ALREADY AWAKE

ALREADY AWAKE

I was sitting with a spiritual teacher some time ago, and, in her attempt to point to the fact that we are already awake, and only our minds tell us something different, she suggested that we look for what’s not awake. It wasn’t her intention, but when I explored that, my mind could come up with a million things to show that I wasn’t awake.
Then, someone in the group raised their hand, and shared something that’s stayed with me.  It was one of those moments that opened something – a light suddenly illuminating a dark place inside.  He said, “I ask myself what’s already awake.”
What I realized in that moment was how I was always looking for-and finding-what’s not awake.  I could list in detail all of the reasons that I wasn’t spiritually aware and unrealized, but, except in rare and precious moments, I wasn’t connecting with what is already whole and aware.  It was a subtle undercurrent, and my attention was elsewhere- on what was wrong and how I should be fixing it.
Our minds are wired to look for what’s wrong.  They haven’t changed much in the many thousands of years that humans have walked the earth.  When we were cave people, to be aware of potential problems was life-saving. Picture this: It’s 30,000 years ago, and we’re out picking berries on a beautiful day, enjoying the sunlight, the warmth in the air, and the first fruits of summer.  Then, suddenly we’re aware of the crunch of a heavy footstep in the brush.  All of our attention goes there.  Sabertoothed tiger?  Bear?  We run. The fact that, in the midst of all of that beauty, we focused on the one potential problem is brilliant. Survival!
Now, for most of us, the dangers aren’t out there.  Our minds have turned inward, finding wrongness there. And, we don’t stop often enough to simply sense-what’s already awake? So, I’m giving my mind an update. Each day, I take time to deepen, to become quiet and connect with my center. I nourish myself with gratitude, with love, with what’s already awake. Cosmologists have discovered that the universe is expanding from every point.  I visualize the point that is me expanding with love towards every other point in the universe, and beyond. And that, is medicine for my soul.