By Tim Freke -
Spirituality teaches us how to transform our state of consciousness, so that we feel really alive. It is easy to get so caught up in our daily dramas that we become consumed by worry. To deal with the pressures we often numb ourselves to the intensity of living, which means we miss the joy of simply being. When we ‘spiritually awaken’, however, we cast of the numbness we call ‘normal’ and truly appreciate the world around us. And then life becomes WOW! Here are 3 simple steps to help you transform your state of consciousness.
1. Remember to wonder
We are living in wonderland, but usually we don’t notice that! The easiest way to spiritually awaken is to remember to wonder… to look at the world around us with new eyes … to see things as if for the first time and the last time.
Shortly before he died of cancer the British playwright Dennis Potter did a moving interview, in which he shared the wonder that arises in the face of imminent death. Have a look at this and get what he is trying to tell us.
‘. . . at this season, the blossom is out in full now, there in the west early. It’s a plum tree, it looks like apple blossom but it’s white, and looking at it, instead of saying “Oh that’s nice blossom” … last week looking at it through the window when I’m writing, I see it is the whitest, frothiest, blossomest blossom that there ever could be, and I can see it.
Things are both more trivial than they ever were, and more important than they ever were, and the difference between the trivial and the important doesn’t seem to matter.
But the nowness of everything is absolutely wondrous, and if people could see that, you know. There’s no way of telling you; you have to experience it, but the glory of it, if you like, the comfort of it, the reassurance … The fact is, if you see the present tense, boy do you see it! And boy can you celebrate it.’
Life is WOW and Dennis Potter could see that as he was dying. But why wait until you’re dying? Now is WOW if you open up to it. Just take a moment to really wonder. As the American author Ray Bradbury says
‘Stuff your eyes with wonder … live as if you’d drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It’s more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.’
2. Enter the mystery of the moment
Life is a breath-taking mystery. We are alive and we don’t know what life is! That’s truly astonishing. Yet most of the time we become so embroiled with the story that we tell ourselves about life, that we don’t notice the deep mystery of existence. We live as if we know what is going on, when actually life is an enormous enigma.
To spiritual awakening we need to step out of the story and into the mystery. We can do this by entering a state of ‘knowing and not-knowing’. This means recognizing that on the surface of life we may ‘know’ a lot of things, yet also appreciating that deep down life is utterly mysterious and miraculous.
A simple way to do this is to focus on the present moment. When we do this our state of consciousness spontaneously changes because we come out of the story into the mystery. This is because the story exists in time. The story is how we understand life with thoughts. And thoughts are a sequence of words in time. You can easily see this … if … you … read … this … sentence … slowly … because … you … don’t … know … what … I … am … going … to … say … until … the … sentence … ends. And that takes time.
The story exists in time, so when we bring our attention into the present moment, there’s no story about the past and future. And this can be a great relief. In the here and now we don’t understand life with words, we experience the mystery of the moment.
3. Become sensually alive
Spiritual awakening is intensely pleasurable, because we truly appreciate all we see and hear and touch in this world of wonders. When we’re only superficially awake we only partially feel the enjoyment available to us, because we’re partly numb. When we’re ‘deep awake’, however, we find ourselves really savouring the pleasures of life. The body wakes up to how sweet it is to be alive.
To spiritually awaken we need to open the doorway of wonder … step into the mystery of the moment … and become sensually alive. We need to relish the colours and sounds and feelings we are experiencing. And as we do they become rich and vibrant. The world starts to sparkle. And there is an experience of profound gratitude that arises when we see how glorious life really is.
Tim Freke has an honors degree in philosophy and is the author of many groundbreaking books, including his newest, The Mystery Experience: A Revolutionary Approach to Spiritual Awakening. Freke runs ‘mystery experience retreats’ internationally, in which he guides others directly to a spiritually awakened state. He also performs as a ‘stand-up philosopher’ – a concept he developed from the ancient idea of a philosopher as a traveling ‘spiritual entertainer’ who transforms people’s consciousness. For more information, please visit, www.TheMysteryExperience.com.
