At a guess I was around 8 years old and someone (can’t remember who or what the situation was), stood in front of me and with much clarity I thought to myself “What is inside this person, is exactly the same as what is inside of me, the only difference is our life situation and the bodies we operate from”. At the time this did not seem ‘prolific’ or even a ‘revelation’, it just was. It was obvious. It would take me 20 odd years later to realise the significance of this ‘knowing’, but for my entire life this ‘truth’ never left me, as I say, it was just so obvious to me that no matter what ‘opinion’ or ‘debate’ surrounded it, the truth was always the truth and it never changed.

The term ‘awakening’ as defined in the dictionary is; ‘An act of waking from sleep’ and ‘An act or moment of becoming suddenly aware of something’. In essence, its not about ‘gaining knowledge’ or even ‘learning’, it really is removing the veils of illusion and seeing things for how they really are and always have been.  It’s actually very simple and to those who ‘see’, it is so obvious that one can wonder why no one else can see the truth (even when you break it down into little bite size chunks of understanding).

So, what exactly are we ‘Awakening’ to? The answer is, our true self. And what is true self? It’s the knowing that you are not the body, that you are the soul living inside a body having a dualistic experience within the body, in this world. Yet most people live their life ‘being’ the body. Operating from the perspective of ‘the person’, limiting ‘self’ to within the shell that it is carried within.

During the course of our lives we will experience many different things. A range of emotions and life experiences, which ultimately helps us grow, helps strip down veils of illusion and helps us realise what is truly important and what is not. In a nutshell, life helps us see the ultimate truth and in doing so, removes the multi-faceted level of ego, in other words, the belief we are the person.

To help you understand this, lets take the example of dealing with a narcissist. For those who have ever been under a narcissists control, it is a truly debilitating experience. You can never quite put your finger on ‘what is wrong’, but you know that you will never be good enough in the narcissists eyes, your opinion does not count and ultimately most people living under this control end up with a deflated sense of self-worth, self-love and always believe that something is ‘wrong’ with them.  Then one day, you stumble upon an article on how to spot a narcissist and how they can impact the life of another. As you read the article it resonates at a deep level with you. It’s as if someone has written down your life experience, your feelings and finally, you feel understood and a deep clarity enfolds your being. You then start to look at these traits of both the narcissist and your role throughout your life and no matter where you look, it always resonates as a truth. Of course, when we get these ‘revelations’ in our lives it can sometimes take a little adjusting to, so it may evoke feelings of anger, regret and so on, but ultimately it settles, and you are happy that you can see the ‘truth’. Of course, once you see it, you wonder how you never spotted it before, because now, it is so obvious. This is what is known as ‘stripping away the veils of illusion’ / ‘awakening’.  Then the cycle continues, with new lessons and revelations.

Awakening is not just limited to the ‘individual’ but it can also relate to ‘global’ awakening. So, things that effect the world as a whole. Some examples of this is the destruction of our natural world through greed of resources, pollution and so on. It can take the form of realisation that our ‘governments’ do not always have our best interest at heart; that there is an agenda to divide, separate and evoke fear-based thinking within the inhabitants of this Earth. That our Media outlets only pump out what they want the nation to know and ignore anything else that goes against the ‘agenda’. Again, just like the narcissist example, when you see it, it can’t be unseen and you are left wondering why no one else can see it too.

One aspect to note about ‘awakening’ is that each and every individual on this Earth has their own life path to ‘self’. Indeed, some people will never wake up in this lifetime and others will be quite awake as very young children. Each person is needed, each person is part of the ‘oneness’ of the Universe and each person is just where they need to be, regardless of how ‘awakened’ they are.

When you commit to self-discovery, you are putting yourself on the path to awakening because you have decided to look at the ‘why’ to everything. Why do I do this? Why do I need this? Etc. There are many levels to self and many levels to ‘awaken’ to, sometimes this happens sporadically and other times it much slower and subtle. The end goal always being to ‘discover who you truly are’ and when you find the answer to this, ALL questions are answered. ALL.

5 things to note about awakening:

  1. Not everyone will awaken in this lifetime.

We live in a world of duality. Which really means opposite ends of the one spectrum. For instance, good and bad, love and hate. To have one, you must have the other. Therefore, if people are awakening to love, there are others who are saturating in hate. Yet, when you look closely you will see the perfection of this. War is a good example here. When we have war, we have those who instigate it and those who wake up to the beauty of all life as a consequence of it.

  1. Age is not relevant to our level of conscious awareness.

Age/time, are only concepts. We have very small children on this Earth who are the most loving, inspiring and awakened souls and then we have elderly people who are firmly entrenched in the body. Each person on this Earth today, entered this world with their own level of consciousness and this will ultimately determine the base level of which one will operate from.

  1. Awakening can be a lonely experience.

For most people who awaken, it can be a lonely road. You see things others do not see and when you try and show others the way you are often met with much resistance which can leave you feeling, lonely, isolated and totally misunderstood. Indeed, you may also feel that you no longer want to associate with the people and things that you once had and consciously remove that which does not serve you from your life. It’s therefore helpful if you connect with other ‘like minded souls’ in whatever way possible so that you have a ‘tribe’ of people to support you on your own personal journey of self-discovery.

  1. The Truth never changes.

When you awaken to aspects of your self / this world / others, it becomes truth. There is no question that surrounds it. Years may pass and it is still truth. Debates make occur around it, yet it remains as truth. It so clear, obvious and unchanging.

  1. The lessons never finish.

This ‘life’ is about learning new things. Even for ‘gurus’ and ‘spiritual teachers’ there is always something new to see and learn. Mooji once said (perhaps not in these exact words), that when you awaken it’s like getting the keys to a new mansion, walking through the door and not having even switched on the lights to explore. In other words, it is infinite, incomprehensible and always a journey of deeper discovery.

To be reading this at some level you have ‘awakened’. Perhaps your just starting out on your journey, or perhaps you are much further down the road. No matter what ‘stage’ you are at, you are just where you need to be, doing the best you can with your current level of consciousness and by ‘living’ are always on a path of deeper self-discovery.

If anyone would like to connect with me to discuss their own personal journey you can connect with me on info@janetgracey.com or indeed book yourself a FREE 30 minute consultation.

With so much love and DIVINE light to you all.

Janet

xxxx