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"Awakenings"
— by Connie Habash
It's a good time
to write an article about the word I chose to be the focus of my work - awakening.
We see many awakenings around us throughout the year, and feel them happening
inside, too. So what does awakening mean to each of us in our lives?
To awaken has many meanings. The most familiar,
of course, is "to rouse from sleep". Each morning, we rouse ourselves
from unconsciousness to consciousness. Yet, what about awakening ourselves
when we're not sleeping? What have we been asleep to in our lives that now
needs to wake up? When we awaken from this "waking sleep", we learn
to see things in life differently. No longer are we under the influence of
a dream - a mirage of false beliefs, perceptions, judgements, habits. To awaken
in this way is to no longer be acting unconsciously, but to have every action
be a conscious choice, coming from inner wisdom. Let's arise from the false
dreams, and embrace a reality that we are a part of consciously creating,
rather than allowing our lives to be run unconsciously.
Similarly, to awaken can mean "to make
aware". This means to have conscious knowledge of something, and the
ability to focus our attention on it. And it happens in the present, as an
active practice - we become aware right now, rather than awareness happening
sometime in the future or having happened in the past. Awareness sometimes
comes with that "aha!" feeling - as if a veil has been lifted away
from something that was previously concealed. When we are aware, we not only
see what is behind the veil, but we have a deep understanding of it, and our
attention is very present with it.
We can practice this kind of awareness in many
ways. We can sit with our partner or a friend and focus on deeply understanding
what they feel and say, until we can experience it from their point of view.
Doing a physical activity and focusing on an aspect of it that we never did
before, like the contact of the feet with the earth, or how often we criticize
or encourage ourselves in our mind, can bring awareness we didn't have before.
Coming to any activity with an open mind and a fresh approach can awaken new
awareness.
"To call forth" is another meaning for
the word "awaken". This phrase is a command statement - when we
call something forth, we are commanding it to appear. An awakening can be
calling forth what we want to cultivate or strengthen within ourselves. What
would you like to call forth from within yourself? Maybe a more adventurous
spirit? Perhaps a more disciplined and steady mind? Or, you could call something
forth in your life. "I call forth more joy and contentment in my life
now!" You could make a similar statement to awaken whatever you wish
to create for yourself.
And finally, to awaken additionally means "to
come into being". Being is more than just existence or living - it is
our essence. It is beyond "doing" all the things that we do to try
to feel OK about ourselves. It is a state of completeness, of wholeness within.
When we come into being, we are coming into our essential nature, the fulfillment
of our True Self. In this moment, we can be deeply in touch with our Being,
our true essence. You can get a taste of this through meditation, focusing
on the breath, listening to beautiful music, gazing at the beauty within nature,
or the awe of the night sky. There are many more ways to bring our essence
into being. Consider what brings that alive within you.
Awakening is another way to describe Self-Realization,
or enlightenment. For most of us (who don't experience instantaneous enlightenment,
like a bolt of lightning!), this kind of awakening may be a very slow and
gradual process. To live in our true essence in every moment is a great challenge.
We can choose to start that process of awakening right now, as our own spiritual
practice. We can choose to dedicate every possible moment to Being our true
Self, awakening to our spiritual essence within - and without judging ourselves
when we forget this practice. When we tap into that source, we can discover
that pain no longer creates suffering, joy has no bounds, and the possibilities
are infinite.
— ©2001, 2004 by Connie Habash