not the end result, is the transformational part. Every step along the
way tends to reveal a new part of oneself that can be celebrated and that reunion
with the truth of who we are results in enlightenment. Enlightenment is not about
sitting on a mountain some where
Om-ing, although one could certainly get there by doing so. Rather, enlightenment
today is about living the truth you know to whatever degree that you know it.
In order to become enlightened one must first have the intention or desire
to
wake up. That requires a certain level of fearlessness. You must want to be free
more than you want anything else like recognition, money, adoration or security.
You must want it more than you want or love any one else as well. You must want
it more than you want your momentary needs to be filled. You must want it more
than you want to be protected from your fears or the truth about yourself. No
doubt all that sounds a bit drastic until you understand that until you want
enlightenment more than anything else – everything else – most of
which is based in fear - still has a greater hold on you. The moment you want
enlightenment most, you can then have everything else but you will never compromise
your character to get those things. That act of compromising the truth of who
we are is exactly what keeps us from becoming enlightened. In the past we have
wanted to look good, have great material wealth, be powerful and be in control
more than we have wanted to wake up.
You must also be willing to take personal responsibility. You must be willing
to understand that you are living today exactly what you believed yesterday and
tomorrow you will be living whatever you choose to believe today. You are doing
this minute, exactly what you most want and have chosen to do. That means you
stop pretending to be a victim to your past or the future and you start making
different choices. You can legitimately be a victim when you are a child. Once
you become an adult, every choice you make creates a consequence. That consequence
in turn ultimately creates your reality which eventually creates your destiny.
The moment you are willing to stop all unconscious behavior, you have opened
the door to enlightenment and freedom simply by taking your own power and making
new choices.
To become enlightened you must stop running from your fears as if they
had more
power than you do. The minute you turn around and face your fears, you have made
the conscious statement that you are bigger than they are and the energy they
carry is instantly diminished. Once you learn to avoid nothing and face everything,
you find the fastest way out of the fear is right through the middle of it. There
is nothing from your past that you have not already survived - so now you are
simply cleaning up the emotions from those events so that you can get to the
understanding and lesson. When we face our wrong choices, we can begin to make
right ones. When we admit our mistakes we can make fewer of them. Facing your
fears gives you the exquisite experience of finding out that you are deserving
of self-respect after all.
Another important step is to stop taking everything so personally. Believe it
or not, 90% of any response anyone else has about you is about them and it comes
directly from that person’s own set of life experience and individual references.
Your own ego may tell you that everyone is focused on you, but the truth is,
most people are pretty overwhelmed with their own set of challenges. This baby
boomer plague of thinking it’s all about us needs to come to a screeching
halt. As Terry Cole-Whitiker once said, “What other people think of you
is none of your business.” Don’t sweat it.
If you want to be enlightened, commit to your own growth and make a difference
in the world – sometimes anonymously, sometimes not. Find a support group
of people, maybe in addition to, or out of, your 12-step groups. Pick people
who can help you stay on the path and commit to keeping each other awake. Form
a couples group or a singles group and talk about how to stay in your integrity
and remain awake with each other. Talk about transformation. Come out of the
spiritual closet. Get the information you need to know in order to integrate
new principles and ideas. Stop regurgitating the old stuff, and venture into
some new concepts as well. Be willing to bump up in your awareness and integrate
new levels of energy and understanding.
Be spiritually generous. Be willing to give when no one is looking and with reward.
Be willing to sacrifice for another without voicing it. Be humble when you could
be loud.
And finally - Be Joyful. Look for the people who make you laugh and can laugh
at themselves. Look for activities that lighten your heart and take time to see
the beauty in the world. In other words, lighten up. This is not a somber process.
It is one that lifts you off the earth and gives your heart wings.
Arizona Together
June 2003
Dr. Dina Evan
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