Spiritual Awakening – Raising Consciousness

Step Out In Faith 2021 

Ponder these powerful words and ideas: 

Spiritual Awakening – the growing recognition that the nature of reality undergirding the Cosmos and at the very center of our being is spiritual, not material.  

Spiritual – having to do with the direct experience of the Wholeness/Oneness of Life and Creation. The recognition that the cause of creation is Consciousness seeking to express and experience Itself. This means that the physical world and the human condition are not the cause of our experience. The realization that Consciousness is Life loving creation into existence and that alignment with Love puts us into right relationship with the essential nature of the Cosmos itself. Synonyms: Divine, Spirit, One, Love 

Awakening – becoming aware of the true nature of reality. A dawning realization that Consciousness is Cause of the Cosmos. An increasing awareness that our consciousness is causal in our lives and the life of humanity. Seeking to see the Divine Presence and Principles thereby being present to the Presence, the Spiritual Reality behind each and every moment, action, and experience. Synonyms: Enlightenment, Conscious, Awareness 

Raising Consciousness – Lifting ourselves out of the unconsciousness, autopilot of human instinct, reactions, and patterns of thought, belief, and behavior into a state of mindfulness to each present moment as a moment of choice. Taking responsibility for our choices of thought, word, and deed. Each time we do this ourselves, we are simultaneously lifting the consciousness of humanity and Consciousness as a whole.  

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And a story…. 

Once upon a time, there was a young man who sought a great treasure. He believed that this treasure would be the answer to all his problems and would allow him to make the world a better place for others as well. He left home with a chest of belongings and traveled the world in search of riches, wisdom, wealth, and fame. Along the way, he met many people and situations that tried his patience, sent him on detours, blocked his path, and generally caused stress and anxiety. The more he looked the more he fought for what he was looking for, using every tool of charm, manipulation, and bravado he could muster. The longer it took, the more ingrained the patterns of a lifetime of searching became, until he was exhausted. 

One day he simply sat down by the side of the road and decided he just couldn’t do it anymore. He sat down on his chest, rested his head in his hands, and began to weep. Over time the tears cleansed his heart and emptied his mind. He sat in the sunshine and listened to the birds. All around him life was being lived, fully and completely. The earth itself was humming with life, pouring through all living things. At night he contemplated the stars and the vastness of creation and realized that there, too, life was being lived through the shining stars and whirling planets. The cosmos itself was teeming with life.  

“Why, if life is flourishing everywhere, do I feel like I’m left out? What am I chasing after?” The not so young man sat on his chest and contemplated his life. It became clear to him that his fear of not having had closed his eyes and heart to everything life had to offer. All his striving had been in service to overcoming obstructions and against obstacles that needed to be surmounted. He decided he would simply sit there, by the side of the road, until a new idea about life came to him. Something that would be recognizably in alignment with the life he felt flourishing all around him. 

One day an old woman came walking down the road and stopped when she found this quiet man sitting on a chest by the side of the road. Drawn to his peaceful nature, she approached. “What are you doing here and what have you got in the chest?” she asked.  

The man smiled, “I’ve been sitting here feeling Life as it is pouring through everything, around me, and wondering if it’s also pouring through me too? I think it might be.”   

“What have you got in that chest?” she asked again.   

“Oh, I don’t know, I’ve been carrying it around all my life and it just got so heavy, I decided to set it down and sit on it for a while. I haven’t moved since.”  

“Why don’t you open it and see what there?” she replied. “It could be very interesting.” 

So, the man got up, turned around, and began to unfasten all the straps he had added to the chest over the years to keep it from popping open under the strain of carrying whatever was in there. He had to undo the buckles, find the keys for each of the locks, and unwrap all the extra cords. Although it took a very long time, the woman was patient and she helped as she could, but mostly she simply lent her presence. Finally, the last clasp was opened and the lid was thrown back… 

What do you sense that he found there? And what should he do with it now that the chest is opened? How can the woman be of help? What would you ask her? Where does the story go from here?