The Awakening

Discovering truth can lead us into an awakening experience. When we allow ourselves to go beyond this world’s borders and experience an awakening, it leads to a new way of viewing our world and ourselves that can change the way we live forever.

From the moment we awaken from our illusion(s) we begin to experience reality. Our consciousness is awakened to something more … something real. It is as if we see everything with fresh eyes and a new profound perspective. We have a new birth, a spiritual awakening. A birth into reality and truth.

Helen Keller, who was blind and deaf, at one time only understood words as symbols for objects. She did not understand language and that the use of words could be used as an instrument for conceptual thought and communication. Then one day something happened to Keller that would change her life completely. She writes about her awakening experience:

"Someone was drawing water, and my teacher placed my hand under the spout. As the cool stream gushed over my hand, she spelled into the other the word water, first slowly, then rapidly. I stood still, my whole attention fixed upon the motions of her fingers. Suddenly I felt a misty consciousness as of something forgotten – a thrill of returning thought; and somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me. I knew then that ‘w-a-t-e-r’ meant the wonderful cool something that was flowing over my hand. That living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free! There were barriers still, it is true but barriers that could in time be swept away.

"I left the well-house eager to learn. Everything had a name, and each name gave birth to a new thought. As we returned to the house every object which I touched seemed to quiver with life. That was because I saw everything with the strange, new sight that had come to me."1

Keller, despite being deaf and blind, knew not only that there was something to be seen and heard by a sense within her, but also that there was a way of communicating with words and thoughts by a sense innate in her. In a similar way we, too, by a sense within us, can understand that even though we cannot see or hear God directly, we can know that he exists and that he has a way of communicating with us.

When we can let go of our illusions and the distorted thoughts that attach us to them, we can begin to see reality. The road to receiving this new sight that lets us see reality is dependent upon humility. The journey to awakening to truth can be described in many ways. It could be described as being in a slumber and needing to awake or being in bondage and needing to be set free. Some have even described it as being blind and needing to see. Jesus says that we need to be "born again" spiritually to experience reality.

He also tells us we must be humble and open. He states, "Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3-4, NIV).

It is by being humble that we can come to see what has been hidden and is hard to see. When we allow skepticism to take root we lessen our chance of discovering the gift of truth. Neo, in The Matrix films, allowed himself some room in his heart and mind to explore the truth and by doing so found it. The result is the freedom to live out his purpose and to live in the truth.

Keller says that the living word awakened her soul, "gave it light, hope, joy, set it free!" When a person finds God and finds union with him this is also how that individual will inevitably feel. Keller talks about discovering the mystery of language and how it was revealed to her. In a similar way, when the eyes and ears of our soul are opened we can see the revelation of God, because we were made for this very purpose; we have the innate potential for this specific end.

"We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written: ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him’ – but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit." – 1 Corinthians 2:6-10 (NIV)

1. Hellen Keller, Political Questions: Political Philosophy from Plato to Rawls, Second Edition, Illinois, Waveland Press, Inc., 1993.