Wednesday, September 01, 2010
Gradual vs. Instantaneous Awakening
Certainly, there are many ways to "approach the throne." One way is through gentle meditative practice, such as vipassana, various forms of Buddhism and yoga and so forth. For many years I did not grasp the importance or intention of methods such as vipassana, in which the meditator simply sits quietly, monitoring the breath, noting what is happening within, and clearing the mind of thoughts as they pass through. Frankly, "sitting on a cushion and thinking of nothing" seemed rather dull to me.
I think I understand it better now. Such methods are intended to lead the student gradually into new states of awareness, to ground them in the "real" world, to keep them in touch with familiar sensations such as sight, hearing, texture, tone--it is gentle and does not "shock" them with states of feeling or knowing that might overturn their systems or shatter their familiar sense of who they are. Participants are often encouraged to go forth in the world to do compassionate service of many kinds--healing, comforting, helping their fellows in various ways. These practices can deepen our own spiritual natures and bring us into closer contact with the divine reality.
But there is another path--the lightning stroke of awakening. It can indeed, literally shatter the
ego, the sense of self, the notion of our "identity." It is the ripping apart of the veil of illusion, the revelation of realms unimaginable. Suddenly, all our presuppositions of what is "real," what our own "self" might be, our "role" in existence, are torn open and literally dissolved.
This is transformation at its most dramatic and spectacular level. It is not simply coming to know something in the mind. It is an intense infusion of feeling from a divine source, the limitless love that powers the universe, It is the moment when we know--not with the mind, not as a concept, but within the blood and core of our own essence--that we do not exist except as a particle in this vast, immeasurable, indescribable force driving through us and all of phenomenal reality. We are "it" and "it" is us, but only as a cell both is and is not the body.
This is truly the experience of divine union. It is the moment that reshapes our lives forever. We may spend the rest of our lives trying to unravel the "mystery of existence," but nothing--no thought, no notion, no theory or belief--will ever bring us closer to the heart of the "divine mystery."
And, just as we are infused with overwhelming love from the divine Source, we then radiate this love outward toward others, seeing them in a new light, precious components of an ultimate order, each a jewel in the vast cosmic display, blossoms on the same tree. Boundaries between self and others fade, for we realize at the deepest level that we are all one. We find ways to express our gift through whatever capacities we possess, and do all we can to support others on the path.
The name of the event that brings about this change is Kundalini awakening. The experience leads to true transformation--restructuring of the mental and biological self, the nervous system, the emotional body--all of it. Once we have been there, we can never go back.
Yeats said, "Man can embody truth but never know it."
Kundalini is the means by which we embody truth. It is the force that carries us forward in our ongoing evolutionary process. It is who we are.
