On Waking Up
Many people are currently unconscious, ensnared in Māyā’s illusion, unaware that they are merely fulfilling societal roles imposed on them, under the mistaken belief that they are distinct, individualized entities defined by insecurity and fear. Yet, this is not who one is. We can take off our costumes and masks.
Anyone can wake up to Truth.
It has nothing to do with perceived intelligence or ignorance.
It has nothing to do with gaining more knowledge.
It is simply here,
right now
nowhere else
for anyone courageous enough
to see through the illusion of self
and let go of everything —
and I mean EVERYTHING.
All memories, all knowledge, all identities, and all beliefs are not truth —
they have nothing to do with who one actually is.
Here is the thing... wait for it... wait for it... wait for it...
THERE IS NO REAL PERMANENT SELF.
The Enculturated Self is the illusion. Māyā
There is no higher self or lower self.
Go into this… What is the I? Where is it?
Keep going until you reach the very roots of this conundrum and see what is there — self or emptiness…
Awareness is just awareness — no personal self
Just a wonderful navigational system (we call ego)
that helps us navigate and be in this world
it is just not who one is
Awareness lets the navigational system flow with ease
Awareness is open to all
connected to all
Quiet and awake
Whole
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All cultures experiment with ways for people to live together on the planet. Cultures are groups of people who learn, adapt, and normalize the laws, rules, beliefs, and systems of the culture in which they live. Culture is not truth. Culture can be full of both suffering and joy, depending on the beliefs and belief systems in place. Cultures that value hierarchy and believe that humans are separate from the universe tend to suffer and perpetuate suffering. Cultures that value interconnectivity, community, and Wholeness and are egalitarian in nature tend to be full of joy and coherence. If one lived in a healthy culture of interconnectedness and wholeness, there would be no need to wake up.
Yet, if you are looking for full-blown truth, following culture is not the path.
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“A quiet mind is all you need. All else will happen rightly, once your mind is quiet. As the sun on rising makes the world active, so does self-awareness affect changes in the mind. In the light of calm and steady self-awareness, inner energies wake up and work miracles without any effort on your part.” Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
“A free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wing
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.
But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.
The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn
and he names the sky his own.
But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.”
Maya Angelou, Caged Bird
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Our culture does a great job of educating our children into Māyā’s realm of ignorance, into playing roles that enslave them in their minds without their knowing it. That is why we keep walking down a path of suffering. We are told over and over again the wonders of capitalism, how it is the only system that works, that our class system is the way things are, and war and poverty are normal - and so we believe in it— even though, like cancer, to exist, it needs to grow and grow and grow on the backs of the oppressed to consume the world.
We are taught to follow authority, that hierarchy is normal, and that poverty and oppression are just part of life. This conditioning is both subtle and overt, and it begins the moment we are born. This conditioning happens because ignorance keeps the system going. Waking up is the last thing our Government, institutions, and organized religions want.
“Governments want efficient technicians, not human beings, because human beings become dangerous to governments — and to organized religions as well. That is why governments and religious organizations seek to control education.”
― J. Krishnamurti, Education and the Significance of Life
Waking up is a paradox. On the one hand, it is accessible to everyone. With awareness, you see every thought, every image, every belief as not true. Simple. Easy to let go of that, right? Waking up can feel impossible, though, and 99.9999% of people throughout our civilized history don’t wake up because letting go of who they think they are is usually the last thing they want to do, even if they don't consciously know it. One may trick oneself into thinking that the path of manifestation, positive thinking, and spirituality will lead to awakening, without recognizing that it is just another ego game that keeps people stuck in the realm of being somebody within a capitalist society.
For most people, letting go of being someone and moving into full-blown emptiness feels terrifying. Or their navigational system (the ego) has been so inundated by trauma that the system is now in hyper-alert protection mode. Even though letting go of this responsiveness and reactivity could bring peace, the idea of letting go can feel overwhelming, overly vulnerable, or unsafe.
Despite this individual's suffering and internal conflict, characterized by despair, they are still familiar with these emotions. Suffering becomes normalized, creating a false sense of security. The security of the known. In reality, this is a significant facet of our culture, and we excel at it. The more trauma an individual endures, the harder it becomes to relinquish its hold. The persistent trauma within both the individual and society is embedded within the mind and body from an early age. To adapt to existing family and educational systems, the child develops strategies to normalize traumatic experiences—traumas that pull the child away from their innate authenticity, sensitivity, wonder, and curiosity. Unconsciously, the child constructs notions of identity based on how others treat them.
By adulthood, these self-perceptions and outlooks on the world become deeply ingrained, often leaving the individual unable to recognize or question their societal roles. And so, instead of questioning this perceived reality, sensing that the world can be different, they stay in the web of their own myopic, traumatized ego, for it is secure, as it is what they know. However, this cloak of knowing, in which they believe they know who they are, is an illusion with no real substance and perpetuates the traumas they endured in childhood and into adulthood.
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YET….
If one has the courage to stop, question, and let go of beliefs of self-knowledge, identity, and fear, then one is on the pathless path of waking up.
The question is: does one have the courage to truly let go… Of EVERYTHING….?
Here, in this emptiness, this place of no self, there is a quiet beyond imagination, beyond freedom, beyond love, beyond even Wholeness. But you can't talk about it, because every word and symbol takes you away from its very essence. One sees that the emptiness one was terrified of—the fear of the annihilation of self—was not scary at all and is, in fact, a wonderful place to be in, for fear and suffering disappear like clouds. And all that is left is Wholeness, the Truth that is you. Pure Consciousness.
