‘WAKING UP,’ is an enlightening exploration into awakening and self-realization. Adapted from ‘Heart Dweller,’ a collection of writings by A. H. Almaas, this article explores the paradoxes and barriers that often keep us from reaching a state of fullness. From the importance of total acceptance to the transformative power of letting go, Almaas guides us through the intricate pathways that lead to true reality. As you, you’ll discover how being present and embracing oneself can unlock the doors to a fulfilling and awakened life
From Striving to Being: How Reality Unfolds Through Acceptance
WAKING UP
Almaas shares how becoming infatuated with a woman initially opens his heart but then leads to craving and attachment.
Almaas realizes he has lost touch with the woman’s divine essence and gets lost in wanting to possess her form. This forgetfulness turns love into egoic hunger and blocks the luminous presence shining through her.
He recognizes this trap as the perennial human tendency to seek fulfillment in earthly forms rather than divine radiance. Yet paradoxically, desire can point to a higher longing. Infatuation’s fire can forge the purity of selfless devotion.
Almaas confesses how he continually gets seduced by the ego’s promises and turns from the light. But he acknowledges everything happens according to a deeper plan. Going astray is part of the journey of return to unity.
Through raw self-disclosure, Almaas models courageous self-inquiry. He challenges us to reflect on how ego appropriates even spiritual openings to feed its agenda. The passage calls us to see desire’s portal to liberating our natural state of divine remembrance.
With uncommon transparency, Almaas exposes the workings of the ego and its disguises in intimacy and spirituality. His words urge us to wake up from horizontal cravings to vertical recollections of the sacred within all life’s relations.
Thought-Provoking Questions and Insights
- Acceptance and Awakening: How does the idea of total acceptance resonate with your understanding of awakening?
- Barriers to Awakening: What are some of the barriers you’ve faced in your own journey to awakening?
- The Paradox of Striving and Letting Go: How do you reconcile the need to strive for awakening with the need to let go and just be?
