I have seen this question a few times on social media, and most recently in the Vortex Healing group on FB.
This is fertile ground for exploration.
DEFINITIONS & GREY ZONES
First, what do we mean by awakening?
If we have noticed what we are once, is that awakening? Or if we used to notice?
If we notice what we are now, is that awakening?
If we are in the habit of mostly noticing what we are, even if it’s sometimes in the background of our attention, is that awakening?
If we intentionally explore bringing more of ourselves onboard with awakening, is that awakening?
If we mostly recognize our bubbles of separation consciousness for what they are, and invite them to rest as what they are, is that awakening?
Is awakening something else, like having the “core veil” gone as they talk about in Vortex Healing, is that awakening? Is it really awakening, even if that person still mostly operates from separation consciousness? (Most would probably say no.)
Also, how can we tell? What measures would we use? Would we do some kind of larger-scale study? Would we trust what someone tells us based on psychic sensing? If people give different numbers, who would we trust? And why? (Personally, I wouldn’t trust any specific numbers, apart for perhaps from a conventional larger-scale study.)
There is also an element of in-group bias here. For instance, Vortex Healing folks tend to use the “no core veil” definition and assume that a significant portion of awake people are found within Vortex Healing. (Even if many of these mostly operate from separation consciousness.) And other groups will tend to do the same.
WHAT IT CAN SHOW US ABOUT OURSELVES
Having an answer to the literal question may be interesting, but it doesn’t really do much for us.
So we can turn the focus around. What does the question say about me? Where does it come from? What can I discover?
What needs and wants are behind the question? Is there a sense of lack?
What are my fears and hopes? What do I fear and hope on behalf of humanity and the world?
And closer to home, what are my fears and hopes about awakening? what do I hope to get out of it? What do I fear will happen if it’s not here? (Or if it is here?)
I call also explore this more in-depth through more structured inquiry. I can use The Work to identify and examine stressful thoughts around the topic. And Living Inquiries to examine identities, compulsions, and fears.
MAKING USE OF THE QUESTION
The question itself may be unanswerable because it depends so much on the definition, and we don’t have any accurate way to get a number.
But we can make use of the question. It helps us explore what we mean by “awake”. It can help us explore how we would go about finding a number. What sample would we use that would be representative of humanity as a whole? (Seems unlikely it would be.) What measures would we use for “awake”? (Questionnaire? Interviews? Brain scans? A combination?)
And, most importantly, we can see where the question comes from in ourselves. What are my needs and wants behind it? Is there a sense of lack? How can I invite in healing for this in myself?
INITIAL DRAFT
I see this question sometimes in social media, and most recently in the Vortex Healing group on FB.
This is fertile ground for exploration.
DEFINITIONS & GREY ZONES
First, what do we mean by awakening?
If we have noticed what we are once, is that awakening? Or if we used to notice?
If we notice what we are now, is that awakening?
If we are in the habit of mostly noticing what we are, even if it’s sometimes in the background of our attention, is that awakening?
If we intentionally explore bringing more of ourselves onboard with awakening, is that awakening?
If we mostly recognize our bubbles of separation consciousenss for what they are, and invite them to rest as what they are, is that awakening?
Is awakening something else, like having the “core veil” gone as they talk about in Vortex Healing, is that awakening? Is it really awakening, even if that person still mostly operate from separation consciousness? (Most would proably say no.)
Also, how can we tell? What measures would we use? Would we do some kind of larger scale study? Would we trust what someone tells us based on psycic sensing? If people give different numbers, who would we trust? And why? (Personally, I wouldn’t trust any specific numbers, apart for perhaps from a conventional larger scale study.)
There is also an element of in-group bias here. For instance, Vortex Healing folks will tend to use the “no core veil” definition, and assume that a large number of awake people are found within Vortex Healing. (Even if many of these mostly operate from separation consciousness.) And other groups will tend to have the same bias.
WHAT IT CAN SHOW US ABOUT OURSELVES
Having an answer to the literal question may be interesting, but it dosent really do much for us.
So we can turn the focus around. What does the question say about me? Where does it come from? What are my fears and hopes? What can I discover?
Here are some specific questions:
What are my (stressful) thoughts about how many there are in the world? What do I fear the most? What do I hope for?
What are my (stressful) thoughts about awakening? My fears? Hopes?
What (stressful) thoughts do I have about myself in relation to awakening? What do I fear the most? What do I hope for?
What do I hope to get out of awakening? What do I fear will happen if it’s not here? (Or if it is here?)
To explore this more in-depth, I can write a Judge Your Neighbor worksheet on what has a charge for me around this topic. And I can also explore my fears, identities, and compulsions around this using the Living Inquiries.
WHO OR WHAT IS AWAKE?
Then the question is, who or what is awake?
Can a person be awake? The answer may be yes and no and it depends.
Awakening, whatever we see it as, can certainly be lived through and as a human being, and others will tend to see it as if that person is awake.
If we think of ourselves as a separate self, then that sense of separate self can never be awake. It’s by definition what covers up noticing what we are. When what we are notices itself, the separate self is recognized as not what we most fundamentally are.
If we take awakening to mean that what we are is awake to itself, then it’s not the person who is awake. It’s what we more fundamentally are, which we can point to as capacity for our world, or what all our experiences happen within and as.
We can, perhaps even more correctly, say that it’s life awake to its own nature. Life – through and as this human self – finds itself as capacity for its experience of the world, and what all of these experiences happen within and as. (And by “the world” I mean any content of experience, whether its this human self, the wider world, or anything else.)
INITIAL NOTES
many definitions/grey zones,
why ask?, examine beliefs/identities, mirror/pointer,
all Spirit forming itself into all this,
not take anyone’s word unless can check for oneself/intellectual honesty,
ingroup bias (we are the best, we get it),
….
WHY ASK? LOOKING AT WHERE THE QUESTION COMES FROM
If we want to know, where does that question come from?
….
WHO OR WHAT IS AWAKE?
Then the question is, who or what is awake?
Can a person be awake? The answer may be yes and no and it depends.
Awakening, whatever we see it as, can certainly be lived through and as a human being, and others will tend to see it as if that person is awake.
If we think of ourselves as a separate self, then that sense of separate self can never be awake. It’s by definition what covers up noticing what we are. When what we are notices itself, the separate self is recognized as not what we most fundamentally are.
If we take awakening to mean that what we are is awake to itself, then it’s not the person who is awake. It’s what we more fundamentally are, which we can point to as capacity for our world, or what all our experiences happen within and as.
We can, perhaps even more correctly, say that it’s life awake to its own nature. Life – through and as this human self – finds itself as capacity for its experience of the world, and what all of these experiences happen within and as. (And by “the world” I mean any content of experience, whether its this human self, the wider world, or anything else.)