I just saw a flyer on the gym wall about what it is like to have a spiritual awakening. It included bullet-pointed promises like “you have unexpected moments of happiness,” “you go with the flow,” and other feel-good gems.
I don’t know about you, but I feel I’ve had a few dooseys¹ of awakening experiences in my life, and they were not exactly gentle, feel-good yippees.
In fact, I wonder if deeply conscious people find spiritual awakening to be more than a bit uncomfortable. I say this because if you really wake up, you realize all the elements in your life (like your personality, your environment, your actions) require grace. Remember the classic story about what you are supposed to do after a painful-yet-still-beautiful awakening? An enlightened master said “chop wood and carry water.” I have to agree, there is no extended, wildly-supreme happiness if you really want to be awake. There is just carrying on… hopefully with a bit of love and grace while you lug the heavy load.
¹auto spell correct would make this word “odysseys.” Ha!
