A Deeper Look at Spiritual Realization

When will I awaken to my true nature? This question has perplexed many seekers on the spiritual journey. Awakening, in its essence, is an elusive yet profoundly transformative experience. Increasingly, individuals express a desire to awaken to their true nature, yet it often seems unattainable.

First and foremost, we must ask: who, or what, awakens? It is difficult to comprehend the nature of awakening if we do not understand the entity that experiences it. Let us consider this from the perspective of a dream. Imagine lying in bed dreaming of being at an ashram in Rishikesh, India. You, as the dream character, is attending satsang and wanting to become enlightened. Who awakens from the dream? The dream character never awakens because it is just that, a character. But you, as the Divine Dreamer awakens from the dream and recognizes the character in Rishikesh was having an experience that felt incredibly real, but was just playing the role of a character. Like the dream character who was seeking enlightenment, the waking “character” that you are playing doesn’t wake up either. The aspect that awakens is not the aspect interested in awakening. The seeker is not the one who awakens, which can be confusing.

The person, the body-mind, the dream character, never awakens. The “you” that you perceive yourself to be does not truly exist; it is a construct formed by layers of conditioning.

Who awakens is what some spiritual traditions refer to as Spirit, Consciousness, or Buddha-Nature. This is the entity that awakens and begins to catch glimpses of its own essence. Thus, you are the Divine Dreamer who has put itself to sleep to experience finite form. You are the unconditionally loving formless essence, the divine spark that animates all beings.

You’ve probably caught glimpses of your true nature before. Think about those moments of deep peace or genuine happiness that seemed to come out of nowhere, independent of your circumstances. That’s when your divine nature peeked through. And once it does, and it recognizes itself, the character you’ve been playing starts to dissolve.

Remember how Dorothy threw water on the Wicked Witch in “The Wizard of Oz” and she started to melt? The witch represents the ego. Similarly, the character you’ve been identifying with begins to melt away as you let go of your attachments to it—like your need to feel special, your preferences, judgments, beliefs, and values. You stop looking for the next big experience, relationship, trip, or financial boost.

Instead, you start focusing on your divine self. Your divinity becomes more important than your character. God/Source becomes more important than anything else. Doing so brings clarity to your true Self. Eventually, this loving, wise, and awake being is all you know because it is you. At the same time, the desire to remain focused on your divinity takes over, like a magnet pulling your heart closer and closer to the Love that you are. It becomes effortless and more fulfilling than any worldly experience.  

We embody pure, unconditional love, even if our behavior does not always manifest this truth. A Course in Miracles asserts that everything is either an expression of love or a call for love. When we act in unloving ways, it does not negate our inherent nature as love; it merely indicates a temporary lapse in our awareness of this truth. This principle applies universally, encompassing even those whom we perceive to act in harmful or cruel ways. We are love. Our paramount task is to awaken to this truth and to remain in this state of awareness.

With infinite blessings of love to you,