To be awake is to be free of the dream. To be enlightened is to live as a transparent form emanating the eternal light from within. To be conscious is to be aware of the awareness you are. To be free is to no longer identify with ego and discover your true self.
We use words like transcendence and transmutation and transfiguration to describe in concepts what is the emerging of the formless within the illusory world of form. We let go of our identity with form, ego, body, mind and the person. We wake up to see the form, body, mind and person as manifestations of our true self.
Jesus described this awakening of consciousness as being born again. Isn’t that description appropriate for waking up, being enlightened, becoming conscious and finding freedom? We are born again of water (entry into the physical realm) and spirit (awakening to the true self). Jesus described awakening as salvation. The word he used in its various forms was “sozo.” This word means “to make whole.”
As an illusory separate-self, lost to an identity with ego and lost in the story of the person, we are not whole. We are unconscious. We are asleep. We are in prison of sorts when we only identifying with a limited physical form. Jesus called this state being lost or blind or in the darkness. Eckhart Tolle calls this state ordinary unconsciousness.
What I call ordinary unconsciousness means being identified with your thought processes and emotions, your reactions, desires, and aversions. It is most people’s normal state. In that state, you are run by the egoic mind, and you are unaware of Being. It is a state not of acute pain or unhappiness but of an almost continuous low level of unease, discontent, boredom, or nervousness —a kind of background static. You may not realize this because it is so much a part of “normal” living, just as you are not aware of a continuous low background noise, such as the hum of an air conditioner, until it stops. When it suddenly does stop, there is a sense of relief. Many people use alcohol, drugs, sex, food, work, television, or even shopping as anesthetics in an unconscious attempt to remove the basic unease. When this happens, an activity that might be very enjoyable if used in moderation becomes imbued with a compulsive or addictive quality, and all that is ever achieved through it is extremely short-lived symptom relief. (Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now)
Love is the path to salvation and the expression of salvation. When we accept everything as it is with no judgment or criticism, we are loving. When we let go of our egoic desire to categorize and divide, we can accept all things as they are. We become aware of what is instead of judging what is. Our mind takes a break. We don’t take anything personally. We are free of the story of the person. We wake up to see what is as it is.
This is pure awareness. Pure awareness does not judge. There is no judgment in awareness. We let the attention of awareness observe without labeling. When we do this, we are being our true self. We are experiencing “beingness.” We are experiencing the divine.
It has been said the “God” is love. When we let go of our incessant egoic need to make “God” and object or a being or a projection of a human form, we can see that “God” is LOVE and the BEINGNESS that we are as our true self. The unconditional acceptance of all things as pure awareness is the divine experience.
When we resist what we are, there is tension and worry and anxiety and suffering. As Eckhart says, this suffering can be a low-level of unease or discontent that is always present in the background. Boredom is often an expression of that discontent.
We can use boredom as a means to wake up. We can become aware of the boredom that we experience. We can see it for what it is. We can be aware of the static humming in the background. We can let the attention of awareness focus on the boredom and accept it for what it is.
Instead of identifying with boredom, we SEE boredom. Instead of saying “I am so bored” we can see that our body/mind/person is experiencing something we have labeled as boredom. We can let go of any judgment about boredom. We can neither cling to or reject boredom. We can apply intense presence or focused awareness towards boredom.
Try this pointer. Instead of identifying with boredom, just see it. Don’t try to analyze why or try to solve the problem or apply psychology to the situation. Just let it be. Just observe the boredom, love the boredom, embrace the boredom and feel the boredom. Watch the boredom dissolve. It will be transcended and transmuted and transfigured. You will release the boredom and find the freedom you are. You will love boredom and find the forgiveness you are. You will embrace boredom and find the salvation you are.
See the background unease. Recognize it. Be aware of it. Follow the pointer, find your true self and be born again as an awakened form experiencing the life of form as the eternal life of the formless.
Yay God!
Lance
alancetotheheart 