Spontaneous Awakening is a Myth, Awareness is a growing process

[Guest guest]

Anonymous: " I am tired. These recent years I have enquired to the point of

exhaustion, seeing clearly but failing to break the glass. I have

surrendered the impossible me and its river of antics unto the ocean

of Being at every opportunity yet still the frothing horse pulls at the

wagon. Devotion is tangible yet surrender seemingly an impossible

paradox. "

 

Spontaneous Awakening is a Myth, Awareness is a growing process

 

I have voiced nearly the same a few years ago. My intensity of self-inquiry

was so strong, I was totally dedicated to it, practicing every day and

listening,

trying to find answers of how to surrender. Quite frequently I would get

reminded from life or from others that I was lapsing back into unconsciousness,

sucking into the world of the 'me'. At this point I started reading all the

spiritual masters works I could find to try to discover what I needed to do

to surrender. My own mentor at the time kept beating me up with his

'disgust' that I could not do this step. He would say: you surrender,

but then I don't understand your primitive behavior. (Implying strongly

that I was not succeeding. This was okay, because it would take me

back to the drawing board.) I felt so much like a failure, wanting to so

badly go beyond but having no clue what I needed to do more.

 

From what I could glean from the spiritual writings, surrender would

happen when I gave up, and it apparently would be permanent, I only

had to do it once. In a poem, Rumi said you only have to stay awake

one night, so I made my meditations longer, trying to stay alert,

trying to stay focused for as long as possible. The Buddhists said

you only have to have a sustained surrender of 45 minutes then you

would be 'finished'. Many other masters said they had had a

spontaneous awakening, and that was all it took. The non-duality

people were saying the same. In all the written material I looked at

I could not find anything different and because I couldn't do it my

feelings of being a failure were weighing me down heavily. I would

cry out in the night, asking for help, for guidance on how to do it.

 

I now understand that my feelings of being a failure because I couldn't

surrender came out of a commonly held societal belief about what

surrender is and populated by self-proposed masters. Because I

didn't know what surrender was, I could only presume that those

ones wiser than myself could tell me what it was. I was wrong

about that, and the reason why I write this article is it's time to

dispel the myth about what is awareness and what is surrender.

With added information about surrender, people on this path can

be spared the sense of failure of inability to surrender that I was

plagued with for so long.

 

If you look closely at the sentiment above, you might be able to see

2 things about it. The first is that there is a desire: to surrender, and

the second there is disappointment in not being able to fulfill one's

desire. The sentiment itself comes from the 'little me' and the feelings

of failure are also from the 'little me', coming out of holding the beliefs

about surrender. One will not be able to drop one's desire to go beyond

oneself, because at this point in one's journey one has seen one's

aspect clearly and there is nothing else that matters more than to

realize one's full potential. With correct information about the situation

one is in, it might be possible for one to drop one's expectations about

surrender and at least get out of the thinking-feeling cycle of desire/failure

that is draining and wasting energy unnecessarily. Beliefs that we hold

about awareness only need to be dropped.

 

The fact is that the 'little me' won't disappear in an instant. The 'little me'

is who you are at this moment in time, and is expressed as a whole as

your physical form. Who you are is changing each time that you surrender.

You surrender successfully each time you successfully totally quiet the

mind/feeling reaction that is the structure of your personality. This might

only be a second, a few minutes or longer, depending upon your ability

coming out of your previous meditation practice. The act of surrender is

exactly the same as that which you do when you pass between the waking

state and falling asleep. You can't fall asleep until you shut up, yet everyone

knows how to do it. Each time you surrender, your body is changed to 'realize'

the awareness - to keep it - to manifest it. Awareness is a growing process,

resulting from time of surrender. For example when you surrender 1 minute,

awareness uses this 1-minute to make changes to your physical form to

change your awareness, mainly by changes to the nervous system. Because

of the changes done to your body in this one minute the result is that the

structure of the 'little me' has been reduced and your awareness has been

increased. This also makes it that the next time you practice to surrender

it will be slightly easier because your awareness is higher and the ego

reduced.

So then you might understand that the way the 'little me' goes away is

gradually by changes done to your body each time you surrender.

 

Sometimes the surrenders you make are longer and deeper and thus there

are leaps in your awareness do to more extensive changes made to your

body in the quiet interval, which is the reason why beliefs about spontaneous

awakening abound. While these surges in awareness are profound, they are

only stepping-stones and are not full awareness. Many Personalities are

lured back into personal identification and become stagnant, because they

believe they have finished the needed work and thus they quit surrendering.

 

What people need to know these days is that full awareness will happen

when the physical changes are completed in the body, it can't be different.

The very nature of the non-aware human form - what we all have is dual,

even the brain supports it. The ego itself exists as a physical structure

in the body and only awareness can change it. There is no way to think

oneself out of this dilemma not to figure it out.

Surrender is the only way to make the change.

 

There are three stages to awareness that follow the laws of manifestation.

The first is to complete the conceptual or mind stages, the second one

follows with has to do with control of emotional energy and the last is the

physical stage, known as kundalini awakening. But one doesn't need to

worry about any of these stages or try to figure anything out. It's very simple,

really the only thing one needs to know is how to surrender and to keep

surrendering as much as you feel you want to, and each time you do a

physical change will be made to your body. If your awareness in increasing

then you know how to surrender, congratulations and keep doing what has

been working for you. When your body has passed through the physical

changes there will be no doubt that you have finished, as it has nothing

to do with the mind.

 

Betsy

[Guest guest]

Spontaneous Awakening does occur in my experience and we have

examples of it here on this list as well. Though I do agree with the

second have of your absolute statement regarding the gradual

deepening of awareness, and yet that too can come immediately.

Though it is often gradual in some of its forms. Depends on what you

consider awakening and awareness to be.

 

Not everyone will follow a hard and fast rule of expressing either

of these states and the idea that is given here of definite

boundaries in the expression of these qualities is a limitation that

tracks only the authors experience with it not an absolute " rule'

that all must adhere to for qualification as awakening or becoming

aware.

 

Surrender as well is open to many forms of expression. Whether or

not a person has a symptoms connected to the act of surrendering,

doesn't mean it isn't being initiated. Though the article does have

information about the ego that I agree with as well, it's not a one -

size - fits - all scenario. There are common to all expressions and

unique to the individual expressions. Just like people everywhere.

We have similar appearances and express through these appearances

uniquely. - my take on that take - chrism

[Guest guest]

I can't help but feel Betsy is right....Awareness is a growing

process (at least for ME it has been).

 

Maybe somebody is around that has spontaneously 'Awoken " .

I haven't met him/her face to face yet.

 

Maybe I wouldn't know this person was totally awake if I did-(I'm not

in the club--The Totally Awake Club).

 

I do feel that we will all be free of the Ego when we die.

 

I'm in no hurry for that.

 

If I ever become an " Ascended Master " I'll be sure to let you all

know!

 

Not by e-mail--but in a bi-location...make that a multi-location!

 

Be sure to dress properly!

 

:)

Stephen C.

[Guest guest]

Did you feel your crown chakra event was gradual in its expression

Stephen? - chrism

[Guest guest]

This is a perfect clarification about awakening. It clearly shows me that

there are two assumptions. One is soul's assumption which shows how happened

or lived. Other one belongs to ego which shows how not happened. Probably,

because of that awakened one (or awakening progress) is soul, not ego.

Thanks Chrism

Cuneyt

 

On 9/30/07, chrism <> wrote:

>

> Spontaneous Awakening does occur in my experience and we have

> examples of it here on this list as well. Though I do agree with the

> second have of your absolute statement regarding the gradual

> deepening of awareness, and yet that too can come immediately.

> Though it is often gradual in some of its forms. Depends on what you

> consider awakening and awareness to be.

>

> Not everyone will follow a hard and fast rule of expressing either

> of these states and the idea that is given here of definite

> boundaries in the expression of these qualities is a limitation that

> tracks only the authors experience with it not an absolute " rule'

> that all must adhere to for qualification as awakening or becoming

> aware.

>

> Surrender as well is open to many forms of expression. Whether or

> not a person has a symptoms connected to the act of surrendering,

> doesn't mean it isn't being initiated. Though the article does have

> information about the ego that I agree with as well, it's not a one -

> size - fits - all scenario. There are common to all expressions and

> unique to the individual expressions. Just like people everywhere.

> We have similar appearances and express through these appearances

> uniquely. - my take on that take - chrism

>

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Chrism: Spontaneous Awakening does occur in my experience and we have

examples of it here on this list as well. Though I do agree with the

second half of your statement regarding the gradual

deepening of awareness, and yet that too can come immediately.

Though it is often gradual in some of its forms. Depends on what you

consider awakening and awareness to be.

 

Betsy: Yes, that seems to be the main question. What does one

consider awakening to be? If you are considering it to be the event

when one realizes that they are more than their self-image, then one

could state that people have spontaneous awakenings. So one might

also call this the start of spirituality - I have no problem with this.

I even stated the same in my article, there are profound events

that happen with deep surrenders, and in the past I called these

the same. I change that for several reasons and one is because

I realize that spontaneous isn't accurate. There is always a cause

for something; to call it spontaneous makes it seem like a miracle,

putting into the clouds of spirituality and unknown reasons not

allowing to see the reason for the awakening came from inside

the person themselves. Awakenings or rises in awareness happen

when the personality lets go of clinging to itself. And I don't like

'awakening' mostly because people see it as finite and the danger

with this is that they stop, thinking they are done when they experience

these profound openings.

 

The thing I think people might not understand about it is that we

are not split. We are not 'higher awareness' and also the ego.

We are one body, one person who has grown to be what we

are today. What we are today has to do with all that came before,

we are what we are.

We can't jump out of our personality in an instant of recognition,

because we are it. We can only let go of our clinging on it, and

this takes its time. It is a dropping, a letting go, a dissolving,

a displacement and in the space opened by the dropping

awareness fills in.

 

Chrism: Not everyone will follow a hard and fast rule of expressing either

of these states and the idea that is given here of definite

boundaries in the expression of these qualities is a limitation that

tracks only the authors experience with it not an absolute " rule'

that all must adhere to for qualification as awakening or becoming

aware.

 

Betsy: We've had this conversation before and I responded to it:

all acorns grow into oak trees the same way, so why do humans

think their growing process will be so much different? Then I responded,

we will have the same growing process but we'll interpret it differently.

So the bottom line is I guess you don't accept that awareness is a

growing process and that we are growing. This defies all that I observe

about myself and the things growing around me, evolution in other words.

 

Chrism: Surrender as well is open to many forms of expression.

 

Betsy: Surrender is surrender, you either are doing it or you are not

doing it. I know you think this is absolute for me to express this and

it is, there is no question about it. Once you know for sure what

surrender is then you can state this matter of fact. There is no other

form of expression for it although one might try different ways to

do it and there are many interpretations about what surrender might be,

until one is sure about what it is and how to do it. This happens when

one's awareness is high enough to know the difference.

 

Chrism: Whether or not a person has a symptom connected to the

act of surrendering, doesn't mean it isn't being initiated.

 

Betsy: It takes quite some time of meditation practice before one

can determine for sure, by oneself, if one is surrendering successfully

or not because of the nature of the problem. This doesn't mean that

one can't surrender without knowing how one did it, it happens all the

time and why people call it 'spontaneous'. At the time one doesn't

know how one surrenedered, but later on one will want to repeat it

and thus will begin the experiements and observation to see what

works. This is especially part of the physical kundalini awakening

process. The way one can determine this is by observation of

oneself, which obviously has it's inherent problems. At the time of

this one isn't concerned with physical symptoms or changes being

made to one's system. One might know (as I did later on) that physical

changes are being made to the body, but one isn't looking for them

for confirmation that one has surrendered or not. Pain is the perfect

vehicle to learn how to reliably surrender - immediately when

needed to distance from the pain.

[Guest guest]

Wow Betsy -

 

You articulated this so beautifully! Yes, I think I agree (although

very much a beginner) about a process vs an event. Usually, at

least. IMHO.

 

Much Love,

 

Melissa

 

, " betsy "

<ystebanar wrote:

>

> Chrism: Spontaneous Awakening does occur in my experience and we

have

> examples of it here on this list as well. Though I do agree with

the

> second half of your statement regarding the gradual

> deepening of awareness, and yet that too can come immediately.

> Though it is often gradual in some of its forms. Depends on what

you

> consider awakening and awareness to be.

>

> Betsy: Yes, that seems to be the main question. What does one

> consider awakening to be? If you are considering it to be the

event

> when one realizes that they are more than their self-image, then

one

> could state that people have spontaneous awakenings. So one might

> also call this the start of spirituality - I have no problem with

this.

> I even stated the same in my article, there are profound events

> that happen with deep surrenders, and in the past I called these

> the same. I change that for several reasons and one is because

> I realize that spontaneous isn't accurate. There is always a cause

> for something; to call it spontaneous makes it seem like a

miracle,

> putting into the clouds of spirituality and unknown reasons not

> allowing to see the reason for the awakening came from inside

> the person themselves. Awakenings or rises in awareness happen

> when the personality lets go of clinging to itself. And I don't

like

> 'awakening' mostly because people see it as finite and the danger

> with this is that they stop, thinking they are done when they

experience

> these profound openings.

>

> The thing I think people might not understand about it is that we

> are not split. We are not 'higher awareness' and also the ego.

> We are one body, one person who has grown to be what we

> are today. What we are today has to do with all that came before,

> we are what we are.

> We can't jump out of our personality in an instant of recognition,

> because we are it. We can only let go of our clinging on it, and

> this takes its time. It is a dropping, a letting go, a dissolving,

> a displacement and in the space opened by the dropping

> awareness fills in.

>

> Chrism: Not everyone will follow a hard and fast rule of

expressing either

> of these states and the idea that is given here of definite

> boundaries in the expression of these qualities is a limitation

that

> tracks only the authors experience with it not an absolute " rule'

> that all must adhere to for qualification as awakening or becoming

> aware.

>

> Betsy: We've had this conversation before and I responded to it:

> all acorns grow into oak trees the same way, so why do humans

> think their growing process will be so much different? Then I

responded,

> we will have the same growing process but we'll interpret it

differently.

> So the bottom line is I guess you don't accept that awareness is a

> growing process and that we are growing. This defies all that I

observe

> about myself and the things growing around me, evolution in other

words.

>

> Chrism: Surrender as well is open to many forms of expression.

>

> Betsy: Surrender is surrender, you either are doing it or you are

not

> doing it. I know you think this is absolute for me to express this

and

> it is, there is no question about it. Once you know for sure what

> surrender is then you can state this matter of fact. There is no

other

> form of expression for it although one might try different ways to

> do it and there are many interpretations about what surrender

might be,

> until one is sure about what it is and how to do it. This happens

when

> one's awareness is high enough to know the difference.

>

> Chrism: Whether or not a person has a symptom connected to the

> act of surrendering, doesn't mean it isn't being initiated.

>

> Betsy: It takes quite some time of meditation practice before one

> can determine for sure, by oneself, if one is surrendering

successfully

> or not because of the nature of the problem. This doesn't mean that

> one can't surrender without knowing how one did it, it happens all

the

> time and why people call it 'spontaneous'. At the time one doesn't

> know how one surrenedered, but later on one will want to repeat it

> and thus will begin the experiements and observation to see what

> works. This is especially part of the physical kundalini awakening

> process. The way one can determine this is by observation of

> oneself, which obviously has it's inherent problems. At the time

of

> this one isn't concerned with physical symptoms or changes being

> made to one's system. One might know (as I did later on) that

physical

> changes are being made to the body, but one isn't looking for them

> for confirmation that one has surrendered or not. Pain is the

perfect

> vehicle to learn how to reliably surrender - immediately when

> needed to distance from the pain.

>

[Guest guest]

Dear Betsy, I have to say I totally disagree with you

on this point, we are not all acorns some of us are

roses some are trees some are dolphins, we do not all

start the same and we do not all grow the same,

diversity is what makes a forest, not a whole load of

oak trees.

No one persons experience is the same, my life is

certainly not anything like yours, my experiences are

totally different, my awakening process totally

different. TOTALLY.

Did you have your first spiritual revelation whilst

trying to disprove god to yourself sitting on the

toilet high on speed?

No I didnt think so.

And how do you know how I have processed that

knowledge?

 

Thats my point.

Blessings

Elektra x x x

 

 

> Betsy: We've had this conversation before and I

> responded to it:

> all acorns grow into oak trees the same way, so why

> do humans

> think their growing process will be so much

> different? Then I responded,

> we will have the same growing process but we'll

> interpret it differently.

> So the bottom line is I guess you don't accept that

> awareness is a

> growing process and that we are growing. This defies

> all that I observe

> about myself and the things growing around me,

> evolution in other words.

 

 

 

_________

Answers - Got a question? Someone out there knows the answer. Try it

now.

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[Guest guest]

Melissa:

Wow Betsy - You articulated this so beautifully!

Yes, I think I agree (although very much a beginner)

about a process vs an event.

 

Hi Melissa,

I'm glad that you can relate to the article

and my intention with it. I wrote it because of the

person who posed the question, hoping it could help

them with the step they were facing. The person's

question touched me because I had voiced the same

sentiments in the past. I shared what I had learned

about surrender and awareness with the hope that

they could see that they were progressing and they

only needed to keep doing the same things that

were already working for them. I knew that my

sense of failure came from the beliefs I had adopted

from others about what was awareness, awakening

and surrender, so with the article I hope I can help clear

those beliefs which can be an obstacle to further growth.

Betsy

[Guest guest]

Hi Elektra,

I don't think we are in disagreement, I only meant

with my acorn example that we are all human and thus

subject to the same physical forces, I never intended

to suggest that we are not individuals nor having our

individual experiences. I value each person's expression

knowing each person is needed, as together we make

the whole. If anything I think we need to work more on

accepting individual expression as it is, without having

the need to attack it or prove it right or wrong. If we

can add our part to what is expressed then that is enough.