As I have traveled around the world sharing in many conversations about awakening, the most common misconception I hear about awakening is that it is difficult. This seems to be the illusory boundary that most seekers inevitably come to upon their path because the result they seek has yet to come to fruition, even through they have devoted time, effort and they can intellectually understand the concept of awakening.

To truly understand what awakening is you must first look at the nature of mind, to see that it truly doesn’t want to awaken, because the mind is designed to create separation and distinction where none exists. We have all been conditioned with a lie that we are a name, a body, and that we are a story of the accumulation of our life experiences, which is a story that is contunuously being enabled by our parents, family, friends and society. But this could be further from the Truth.

Coming to this crossroad, this is where the seeker must each other decide that they are going to give themself the freedom to look past, to go beyond their story or if they are too afraid they inevitably they will retreat back into their story, fearful of losing their social identity, which can result in drastic life changes. Side note; the path to awakening isn’t paved with sparkling gold, dancing rainbows and laughing unicorns, but I can tell you from direct experience that in the end, it is worth all of the sacrifices, however they may or may not come upon your path.

If you have gotten this far on your path, then you intellectually know and agree to the fact, that your name, your body, your story is nothing but a figment of your imagination. This identity has been presented to you as truth, and through the conditioning of your mind, you have taken it to be true, when in fact is not. Now you know it is false, but still you haven’t realized it.

There are times when you are playing your roles in your story and you get so caught up into the emotions, the drama, the conflict of your story that you again forget that it is a story. You identify with your role, whether it be for a day or for a moment and then you catch yourself in the act. This is an opportunity for you to stop, collect yourself and remind yourself that this is nothing but a story. The principle to remember is that you are playing a role, nothing more, and although you are observing yourself play this role, you are not limited to the role itself.

Whether or not you engage with others or if you choose to take a devout path of silence or isolation, the difference matters not in the external environment but only in the perspective through which you are seeing yourself function. Taking the initiative to look at yourself from an objective perspective, rather than subjective will be a great benefit in merging knowing into realizing. The true essence of living the awakened life is to be passionately engaged with all that life presents itself to be but to also be completely detached from all experiences and all outcomes.

From being a parent, sibling, family member, friend, lover, enemy and stranger, all these and more are the colourful roles through which we portray ourselves to be in the story of our life. These roles however taken are not meant to be identified with. As such, the actor on the stage, puts on his mask, decorated in the appropriate costume of his character, present and poised he fulfills his role for the duration of the play but when the play is over, the mask is taken off, the costume is discarded and the actor naturally returns to being himself.

This mistaken identity is often referred to the most difficult part of awakening, letting go, completely letting go of you as you think you are. While it may comes as a gradual understanding or a sudden shock to the psyche, the impact of not only knowing but also realizing this Truth will change the course of your life experience in ways that you cannot comprehend. But your intention to awakening, living the Truth of who you are, this will enable you with all of the strength and power that you will need as you continue to walk upon your path.

The consequence of my awakening took me on an adventure all around the world, while this may not be the most typical outcome, rest assured that your awakening will serve you in the hightest as you watch yourself fulfill your destiny, wherever your path may take you. There is nothing that can prepare you for the uncertainty that will come, however drastic it may or may not be, your unwavering devotion to living the awakened life will be all that you truly need.

Once you see the false as being false, then you are living life awakened. You no longer see yourself as being limited or flawed, you no longer see everyone as a being separate from yourself and you no longer see life as an experience of never-ending suffering. On the contraire, you see yourself as unlimited and perfectly imperfect, you see that everyone is a reflection of yourself, and you now see life as an absurd, mesmerizing play of beauty, inspiration and uncertainty, an evolving ecstasy of incomprehensible awe.

Before you were awakened, everything seemed so difficult as desperately tried to grasp at the beliefs, meanings and purposes that you projected upon the world but ultimately in the end, it just wasn’t enough. This movement compelled you to look further, to ask questions that no one asked and as you started to seek and question, what you were seeking was also seeking you. You weren’t looking for a replacement to your beliefs, or a way to rationalize your thoughts but what you were looking for was something more, something deeper, the True Nature of who you are, beyond the mask, beyond the play, beyond the mind. This why you are here, reading this, to remind yourself of what you already know from within.

It is all simpler than the simplest, for what what you are truly seeking is yourself, the seeker is the sought. ~ ༺ 𝓖 ༻