I am very excited about the fresh perspective I have gained through my readings lately. One book particularly (Awakening In the West by J. Lumiere-Wins and L.M. Lumiere) shares some fascinating perspective from people like you and me having experiences of spiritual awakening.
I now better understand how we create freedom for ourselves so we can get out of our own way.
These stories of awakening have a common theme of non-dual awareness. Non-dual awareness is realizing that the nature of your mind and the Universe are non-dual, they are one. With this awareness you awaken to the infinite and eternal within you.
My favorite descriptive word so far about non-dual is “vastness.” The most inspirational understanding so far about the non-dual experience is one of stillness-wave-stillness.
Let me share why this all matters to you.
First, if you read my blog you also must be an explorer of consciousness. Non-dual awareness represents a giant leap for me in understanding what is possible. It makes me excited just to have the opportunity to share these ideas with fellow seekers.
Secondly, you can be so alive and free and be open to endless possibilities if you step away from your life story and instead be fully present to what in you is at one with the universe.
I have much to say about all these ideas and yet I experience my mind having challenges putting this all into words. Before I attempt to say more, I want to take a few minutes to get caught up.
Back to my non-dual favorite, - vastness - is who you are beyond your story, beyond the ego, the personality, your thoughts and feelings, your history and your body/mind circuitry. If you drop the descriptive words, your past programming and any kind of self-definition you end up so vast you can’t help but realize your infinite and eternal nature.
Now hold on there! Don’t run away just yet. I think I can rope this wild calf of an idea down to something you can resonate with. However, before I take you elsewhere, contemplate your vastness, as vast as you can imagine.
What if who you are is awareness aware of awareness? Imagine this awareness can be summed up simply into two experiences. You are both stillness (even if you don’t spend much time here) and wave. By the way, this stillness is not boring because it includes everything in the universe. Think Star Trek without the ship Enterprise or the late Carl Sagan talking about billions of stars all in the living room called you.
Waves are what happen inside of you in response to the world. If you have a thought, a feeling or a sensations a wave arises. If you stay focused on the thought, feeling or sensation, then the wave grows.
Here’s an example: Let’s say you are angry about the traffic you are stuck in. When the anger comes up in you the wave begins. If you keep thinking about how bad this traffic is, the wave grows until finally the wave is so huge that you are about to blow. Then the traffic starts to move and you feel relief and the wave shrinks back into the sea of possibilities. Then you return to stillness.
This stillness-to-wave cycle is a perfect metaphor about how to do life in a way that offers simplicity and peace of mind. As you go through your day, notice the brief stops in stillness, then notice the stormy sea that your mind creates. Wave after wave of thoughts and feelings are what most of us experience.
However there is powerful opportunity for interrupting this chaos of the mind. The interruption points include acknowledging the moments of stillness and enjoying them. Another point is noticing that all waves no matter how big they grow all dissipate on their own. In other words, if you notice the cycle of the wave it is always the same. It begins, grows and then comes to an end.
You can trust that because that’s the cycle of the universe. Stillness, wave, stillness, wave out across the infinite and no reason to do anything but be aware of this cycle. Being aware means you have a choice to not get caught up in any waves (thoughts or feelings) but simply watch them or catch the wave and ride it until it ends.
One last thought, in the midst of this exploration I felt so expanded that I will never be the same. In the past these insightful moments where quickly gobbled up by my mind in an attempt to explain them away. However since I have been reading about all these amazing experiences it opened me to a much greater possibility and my rationalizing mind has been significantly quieted.
I will share more with you as I go. I know there is a basket full of gems waiting for understanding about this expanded way of being in the world. I will share these gems, so you and I can be free of the limiting ideas and beliefs that hold us back each day. Imagine being free to be successful, free to really love, free to keep exploring and free to express our uniqueness.
It will be fun.
PS On Friday I will share more with you about my personal experience of non-dual awareness. Don’t miss this. It will challenge your sense of self in ways that free you to create the life you want.