No More Fairy Tales
No More Fairy Tales
Two Western spiritual teachers came for a visit last week. One was American; one was English. They both claimed to be enlightened. They actually told me they were. And I think, to some degree, it was true.
They both had undergone many powerful transformative spiritual episodes and were considered by some to be masters or gurus in their own right. They both had a light in their eyes, the unmistakable shine of consciousness that has been awakened beyond the veil of the separate self-sense. They both radiated and transmitted a personal kindness and inspired enthusiasm about life that is unique to individuals who are spiritually awakened.
They also both spoke nonstop about their own lives, their own work, their own beliefs, and their excitement about their own futures. We didn’t really have two-way conversations . . . but I’m a good listener!
I did genuinely enjoy their company, but I remember what struck me after the second meeting had ended was that they both shared a view that is common among spiritual adepts that I believe is out of date. (Even enlightened people have to keep up with the times, have to continue to evolve, have to keep moving forward.)
They both kept referring to the common popular refrain among nontraditional “mystical” believers that “something’s happening in consciousness.” And because something mysterious and powerful is happening at the mystic level for an individual, a group of individuals, or many groups of individuals at the deepest unseen internal level, that a big external “shift” is imminent.
There’s nothing new about this particular idea but I find it remarkable that even today, when we’re well on our way into the twenty-first century, that many spiritually minded individuals seem to be the last ones to get what’s really happening right now. The “big shift” that’s about to occur is occurring on the national stage in our Presidential election.
This election will make an immeasurable difference on just about every level for literally billions of real living souls all over our precious planet Earth. There’s nothing mystical about this shift and how important and meaningful it is for all of us who put consciousness first and foremost.
Let’s give up the need to believe in fairy tales. Consciousness doesn’t exist or work in mysterious ways outside of or away from the innermost depths of our individual and collective selves. Awakening to consciousness and its movements, its evolutionary leaps forward and its infinite failed attempts to do so, can be clearly and obviously discerned by looking closely at human history—from the most heinous crimes of the most notorious dictators to the highest spiritual attainments of our most revered saints and mystical luminaries.
Consciousness is not a mysterious dimension where forces disconnected from human volition are at work making all things possible or not. Consciousness is who we all are at the deepest level of our interiors—and how profound our recognition of that is can be seen through the choices we make and the actions we take. The more we not only awaken to that fact but take responsibility for it, the more quickly this world will become the paradise that we all long for in our most inspired moments.
For those interested ... the above was written by and bloged at … http://www.andrewcohen.org/blog
