Awakening Reflections

 

Essence of one’s being

Every major nondual tradition emphasizes that our body/ego/mind are not our highest essence. Our essence is both transcendent and immanent, like the blood in our bodies. The phenomenal world, the entire universe, is manifested by the supreme divinity, which we can call God/Pure Being/Self/Brahman or the Absolute. It is our essence, the very core of our being. It is who we truly are. It is the inner aspect of our existence that remains constant regardless of the circumstances we face in our lives.

Despite the fact that we all share this basic essence or purity, we are generally unaware of it. We don’t feel particularly connected to our fundamental essence, despite the fact that we are essentially “It.” This is a solid mass of pure consciousness bliss that is unchanging, unmoving, and unassailable. I’m never not a part of it. Nothing, no torture, no misfortune, can take me out of it.

We will not be able to recognize this as long as our perception is clouded. We can perceive the Essence in All when our perception is no longer influenced by traumas, patterns, blockages, vasanas from previous lives, hurts, anger, hatred, stress, and so on. When we perceive an object with our senses, our perception is clear and pure. We see an object, such as a flower, in all of its glory. We can be captivated by the grace and fragrance of a flower. We can see that the flower is a manifestation of the Absolute. (see Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Bhagavad Gita, A new Translation and Commentary chapter V, verses 8 and 9).

Awakening, Person and Personalities

Just like any other human being, the great masters also have different personalities. They too have a body that has its limitations and can be prone to illness etc. and they have a mind. Like everybody else, they live in this world with all its problems. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi said, “As long as man has a body, there is still a subtle veil of ignorance (leshavidya).

The awakened person has different personalities like all human beings, but he has realized that there is no person. He knows that the previous identification with the body was only based on thoughts, but was not a reality. The ego thought, characterized by blockages, patterns and so on. suggest to the person that he or she is only the body, is no longer present. Life is no longer viewed through glasses coloured by the patterns and blockages.

“Wisdom tells me that I am Nothing. Love tells me that I am Everything. And between these two my life flows.””

Nisargadatta Maharaj

Experiences are clear, natural, thoughts flow freely and there is often a sense of well-being. It is a feeling of more life value, more vitality. Life is experienced in its richness and its perfection and that in all its phenomenal forms. It is not that the Awakened one is nothingness and the world does not exist. He experiences the body as a reality and experiences the world as a reality. He experiences that everything is carried by the Divine consciousness, by the Divine energy, which ultimately causes everything, without which nothing can exist. He perceives that the Divine energy is the building block of his body and his true nature. He experiences one hundred percent absolute and one hundred percent relative.

Awakening and the Mind

Awakening means experiencing life clearly without the mind interfering. Many people are traumatized by past experiences and have no clear mind. The traumas, the fears, the hurts, the erroneous perceptions and the interpretations that people have had because of blocks and patterns hardly matter when you are awakened.

When you are awakened, you see things as they really are. The mind works clearly. It is there for you. It is as your servant, but it no longer leads you astray. Most people believe in what the mind tells them. They think that if the mind says you must be afraid, then you must be afraid. In the actual situation, it may not be so at all, because the fear stems from previous experiences. You don’t fall into that trap when you are awakened.

Growth after Awakening

When you are awakened, you are no longer searching. When you sit in silence, you don’t have to practice a meditation technique. You are just there experiencing the deep silence and the Divine Presence. You live in the natural state, sahaja. After Awakening, life goes on. It is not that you are always floating in bliss and that everything is easy. The work goes on. You may even have to work hard, have great success or not. But the question is whether you can call the activity work or play because everything goes by itself. You no longer try to control everything and you realize that you were never in control anyway. Everything works by itself, goes easily. Life is a river. You swim with the current. Life flows effortlessly, like the river to the sea.

After awakening, not everything is bliss. You still have your karma and vasanas from previous lives. But you can see everything more clearly now. You adjust to it, surrender to life and accept it. Of course, there will be failures and difficulties. Maybe even more than before. With the challenge, the mind grows. When you are more developed, the tasks will also become bigger. But you realize that you will be able to manage. You just have to accept the tasks and surrender to them.

If you want bliss and peace, that happens. It is always there. You just have to give it space. Sit quietly, relax and accept everything. Just be with this moment, be in the now and embrace everything. Then you feel the bliss and peace, whatever turbulence there may be in your life.

Your problems and your deep-seated patterns don’t just go away. They don’t leave you when you reach the level of Awakening. They will keep nibbling at you and try to sneak in through the back door. You have to be very alert and watch how you act and how you react. The old patterns are still there, but they have lost a lot of the power they used to have. They are on their way out. They are on their way to die. It is important to know that evolution is always going on. Poonjaji said, “Be mindful till your last breath.”

“Your own self-realisation is the greatest service you can give to humanity.”

Ramana Maharshi