John Scoble
Introduction
Rather than provide a video from a single person on this subject, we have decided to introduce the topic of Waking Up by providing a series of quotes from diverse sources. Waking up refers to a realisation that the way in which we have viewed our world has been an illusion, that reality is something different and we want to understand what that is.
Waking Up is a personal experience and therefore is different for each person. For some it is a blinding moment of insight, like that expressed by Thomas Merton below. For others it is a slowly developing realisation of truth and ultimate reality, as Richard Rohr explains below. These passages are not to be read once and forgotten; rather they are to be pondered. Choose the ones that really speak to you and reflect upon them deeply, keeping in mind the following questions.
Questions for Reflection
What do you think it means to “wake up”?
From the passages below, what do you think are some of the characteristics of a person who has “woken up”?
As you awaken, how do you think your view of yourself will change? Your worldview?
James Finley would say that the fact that you are reading this document means you are on the path to “waking up!
Kabir Heminski
Living Presence – The Sufi Path to Mindfulness and the Essential Self
“Most education ignores the human soul, or essential Self. This essential Self is not some vague entity whose existence is a matter of speculation, but our fundamental “I”, which has been covered up by social conditioning and the superficiality of our rational mind. In today’s world we are in great need of a form of training that would contribute to the awakening of the essential Self. Such forms of training have existed in other eras and cultures and have been available to those with a yearning to awaken from the sleep of their limited conditioning and know the potential latent in the human being. We are made to know ourselves; we are created for this self-awareness; we are fully equipped for it. What could be more important than to know ourselves?”
Richard Rohr 4 January 2018
“Our life is a dance between the loneliness and desperation of the false self and the fullness of the True Self, which is re-discovered and experienced anew as an ultimate homecoming. The spiritual journey is a path of deeper realization and transformation; it is never a straight line, but a back and forth journey that ever deepens the conscious choice and assent to God’s work in us. It is growing up, yes, but even more it is waking up.”
Jon & Vangelis – I’ll Find My Way Home
Lyrics: I’ll Find My Way Home
From the SLSG Facebook page:
“What does spirituality mean?
Anthony de Mello begins his book Awareness with these words: “Spirituality means waking up. Most people, even though they don’t know it, are asleep. They’re born asleep, they live asleep, they marry in their sleep, they breed children in their sleep, they die in their sleep without ever waking up. They never understand the loveliness and the beauty of this thing we call human existence.”
In another place, “An awakened person: a person who no longer marches to the drums of society, a person who dances to the tune of the music that springs up from within. Awareness means to watch, to observe, to understand, to wake up.”
Howard Thurman, spiritual advisor to Dr Martin Luther King: “There is something in every one of you that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself. It is the only true guide you will ever have. And if you cannot hear it, you will all your life spend your days on the ends of strings that somebody else pulls.”
What does it mean to wake up? What is the tune of the music that springs from within? What is the sound of the genuine that is our only true guide?”
Thomas Merton
Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander
“In Louisville, at the corner of Fourth and Walnut, in the center of the shopping district, I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I loved all those people, that they were mine and I theirs, that we could not be alien to one another even though we were total strangers … There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun.”
Pema Chödrön (A Buddhist author)
“We already have everything we need. There is no need for self-improvement. All these trips that we lay on ourselves—the heavy-duty fearing that we’re bad and hoping that we’re good, the identities that we so dearly cling to, the rage, the jealousy and the addictions of all kinds—never touch our basic wealth. They are like clouds that temporarily block the sun. But all the time our warmth and brilliance are right here. This is who we really are. We are one blink of an eye away from being fully awake.”
Mark E. Thibodeaux
God’s Voice Within: The Ignatian Way to Discover God’s Will
“The next two chapters will explore the characteristics of these two spirits: the false spirit, often referred to by Ignatius as “the evil spirit” or “the enemy of our human nature,” and the true spirit, often referred to as “the good spirit.” It is important to understand that Ignatius’s idea of the false spirit seemed to be broader than what is commonly referred to as the devil, although the devil would surely be included in the definition. Jesuit Father William Huete puts it this way: The false spirit equals the devil plus the trauma of tragic circumstances such as cancer or hurricanes, plus destructive experiences and behaviors, plus psychological baggage, plus emotional weaknesses, and so on. The false spirit is anything that draws me away from God and God’s loving plan for the world. Likewise, when referring to the true spirit, Ignatius was speaking not only of the Holy Spirit but also of anything else that would draw me…”
Jack Hawley
The Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners
“Do not identify your true Self merely with your mortal body. “Real, as used in spirituality, means that which is eternal, never changing, indestructible. This is the very definition of “Reality”. That which is Real never ceases to be. Anything that is impermanent, even if it lasts for a very long time and seems durable, eventually changes and thus does true Reality. The wise ones understand the difference between the Real and the not-Real. When you fully understand this profound fact, you will have attained the zenith of all knowledge.”
Judy Cannato
Field of Compassion
“My beliefs have tended to come from my head, not my heart. They’re accompanied by rules and regulations and not far behind comes judgment. What does sustain me is what I know to be true I know love, and love never seeks to separate or excuse. I know freedom and freedom never lets ego and fear have the final say. I know I am not alone, that we are connected in the web of life and we feel the connection most powerfully when we operate from within the Field of Compassion.”
Richard Rohr 1 June 2021
“Waking Up refers to any spiritual experience which overcomes our experience of the self as separate from Being in general. It should be the goal of all spiritual work, including prayer, sacraments, Bible study, and religious services of any type. The purpose of waking up is not personal or private perfection, but surrender, love, and union with God. This is the Christian meaning of salvation or enlightenment.”
James Finley 18 November 2021
Jim envisions God saying to each of us, in the midst of our struggles:
“You know what? . . . I’m in love with you. I’m so in love with you that I’m utterly giving myself away [to you] as invincibly precious in my eyes, in the midst of the unresolved matters of your heart. I find in these unresolved matters no obstacle to how infinitely precious you are to me as I pour out and give myself to you as life of my life. . . .”
December 2021
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