“The great sea has set me in motion

Set me adrift

Moving me like a weed in a river.

The sky and strong wind have moved the Spirit inside me

Till I am carried away

Trembling with joy.”       (Uvavnuk, Inuit shaman)

Awakening is the road to joy. The dark night of the soul, as Michael Beckwith reveals, “happens to those who qualify for it.”  To those “who mean business with their spiritual practice.”  I believe that when we awaken we know as Rumi does that “the soul is here for its own joy.”

When we awaken we realize, as Beckwith has, that “love is not an emotion, a romantic notion; it is a living, organically powerful energy that holds together the fabric of the created world. Love is what we are.”  This is entirely consistent with what our friend, Emmanuel, tells us:

You will not exhaust

the love in the universe

if you were to absorb it

from now until the end of time

Love is all that exists.

Love is the universal communication.

It is the energy that has created the

universe and is keeping it going.

God is love.

All matter is formed by love.

There is an organic love

that speaks to everyone

if they could but hear.

A leaf holds together

for love.”        (EMMANUEL’S BOOK, compiled by Pat Rodegast & Judith Stanton)

Awakening to our True Self has been described by many masters throughout time. Beckwith invites us to become “love masters” through awakening our potential within:

“Awakening our inherent love- nature can be messy and uncomfortable.  We are often unaware of when and how low-level anxiety overtakes our minds.  We’ve accepted that it’s normal to be tense, upset, reactionary, fearful, doubt-filled, and worried.  We don’t want to deny what is going on around us – that people are starving; that AIDS  is ravaging the lives of men, women, and children in parts of the world; that wars are taking place; that terrorism exists; that slavery still exists; that there are people who cause harm.  What is required to begin shifting these external facts is maintaining a focus on individual inner change.  Through our individual inner work, we discover that we have ample gifts to contribute to an enlightened society.  We then become motivated to deliver these gifts in a mind-set of love, not out of fear that the world needs saving.  We are not here to “save” the world, but to serve an emerging paradigm of love, connectedness, and generosity of heart.  The egoic structure feeds on fear and separation, archaic notions that sweep across our individual and global landscapes.  Fear escalates negative change while love escalates affirmative change.  Love is the antidote to fear-based approaches.”  (SPIRITUAL LIBERATION)

Everywhere on the planet individuals are waking up and adding their voices to those of all the earlier “love masters”, spiritual warriors who taught love, compassion, forgiveness and peace.  What is an awakening?  Eckhart Tolle gives us an answer:

“Awakening is a shift in consciousness in which thinking and awareness separate.  For most people it is not an event but a process they undergo.  Even those rare beings who experience a sudden , dramatic, and seemingly irreversible awakening will still go though a process in which the new state of consciousness gradually flows into and transforms everything they do and so becomes integrated into their lives.

Instead of being lost in your thinking, when you are awake you recognize yourself as the awareness behind it.  Thinking then ceases to be a self-serving autonomous activity that takes possession of you and runs your life.  Awareness takes over from thinking.  Instead of being in charge of your life, thinking becomes the servant of awareness.  Awareness is conscious connection with universal intelligence.  Another word for it is Presence: consciousness without thought.

The initiation of the awakening process is an act of grace.”   (A NEW EARTH)

When we awaken to our True Selves we are filled with revelation and inspiration.  Often we find that in one way or another our path may need to take a new turn.  The way in which we perceive our situation will have a powerful effect on how it unfolds.  The astrological association with an awakening is Neptune and when we are ready to envision something new, Neptune is the perfect energy for this.  A dreamy sign, Neptune encourages vivid imaginings to support our changes.  However, once we awaken, our next challenge becomes ‘staying awake!’  The sensitive energy of Neptune requires us to remain awake to our situation/s and not to fall back to sleep as a way of escaping the challenges involved in presenting our ‘new’ Self to those around us.  The spiritual warrior understands that any awakening is actually a re-awakening and merely a ‘new’ beginning.  The journey is eternal because we are immortal, divine beings with so many more adventures and awakenings ahead!

Love & Light,   Monica