Edited by HENRY REED, Ph.D.
June 10, 2008
The Intuitive-Connections Network
 
 

Lucid Waking: Mindfulness and the Spiritual Potential of Humanity

By Georg Feuerstein

(Published by Inner Traditions)

Book Summary by Debbie Leighton

What does it mean to be in the state of Lucid Waking?  Is it possible to be completely and totally aware of who we are both physically and spiritually at the same time?   If we as human beings find this state achievable, then the possibilities for the existence of humankind are limitless.   We would become a people who act only out of love for each other, aware of all that the universe holds and be in direct communication with the divine.  Is that what we’re meant to be?

There is a path we must take to reach this goal.  Realizing the final outcome, this path is understandably long and complicated.  The first approach to our goal is to realize we must understand that our nature is to be philosophical beings.  Many of us stroll through life barely awake and completely unaware of the possibilities of enlightenment.  Living a life of pure philosophy is the first step to awakening the parts of us that are wisdom, beauty, truth and the passion of our humanity.  If we don’t stop once in awhile to smell the roses, or even to notice them growing, then we are missing out on life around us.  How then could we possible achieve a life within?

The first question then to ask of ourselves is, “Who Am I?”   Are we physical beings with a spirit, or are we spiritual beings trapped in a physical cage?  Some may try to find the answers by tapping into their consciousness through altered states.  Meditation, prayer, drugs, will all lead to a place where we can get a glimpse of our purpose and our identity.  While altered states may bring us messages, they don’t carry with them the power of wisdom to define the meaning of what we experience.  Asking the questions are the beginning, finding the right answers takes the commitment.

In achieving enlightenment, it is important to realize that while we can make great strides through altered states of consciousness, it means nothing unless we can take into account our physical self.  That is the ultimate challenge.  Our bodies are more than just flesh holding our spirits in, they are part of our manifestation here on earth and in the universe.  We see, hear, feel and touch all things material to us and it is vital that we be able to incorporate all our senses, both in the physical and spiritual, if we are to live in a wakeful state through our higher consciousness.  This becomes a little more complicated a task because our egos get involved and in the way.  The goal is not to do away with our ego but to be able to let ourselves become the observer to the process and not the director.  In order to achieve our highest destiny we must be able to embrace our humanity including our ego as part of our identity.

          Of course, to get through to our higher consciousness we must first realize that we have a soul.  With the growth of science and technology over the past century, the western world has pushed aside the thought of a soul.  However, we have never lost the notion of a soul.  It filters into our language very easily with the use of expressions such as:  the heart and soul of the matter, soul mate, and he’s a troubled soul.   Since we’ve become more metaphysical, and with the blurring of the lines between the sciences and philosophies, we have begun to accept ourselves as beings with souls.  Not only that, we have begun to realize that our soul is just as essential to us becoming whole as our physicality.  In order to receive the answers to the important questions we have begun to ask ourselves, we must be a whole person.  Soul and body integration is achievable and necessary.  The combination of the soul and the body is what makes us Spiritual beings.  Culturally, in denying our soul we have lost our Spiritual self.  In the sense that we are regaining our soul, we have also come to realize that it is through Spirit that we will be able to reach past the limits of our embodiment and come to live in the state of Lucid Waking . 

           We were brought into this world and this universe through Spirit and given the tools we need to achieve our enlightenment.  One of the most powerful tools we have is our imagination.  Imagination allows us our creativity, both for good and evil.  The power of imagination is what has led us over the centuries to become the people we are today.  All of our modern inventions came about first as the seed of someone’s imagination.  During the rise of scientific thought the imagination was denied and treated as though an unnecessary indulgence.  In the not too distant past, scientists came to realize the importance of being able to imagine as a vital part of being able to create.   Through our imagination we begin to get a sense of what freedom from the bonds of our psyche feels like.  Using this tool helps to elevate our consciousness into realms we’ve never been before.  The entire universe is at our beck and call and it is only through our habitual ways of thinking that we limit ourselves and what we are possible of achieving.   It is a disciplined imagination in our daily life that allows us to travel further along the path to Lucid Waking.   

Since it is possible to use the tools to enlightenment in a negative way, it is important that we maintain a keen focus on the more positive actions of our psyche.  Once we have attuned ourselves to Spirit, we are responsible for our thoughts and imaginations and thus liable to the consequences of negative intentions.  In keeping our focus to the positive and maintaining our goal of achieving enlightenment in the Lucid Waking state, we are training ourselves to that end.    Another important tool we have at hand and no less important is our intuition, it is the part of us that knows without knowing.  We are beings, who through our connection to the universe have knowledge of all things within our grasp.  Part of becoming Lucidly Awake is finding the ability to access the knowledge that the universe has waiting for us.  We reach through to this level with our intuition which helps us understand our spiritual and physical selves in a way that can’t be done through rational thought.

What we can imagine, we can create.  But how dare we open that door?  Who do we think we are?  Using our creativity will help us to transcend the human bias we have of not being one with the whole Universal consciousness.  As we transcend our ego we become closer to attaining the ultimate state of freedom, bliss, happiness and the knowledge that we have become one with Spirit.  We are like the flea in the flea in the jar experiment.  The flea only knows that it can jump no higher than the jar it’s been put into.  Once the jar is removed, the flea still only jumps as high as when it was enclosed in the jar.  In the same way as the flea, we have become trained by our habits into thinking we can go no higher and no further into our Spiritual selves.  We think we are not worthy of becoming greater beings, in connection with the whole.  It’s also a little frightening, too.  We must be able to stand aside and be the observers completely without ego in order to reach the highest level of consciousness.  Through altered states, deep reflection and meditation we bring our focus into jumping out of the jar we’ve been taught to live within.

Living a spiritual life is essential.  It is our spirituality that makes it possible for us to transcend our lower consciousness and helps us to see ourselves in all our aspects.  Our physical nature, our light our dark our ego must all become totally integrated in order to become closer to Spirit.  The strength of will and internal discipline it takes to accomplish this task is enormous.  Being creatures of habit, when we delve into intense introspection, we tend to want to return to our more comfortable ways of thinking.  What will help us with this process is the knowledge that the current thinking of science is becoming more integrated with nature and how the workings of the universe (ourselves included) are all part of one cosmic whole.  We are meant to be free and this principle explains itself through the theories of Quantum physics.  The impact of Quantum theory is in the infant stages of explaining all of whom and what we are, yet it all points the Universal Consciousness idea of oneness. 

We are spiritually evolving beings.  It is important and essential that we have been through many different stages of consciousness since the beginning of humankind.  However, we are approaching the time when the final destination seems reachable.  We are at the point where we have the opportunity to create the universe we were meant to live in.  The journey has been and continues to be a difficult one, and, in all probability will take a lifetime to attain, but we are at the time of man where we can see the greatness that can be achieved.    When we can transcend our lower natures to embody Spirit, it may be possible to finally reach the age in which we will enjoy Love, Peace and Harmony with all the creatures of the Earth and the Universe.

 

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