I use the term awakening in a spiritual context, but am not completely comfortable with it.
WHAT IT REFERS TO
It refers to noticing what we are, and perhaps keeping noticing it and living from it.
We find ourselves as capacity for the world, and what our field of experience happens within and as.
And we may keep noticing it, and explore how it is to live from it.
METAPHOR
Used in a spiritual context, the word awakening is a metaphor.
We use it in the sense of waking up to something. We wake out of a metaphorical sleep or dream.
We wake up out of taking ourselves as most fundamentally this human self, and find that we more fundamentally are capacity for our field of experience – which includes this human self and the wider world.
THE UPSIDE OF THE WORD
The main upside of the term awakening is that it’s widely used and many have, at least, a rough understanding of what it refers to. As a metaphor, there is also some poetry to it.
THE DOWNSIDE OF THE WORD
The main downside of the word awakening is that it can be misleading. If we don’t have a reference from our own noticing for what it refers to, it’s easy to imagine something into it that’s not there.
Specifically, we may imagine it refers to a different awakeness than what’s already here.
In reality…
-> The awakeness that’s inherent in consciousness is the same whether we notice what we are or not.
-> The content of our experience is the same whether we notice it or not.
-> Our true nature is the same whether we notice it or not.
The only thing that’s different is whether we consciously notice what we are or not.
We may metaphorically wake up to what we are. But the awakeness that’s inherent in consciousness doesn’t change, nor do the other things mentioned above.
THE (LACK OF) ALTERNATIVES
What’s a good alternative?
I am not sure. I usually use the word noticing since that seems more accurate, although it obviously needs an explanation for what we notice.
In the Headless world, they talk about seeing which I like. It’s simple, unassuming, and direct, although it makes the most sense in the Headless context.
THE GIFT IN THE SHORTOCMINGS OF WORDS
The essence is that there is no single word that is accurate and does it justice.
It will always have to be explained, to some extent.
And there is a gift here. Words are inevitably misleading when we try to talk about what we are.
Our only option is to find it for ourselves.
DRAFT
THE TERM AWAKENING IS TOO MUCH
I use the term awakening, but am not completely comfortable with it. It’s too much.
What awakening is referring to is noticing what we are, and perhaps keeping noticing it and living from it, and allowing our human self to transform within it.
The awakeness that’s inherent in consciousness is the same whether we notice what we are or not.
The content of our experience is the same whether we notice it or not.
Our true nature is the same whether we notice it or not.
The only thing that’s different is whether we consciously notice what we are or not.
To me, the word awakening seems a bit too much for that noticing.
And it can also easily be misleading. We may metaphorically wake up to what we are. But the awakeness that’s inherent in consciousness doesn’t change, nor do the other things mentioned above.
What’s a good alternative? I am not sure. I usually use the word noticing since that seems more accurate. In the Headless world, they talk about seeing which I like.
The only upside about the word awakening is that it’s widely used, which is also why I use it.
……
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The main downside of the word awakening is that it is a metaphor. The word doesn’t make it clear what it refers to. If we don’t have a reference from our own noticing for what it refers to, it’s easy to imagine a lot of things into it.