Nondual & Spiritual Awakening

The path from being lost in suffering, to awakening, to embodiment is a process which takes many years. It requires that we close the gap between our humanity and our Divinity. What follows is a brief outline of the stages of growth of Nondual Awakening. Through this process, we discover both a transcendent Divinity and a Divinity which is found in our humanity and everyday lives. As this journey of awakening unfolds, we are met by our humanity, the shadow aspects of self, and the shadow aspects of Awakening.

We mature toward embodiment, as these forces are embraced fully, met with a total love, integrated and we surrender to that which is greater than we know ourselves to be.  In the end, what we discover is not that “we,” our individual egoic nature is awake, but that God has woken up to herself, in us as Us. This is process begins in a deeply personal way, and yet ends in a deeply impersonal movement. This path is truly not about our egoic nature, but a path of total Surrender to a much greater movement that we could ever imagine.

Related Article: Tenets of Nondual & Spiritual Therapy

Stage 1: Suffering
Through suffering or a deep desire to know our Divinity, we are brought to the path. Life sets up difficult circumstances, to wake us up out of our unconsciousness.

• Through the experience of our unavoidable personal suffering, we begin to question our existence. We begin to ask: Who am I? What am I? Is there more to life than pain?
• Is there a way to live without pain?
• How is suffering created?
• Is my mind trust worthy?  Is it an accurate reflection of Reality or does it create more suffering within my self?
• Why do I repeat the same unconscious actions again and again?
• Why do the same life circumstances show up in my life again and again?

Through Suffering we begin to learn and grow in Compassion and Wisdom—and where and with what our Shadow is Entangled.

Stage 2: The Path
Becoming conscious through meditation, inquiry, therapy, & silence:

• We Discover That our True Nature is Awake, Luminous Divinity.
• With Mindfulness, we discover that our Egoic Nature is a distorted lens.
• We look to other ways of being which create less suffering.
• We examine our lives and the connection between our unconsciousness and our everyday lives.
• We become conscious of our Projections and where we are Entangled.
• Through Embracing our suffering, we begin to learn Compassion, Forgiveness & Wisdom.

Stage 3: Awakening
The 3 main stages of Awakening, tend to move in the order from the head, to the heart to the gut (Transcendent, Heart, and Hara), yet this process is not always so clearly defined. Additionally, Kundalini Awakening may or may not arise at some point during this process.

Level 1: Transcendent Awakening: We Awaken Beyond our Habitual Egoic Nature
Into Vast, Spacious, Luminous Emptiness as our Nature, through overwhelming Surrender to Life.

• Awakening out of our personal egoic story and sense of self into Transcendent Self/Reality through a total Surrender to Life.
• As we cease to identify with our mentality and emotional nature and let go into that which is beyond egoic identification we experience a transcendent freedom as what we are and crystal clear clarity in our consciousness.
• We directly experience Freedom, Vastness, Peace, and Relief from egoic bondage.
• Our Ego may begin to dissolve, but mostly remains untouched by our transcendent awakening.
• The Ego continues to be identified with during times of stress and strife.

Shadow Side of Transcendence: (Every level of consciousness when in form has a shadow or point of evolution)

• Arrogance, Aloofness, inability to Connect with Others.
• Feelings and delusions similar to being in love.  We live in our own heaven world, “no one else can understand.”
• Dissociation. Fear of emotions. Fear or avoidance of one’s Humanity.
• Attached to transcendent states/experiences. Drunk on Emptiness, Ungrounded.
• Fear of Engagement.  Fear of Embodiment.
• Refusal to hear or accept feedback

Deepening Occurs through Inclusion of Life and Humanity:

• Awakening deepens as Life is Embraced fully with Love and Clarity. Individual experiences a willingness to reinhabit one’s humanity, to feel and experience pain, confusion, and the egoic nature again.
• Transcendent Awakening deepens into Heart Awakening as we are willing to experience and embrace our Humanity on all levels.
• Through Embracing, we experience a fuller awakening which opens the doors of our heart and is experienced as an Embodied Compassion, Intimacy with all of Life, Fearlessness and Unity Consciousness.

Heart Awakening

Level 2: The Awakening of the Unconditional Heart, through Surrender into form.
Awakening Beyond Form and in Form. All Embracing Unity. Intimacy with all of Life. Unconditional Love.

• Unconditional Love and Unity Consciousness Awakens through a depth of Surrender.  Inner Division begins to dissolve.
• Ego begins to heal, integrate, or dissolve as it is met with Unconditional Love and Acceptance.
• Shadow Aspects of Ego continues to be identified with during times of great stress and strife.
• Direct experience of Intimacy with All of Life, Compassion, Feeling on all Levels, & Love.

Shadow Side of Heart Awakening:

• Attached to Bliss states and feeling Good. Fear of Feeling that which is painful.  Only concerned with how one feels. Chasing Bliss states.
• Being Ungrounded, lost in spiritual states.
• Fear of letting go of Bliss or Spiritual experiences.
• Re-identification as Guru figure, Teacher, or with Spiritual Ego.
• Refusal to hear or accept feedback
• Fear of one’s shadow, therefore the ego is repressed deeper.

Heart Awakening Integrates, Solidifies and Deepens through Surrender:

• As self, life and pain are Embraced fully by Life/God/Consciousness, simultaneously one experiences the falling away of ego and personal will.
• Falling away of Judgement and Duality. All of Life is experienced as Divine, as life is met with Unconditional Embracing.
• Reorientation of Mind and Heart with the Death of Duality.  Inner Divisions begin to Dissolve.
• Awakening Deepens by its own accord.

Falling Away of the Self and Ego

Level 3:  Hara Awakening & the Falling Away of Self/Ego and Fully Awakening to God’s Will:
Self begins to drop away infinitely. Life lives through you As You. Becoming One with Divinity, One with Humanity and One with Evolution. A Life of Service through giving of oneself fully to God’s Will.

• Falling away of the personal will.
• Ego radically dissolves, heals and integrates, as it is met with unconditional Love and Acceptance.  Ego is mostly dissolved yet may reemerge during times of great stress and strife.
• Will of God emerges as own self.  Total Service of God through one’s humanity.
• Overwhelming Power and Autonomy replaces Insecurity.
• Embodied Consciousness of Divinity in form.

Shadow of the process of disappearance of self and Ego:

• Re-identification as Guru figure, Deity, Teacher, or with Spiritual Ego. Abuse of Power.
• Dissociation.
• Disorientation. Mental illness due to lack of healthy egoic functioning.
• Depression during loss of personal will phase.
• Refusal to hear or accept feedback
• Power abuse in the name of “God’s will.”
• Shadow aspects of self re-emerge without a superego to control the shadow, resulting in deep division in one’s humanity and Divinity.

Awakening deepens as One’s personal and collective Humanity is Embraced fully by Life and through a total surrender of one’s humanity on a continual basis.

• Impersonal Embracing, Letting Go and Surrender.
• Personal Will Dissolves/Will of God emerges.
• Impersonal process does not happen by our will.
• Total Unification of Humanity and Divinity.
• Complete Non-division and Complete Cooperation with Evolutionary Impulse.
• Awakening Deepens by its own accord Infinitely.

Kundalini Awakening
The Force of Evolution Rises within. Dramatically or not, this force Awakens and Embodies. Merging of Humanity, Divinity, and Evolutionary force. Total Surrender to Evolutionary Energy of God.

• Kundalini awakens in pelvis and rises up spine. Creative and Evolutionary force of the Universe is awakened.
• Awakening of and energizing of Chakras.
• Force rises up the spine and challenges any unconsciousness in its way.
• Any area of blockage/pain/unconsciousness is unavoidable brought to consciousness.
• Surrender or Suffer. Surrender all beliefs about pain, energy, will power, inner division and belief in separation.
• Creative force of God emerges as own self.

Shadow/Side Effects of Kundalini Awakening:

• Obsessed with Energy or Experiences, Overwhelmed by Energy and Experiences.
• An Array of Neurological and Mental Health Disorders.
• Re-identification as Guru figure, Deity, teacher, or with Spiritual Ego.
• Dissociation. Disorientation.
• Mental illness due to lack of healthy Egoic functioning/stability.
• Depression from loss of control of Body/Mind/Sanity.
• Refusal to hear or accept feedback.
• Refusal to engage the shadow or one’s humanity.

Deepening/Healing/Growth Emerges as:

• Mental/Emotional/Physical and Spiritual blockages within self are Embraced fully.
• Deep Surrender and Letting Go to a force greater than ourselves.
• One Chooses to identify with Spirit rather than ego.
• Impersonal process does not happen by our will.
• Kundalini Awakening Deepens by its own accord.

Related Article: Tenets of Nondual & Spiritual Therapy