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SHAFIN DE ZANE
My goal in this document is to share with you the blueprint of the journey of authentic spiritual awaken- ing. 99% of spirituality right now seems to be some form of ego trip. So it is my sincere hope that this document will save you from years of needless confusion lost in pseudo spirituality and egoic mind games. I have done that for you having spent the last 20 years going through every kind of spiritual meta- physical teaching you can imagine. In this text, I am going to be as concise and simple as possible to save you time and also to ensure that, in times of need and crisis, you can remind yourself the gist without hav- ing to go through an entire book every time. Although very short, you will see that this document contains a map for your journey of spiritual evolu- tion. Take a printout, keep it handy, and refer back to it when you feel you are getting lost. This text is not a substitute for actual learning from a teacher, nor is it designed to help you in having a profound revelation. The idea is simple: when you have a map, you have an overview of the terrain, and when you have an overview, you can save time by going straight from point a to b, without having to get lost in needless swamps, mountains and ravines. This text is for those who do not like going around in circles for too long. I have tried to omit needless words. I hope you will appreciate that.
It always starts with profound discomfort, or a nagging psychological itch, or a genuine crisis. Something within us becomes aware that there is something more, something we are not =iguring out, something just out of our reach but its there, very surely there. Its like our heart knows something that our brain does not and that creates an imbalance that makes us very uncomfortable. What is it that Im missing? When the question becomes powerful enough, the answer arrives in the form of a book, a discussion with a friend, or a teacher. Usually this =irst level answer is some sort of =ix it type answer. We =ind some solu- tion to our crisis, or we learn how to deal with our anxieties, how to make more money; or we are trained in the language of psychology, success coaching, self-improvement or personal development. Some peo- ple jump into more spiritual matters, but even then, usually in the beginning, the answer is =ix it variety. At this point we usually become happy for a while thinking we have found our solution to all our ques- tions. However this happiness rarely lasts very long, usually no more than a few months to maybe a year or so. But it serves its purpose; it whets our appetite and shows us the path to our inner world. The Seeker has been born, now the seeking begins. The Seeker, in all its varieties of seeking, has one ultimate agenda: how to become One with the true Source of power (some call it =inding God, some call it returning to the Source, some call it becoming enlight- ened). The Seeker looks around and sees the world in its appalling misery, his or her own less than per- fect life, and says, There must be a solution to this! and the heart concurs Yes! There is! Keep seeking. The next level answer usually arrives in the form of some white magic type spiritual knowledge: how to make the universe do what I want it to do. People learn about the law of attraction, power of thought, mind power, or even full on magical rituals. And guess what? Lo and behold! It works! These are the happiest days of the Seeker! It has learned how to control the Universe. It feels it has found that thing that every- one is looking for and it feels now it can =inally begin to party in life full steam ahead. Unfortunately, like all honeymoons, this also ends at some point and Life somehow teaches the Seeker that not all things are subject to its mind power and magic, in fact the more the Seeker uses those powers, the more life becomes complicated. The more the Seeker rigidly tries to hold on to magic and mind power, the more suffering it experiences. At some point the Seeker =igures out there must be some other better way, and so the search continues. In the next level the Seeker learns the futility of control and is trained to surrender instead of trying to make everything go according to its own will and volition. The Seeker learns that the less one pushes, the less one Cights, the more one allows things to unfold, the more harmonious life becomes. This is a hard les- son for the Seeker to learn but once one learns it, life becomes easier again, with less con=lict, struggle and =ight. One learns the art of =lowing, the art of surrender. For a lot of people this level of learning is associated with a return to religion and an act of surrender to God and His will. Since most religions speak of surrender to Gods will, the Seeker believes that the an- swer must be in the religion itself. Some people stay stuck in this level forever because religion brings a tremendous sense of psychological security heaven, afterlife, a sense of familiarity due to ones own childhood conditioning, and not to men- tion the sense of solidarity with all other members of the same religion and psychological security is the ESSENCE of what the Seeker was seeking all this while. But no matter how much psychological security the Seeker =inds in surrender, that nagging discomfort of not knowing does not go away. And at some point, after suffering ten years or ten life times, in one mo- ment of total honesty, total surrender, with the power of all consuming =ire of total suffering, the Seeker =inally asks the root question, the question that collapses all other questions: Who Am I?
At this point, the Seeker realizes this profoundly uncomfortable thing: I dont know who I am, and since I dont know who I am, I cannot possibly know what anything means and all my beliefs and ideas are noth- ing but shadows! Everything I think is good, bad, real, unreal, are all based on the faulty premise of who I think I am and who I think I am is nothing but a summation of conditioning: social, cultural, religious, eco- nomic, personal and collective conditioning; conditioning that has been my =ilter of life since the day I could begin to think verbally, and everything I think I am is nothing but the voice of this conditioning, and this conditioning is nothing but sum total of all man made assumptions that is at the root of all the suffer- ing of the world, that is passed down from generation to generation. The moment the Seeker truly real- izes this uncomfortable fact (not as a theoretical discussion but as an actual observation), he wonders: since I dont even know who I am, how can I know what anything else is? This is usually referred to as the Dark Night Of The Soul, but what it really is, is the dark night of the Seeker, the ego. This dark night can last for days or months and as long as it lasts its very painful and even depressing. Yet ironically enough, the dark night lasts only as long it takes for the Seeker to get sick and tired of playing around and trying to avoid that =inal confrontation with In=inity. The dark night has one purpose, to show the Seeker the futility of faking it! And so, one day after the long journey of seeking, after the painful period of not knowing anything, after questioning and thereby tearing apart every belief and ideology, after suffering so much that one cant suf- fer anymore the next level answer arrives! The Seeker realizes this: there is NO Seeker! The one who has been seeking all this while is not a real per- son, its an IDEA, its a network of thoughts created through a process of years and years of conditioning: childhood, social, religious, economic, geographic, ethnic, psychological, spiritual conditioning! There is not even one Seeker, the one with the name (put your own name here), but only a movement of thought that creates an illusion of individuality. There is no continuity of the Seeker either (one me that was born and has grown to be an adult today) but again another illusion of continuity created by memory. In reality the Seeker is just another face of the same underlying thought based entity, popularly known as the Ego. Sometimes this ego becomes a loving father, sometimes a sel=ish businessman, sometimes a blind politi- cal supporter, sometimes a spiritual seeker; and all these different faces pretend they are all the same, one person, but they are not. There is no One Me inside! The illusion of one Me is created by the support of one name (which is your name) and inherited neurotic thought patterns. So, the Seeker, for good reasons, tries to run! Run as far away as possible from this realization. Of all the things that the Seeker thought enlightenment would be, this was not on the list. The Seeker wanted to be enlightened, to know the deepest secrets of the Universe, to sit on the right hand of God but not this! At this point, if you are in the hands of a good teacher, before the Seeker is able to run away, the damage will be done, the Seeker will die, the seed will be planted, awareness will awaken, true spiritual awaken- ing will happen! The One who is behind all the seeking, behind all the ideas and knowledge, behind all the conditioning, behind all the =ilters has awakened. This is not the me who wanted to be enlightened, but something far deeper than me. This is not the Seeker, whose death is the hallmark of true awaken- ing, meaning genuinely we are no longer seeking anymore. This is the nameless, limitless One Life the background consciousness that is the Source and life force of all reality, which is within each of us and yet beyond all that is manifested. However, no matter how good the teacher maybe, no one can keep you bound forever, and one day you walk away from the retreat or the ashram, or if it happened to you through your own efforts then your own meditation room. And after a period of blissful inner peace and unthinkable freedom you =ind that even if the Seeker is dead, the egoic consciousness is very much still there. And you wonder how is it that the ego still survives after such profound experience of awakening? (The ego is that that state of con- sciousness that allows you to perceive time and duality with the support of collective conditioning and knowledge, it is the voice of the me.)
The answer of course is that the ego is very much a necessary component of this physical world. It has its functions like clothes and cars have their functions. You need the ego to have social relationships, to make a pro=it in a business, to play a sport and all that involves you perceiving duality in any shape or form. The ego is your lens through which you perceive duality. The problem of course happens when you get IDEN- TIFIED with the ego TOTALLY and believe that the egoic view of the world is the ONLY view and that is the ABSOLUTE truth rather than a point of view, like a world seen through a colored lens, which is what it really is. When you get IDENTIFIED with the ego, you lose your perspective as the One Life beyond dual- ity, you begin to feel everything and everyone is separate from you, and life is basically you against the world. If you think through this, you will =ind out that the moment you get identi=ied with the ego, is the moment true compassion and empathy ends, and every action you perform gives birth to con=lict, within and without. The next problem is that because this is a journey of evolution, and because we have spent millions of years or =ifty thousand years or =ifty life times (whichever you =ind easier to believe) in the grasp of our ego (which means a speci=ic way of using our brain), its very easy for us to fall back into the egoic mode of perception from our awakened state which is a very recent evolutionary achievement. And so the rest of the journey for the Awake One, as long as we are here on this earth in this body, is to play this game of cars and credit cards and marriages and children with as much fun as possible remain- ing as awake as possible. In an ideal situation, we play our game of duality intensely and passionately with integrity, impeccability and style, all the while remaining aware of our true identity in the back- ground, which is the One Consciousness itself through one and all, experiencing itself within the multi- tudes, the Unity within multiplicity. If we are awake, truly awake, we play this game of duality as long as it is fun and enjoyable and when its getting too serious, we simply snap back to our original state. We do what we need to do but we never forget the truth in our heart. The problem here of course, at least in the beginning of the awakened path when stabilization is still not complete, is that when the game gets intense and serious its so easy to get sucked into the full egoic mode again and begin the struggle and =ight, and before we know it, we =ind our self knee deep in con=lict in- wards and outwards. Yet by making this mistake again and again, we learn not to make this mistake again and again, and slowly we stabilize. One of the temptations that haunt the awakened one once in a while in the beginning is to stay away from the madness of human suffering and hide somewhere far from the maddening crowd. Unfortunately, run- ning away to seclusion and personal comfort is usually not an option for the truly awakened one. True awakening is the beginning of true compassion, true love, which means any sel=ish behavior is no longer something an awake being indulges in, or is allowed to indulge in. There is simply too much suffering caused by ignorance in this world and an awake being is the bearer of light in this nightmare we call hu- man life. Once in while we may remove ourselves from the game to recuperate and rejuvenate; but then we come back again to help all the others who are going through the same ordeal that we once went through. Once full stabilization is complete a whole new journey of evolution begins. On the transpersonal level this journey involves bringing awakening to the collective human consciousness, pushing the whole hu- man race to evolve to the next stage of evolution, bringing about true cultural revolution that is based on true empathy and awake awareness of our actual Unity. And on a personal level the experience becomes something far beyond what words can describe at this point in time. Life becomes a glorious adventure =illed with real magic and miracles, unfathomable inner peace and freedom, true love and real loving rela- tionships. However, personal or transpersonal, this journey has NO END because evolution has NO END; so the journey of the awake being is always about the relentless pursuit of the next milestone, over the road that dissolves all the way to In=inity.
Question from a reader: I read the Awakening To The InCinite. There is no seeker". I am obviously not awakened, as I dont under- stand. Lots of ego indeed - because not only do I not understand, I feel embarrassed about not understand- ing. The seeker is non-existent? A Cixture of conditioning? We just are? Or worse, we are not? I am so confused. I do not have a teacher, let alone a good one. "This is the One Life... that background consciousness that pervades all reality, which is within each of us and yet beyond all that is created". The "seeker" in me is dying to understand... or maybe it is just my ego. How do stop being consumed by ego? What is the practical manifestation of oneness? You sent me this message - why? But it is here now, I have read it, you have an obligation to clarify my confu- sion. Answer: (For the purpose of simplicity and anonymity, I will be using the name John instead of the name of the per- son I am addressing. Simply use your own name whenever you see the name John.) Thank you for your wonderfully honest call for help. It is this honesty that is the critical ingredient neces- sary for awakening. All seekers are curious, most are serious, many say they are willing to do whatever it takes, but few are honest enough to admit that they dont understand at all what is going on. The question what do I really know for certain? is the least favorite question of the seeker. But it is this question that collapses the framework of belief system that supports the ego to exist. Here is the simple mechanics of the ego: mold reality according to what is acceptable to the conditioned network of beliefs. In simple words, try to make life =it into what the ego believes is right, wrong, good, bad etc. In even more simple words: to make the present moment understandable by =iltering it through its already existing database of belief systems (and desires about what the future should be according to those beliefs). But that cannot be, for the present moment is never an exact replica of the past, it may ap- pear that way but it never is, and so the ego is forever in turmoil, moment by moment, with life itself, for- ever =ighting, resisting, trying to =it the ocean into a pretty little wine glass. And so life is tiring for the ego, rightfully so, because its forever having to struggle! So here is the simplest way to start stepping out of the ego prison of separation and struggle: know that it is not you! The voice in your head is not you. Your mind is not you. They are all your tools in your tool bag, but not you! In fact there is no one ego or one John either, its simply a dynamically changing move- ment of thoughts creating in an illusion of continuity supported by a name: John! There is no one unique permanent John in there, it changes day by day, as it adjusts to the environment, and takes on the shape of whatever =its the environment. Think about it, the John at 5 years has no resemblance with John at 25 years. Only the name remains, everything else has changed, emotionally, psychologically, spiritually, and of course physically. The illusion is that it is one person who is changing and growing, its not. Its simply a movement of thought that is supported by a name, seated in a body. You are neither this name, nor this movement of thought. You are that which is observing this all. When you are awake you simply stop identifying yourself with the voice in your head, with your thoughts, with the strong emotional pull created by the conditionings of the past, with your conditioned beliefs about life, with your desires/projections of the future, with the shape of the ego moment by moment as it tries to assume mastery over life itself! But mind you this is not an exercise or an effort or some sort of self-discipline, it is a simple knowing like I am not a chair, it is what I sit on, and while I like to sit on it
when I want to, I am not going to hold on to it with dear life, and I do not need to convince myself every morning that I am not a chair! What is the practical manifestation of oneness? No struggle with life moment by moment, freedom from continuous background anxiety and fear, the experience of true empathy, love, freedom and beauty and the big enchilada of course you are awake! When you are awake, you no longer take the thoughts in your head as absolute truth, you realize they are the voice of conditioning and conditioned experience, you realize they are a perspective and you always take the perspective with a grain of salt: if it brings you happiness, joy, freedom and love... you accept it. If it brings you con=lict, you either outright reject it or begin to inspect it carefully. You de=initely are not lost in the vicious cycle of stating an idea and then believing it simply because you have stated it. You realize that your thoughts, no matter how absolute it may appear to you, no matter how noble or righteous, is nothing but conditioning. You begin endless process of keeping what brings harmony and peace, and re- jecting what creates disharmony and con=lict. When you are awake, you are here and now, free to experience life, no longer lost in past or future, experi- encing the beauty and intensity of life, moment by moment. You are no longer resisting life, trying to be somewhere else, trying to make what is into something else. You realize that the most important mark of your sanity and maturity is your relationship with the NOW, this moment, the present instance; if your relationship with the NOW is dysfunctional, it is simply an indicator that your relationship with your self within is dysfunctional. So you practice continuously not to =ight with the NOW, with what is, because what is already is. All improvement happens when you accept the present moment fully and then begin to work on whatever needs to be done. Fighting with the present moment means you are simply =ighting with yourself in the head. This may not be easy to realize, but if you think this through, you will see the profound implication of this. When you are awake, you can truly touch a human being... sip on a cup of tea, taste the tea on your tongue instead of as a thought... look up into the night sky and SEE deep space, the whole universe stretching in front of you... feel your own heartbeat, feel your body, your skin, your eyes, and be grateful for it... love someone, truly love, not because of this reason or that, not because they are related, but because you see yourself in the other... and simply experience life willingly, joyfully, consciously, not because life is happen- ing to you, but because you CHOSE to be here now, you CHOSE to play this game, you CHOSE to learn these lessons, you CHOSE to experience duality within Unity. Hope this helps. I know this will only intensify your search even more, and that is the idea. It is the =ire of frustration of meaningless seeking that will burn down the ego one day and then you simply realize that awakening is the simplest thing in the world no special knowledge, prolonged spiritual training, sitting in cave for twenty years is necessary unfortunately when we are in a pleasant dream no one wants to wake up, it is only that the nightmare gets intense enough that we suddenly wake up and do not wish to go back to sleep for the rest of the night. Ask more questions as it comes to you, but ask only when you have meditated on what I already said, do not be lazy, think for yourself =irst, then ask the right questions. Your life depends on it. Its not a joke. And have fun with all this. Remember, honesty is the key ingredient here. If you are truly honest, life will send you answers before you can even formulate the questions.
Question
from
a
reader:
Hi
ShaCin...
I
have
read
your
teachings
and
i
think
you
can
help
me
with
these
problems. I'm
a
student,
just
a
teenager,
17
years
old
boy,
studying
in
a
good
college,
living
a
good
life.
The
problem
Im
facing
is
that
I
have
lots
of
household
work
I
have
to
do.
Sometimes
I
have
to
cook
food
and
clean
the
house.
I'm
happy
with
all
those
things
because
I
do
this
from
my
heart.
I
love
my
mom
very
much
and
she
is
too
old
to
do
all
these
things
alone.
My
problem
is
I
can't
manage
the
time...
I
don't
have
time
to
study.
Actually
I
have
but
I
don't
know
why
I
can't
study
for
more
than
30
to
50
minutes.
I
have
friends
and
I
give
time
to
them
too.
I
daily
make
my
mind
that
tomorrow
I'll
do
everything
and
do
this,
that
and
bla!!
bla!!
I
have
been
facing
this
problem
for
about
1
year
and
that
tomorrow
hasn't
came
yet.
Hope
you
understand
the
problem.
And
one
more
thing
is
I
lack
conCidence
When
sometimes
I
have
to
do
presentation
in
front
of
people
my
words
shake
and
I
can't
express
what
I
have
in
me.
Same
goes
when
I
sit
in
exams.
Please
suggest
some
ways
for
me. Answer:
Here
is
the
problem
with
human
nature:
when
we
are
in
a
pleasant
dream,
no
one
wants
to
wake
up.
It
is
only
when
the
nightmare
gets
intense,
we
suddenly
wake
up
and
do
not
wish
to
go
back
to
sleep
any
more.
The
problems
you
are
facing
in
life
are
primarily
because
you
are
totally
IDENTIFIED
with
your
mind.
You
believe
that
the
thoughts
in
your
head
is
WHO
YOU
ARE,
you
believe
the
voice
in
your
head
is
YOUR
voice,
you
believe
one
day
you
will
be
rich
and
famous
with
5
supermodel
girlfriends
by
using
your
mind,
and
as
long
as
you
believe
in
all
this,
you
are
going
to
suffer
because
of
your
mind
because
your
mind
is
sick,
not
sane,
not
awake. Try
to
understand
this:
YOU
ARE
NOT
YOUR
MIND,
YOU
ARE
NOT
THE
VOICE
IN
YOUR
HEAD!
It
will
probably
be
very
hard
for
you
to
accept
at
this
age
because
you
are
still
going
to
believe
that
one
day
your
mind
will
bring
you
all
those
wonderful
things
in
life.
It
wont!
And
even
if
you
become
rich,
famous
etc
through
stupendous
effort,
you
will
still
suffer
because
the
human
mind
is
sick,
it
is
neurotic,
it
is
stuck
in
a
glitch
of
evolution.
You
will
suffer
because
you
will
never
be
able
to
be
present,
in
this
moment,
and
en- joy
what
you
earned,
you
will
be
stuck
in
your
mind
drifting
back
and
forth
between
the
past
and
the
fu- ture,
in
anxiety,
in
turmoil,
in
fear.
There
is
no
point
in
having
a
million
dollars
in
a
dream.
You
will
not
be
able
to
taste,
touch
or
feel
anything
while
you
are
sleeping. This
is
not
your
personal
problem;
it
is
a
global
problem.
OPEN
YOUR
EYES
and
look
at
the
world
today...
look
at
the
wars
and
brutality,
the
strange
economic
system
that
keeps
80%
of
the
world
slaves
to
the
other
20%,
look
at
the
environmental
pollution
due
to
unbridled
greed
of
the
human
race,
look
at
the
blind
suffering
humans
cause
to
all
other
animals,
and
then
ask
yourself:
is
this
a
sane
race?
Its
not.
And
you
are
part
of
this
insane
race;
you
have
the
same
madness
within
you
that
the
rest
of
humanity
has.
What
is
the
solution?
First
become
fully
clear
that
this
is
true,
that
you
are
in
trouble,
that
you
are
stuck
in
a
prison,
that
all
your
friends
and
family
are
stuck
along
with
you.
Unfortunately,
by
serious
struggle
and
effort
they
have
all
=igured
a
way
to
be
comfortable
within
this
prison
and
if
you
tell
them
that
they
are
in
a
prison,
they
will
try
to
kill
you!
Like
you
will
try
to
forget
what
you
are
reading
now
very
soon,
because
it
will
make
you
uncomfortable
too.
Its
much
easier
to
remain
stuck
within
this
prison,
there
is
TV,
there
is
daily
run- ning
after
this
or
that,
there
is
the
bittersweet
insane
drama
of
personal
relationships,
there
is
the
prom-
8
ise of an unseen future that everything will become good some day by doing the same things over and over today. Here is the de=inition of insanity: doing the same things over and over expecting different re- sults! Second, remember this: YOU ARE NOT THE MIND, YOU ARE NOT THE VOICE IN YOUR HEAD. Meditate on this as much as possible. This is your KEY to freedom. Third, remember there is great magic right here, right now, where you are. Search for it. Its real. There is great bliss, great freedom, great joy, great fun, exactly where you are. You don't have to go to the moun- tains to seek for it, its in your kitchen, in your backyard, in the morning sun, in the in=inite space that is visible right above your head on a clear night. Never stop looking until you =ind it. And when you =ind it, don't be ashamed to enjoy it, there is nothing more important in life than being awake to the present mo- ment and enjoying the magical reality that is our inheritance. Only a happy man can make anyone else happy. A suffering man brings suffering. Be happy Cirst. Don't be lost in the nightmare of unful=illed desires that is the mark of the insane ego mind. Third, read as much as you can, read like a mad man, read everything you can =ind on spirituality and hu- man psychology. One day you will realize there is no point in reading much, but hopefully until that day arrives, you will have learned some interesting things that will help you on the way. And =inally, never never never never give up! Never let anyone convince you that life is supposed to be struggle and =ight, money and power, dog eat dog. There is great magic here. Remember that. If your search is true, you will =ind the answer that is a guarantee.
Question
from
a
reader:
Thank
you
ShaCin
for
sharing
this
report.
I
will
have
to
reread
several
times
because
I
understand
glimpses
of
what
you
are
exposing
but
other
parts
are
still
unclear.
Particularly
the
part
about
getting
to
realize
that
awakening
is
an
idea.
I'm
not
sure
I
really
understood
that
part.
The
major
struggle
I
face
in
every
day
situa- tions
is
I
think
how
to
let
go
of
the
ego
and
still
have
boundaries
and
some
type
of
fear?
Its
difCicult
for
me
to
formulate
the
question. Answer:
Awakening
is
not
an
idea,
the
idea
of
what
awakening
will
be
for
"me"
is
an
idea;
especially
if
that
idea
re- volves
around
the
spiritual
marketing
of
bright
lights,
cosmic
consciousness,
one
sudden
rapturous
expe- rience
etc.
The
ego
loves
all
those
ideas
because
it
implies
that
the
ego
will
one
day
attain
"spiritual
en- lightenment"
and
become
some
sort
of
a
super
ego.
Awakening,
unfortunately
for
the
ego,
is
waking
up
from
the
dream
of
the
"me",
which
is
the
end
of
ego
dominated
worldview.
True
awakening
is
not
a
personal
thing,
it
is
the
awakening
of
life
itself,
which
is
your
innermost
essence.
Once
that
true
awakening
happens
(as
a
glimpse
or
as
a
permanent
transformation,
both
of
which
are
common,
with
the
former
being
far
more
common
than
the
latter),
you
no
longer
see
life
in
component
parts,
isolated
series
of
events,
through
the
=ilter
of
the
"me",
but
simply
have
a
feeling
realization
that
the
whole
thing
is
a
dance,
and
it
is
who
you
are,
you
are
life
itself.
Now
here
is
the
hardest
part
for
most
people,
the
"major
struggle"
as
you
wrote,
even
after
they
have
had
glimpses
of
the
One
Life...
to
not
=ight
when
con=lict
arises,
to
SEE
unity
instead
of
illusory
fragments
when
the
game
gets
serious,
to
not
fall
apart
when
things
dont
go
how
"me"
wants
it
to
go.
True
awaken- ing
is
one
simple
root
realization
=irmly
planted
in
the
heart:
the
whole
thing
is
One,
nothing
is
separate,
nothing
is
other
than
you,
and
nothing
is
happening
by
accident.
Spiritual
enlightenment,
AKA
awakening
is
an
evolutionary
achievement
of
the
human
race,
in
simple
terms
its
nothing
but
effective
brain
management.
Look
around,
at
least
5000
years
of
civilization
and
things
are
getting
bad
to
worse,
the
whole
world
is
getting
crazier
and
crazier,
40,000
children
die
each
day
due
to
lack
of
food,
while
countries
are
destroyed
systematically
for
oil,
gas,
and
military
advantage.
Spiritual
awakening
is
awakening
from
that
madness
of
the
ego
dominated
worldview:
I
and
you
are
sepa- rate
and
as
long
as
I
can
maintain
my
illusion
of
certainty
and
success,
what
happens
to
you
is
none
of
my
business.
Awakening
is
not
an
idea,
its
not
what
you
"should"
do,
its
not
spiritual
tripping,
its
not
doing
the
right
things
so
you
can
manipulate
the
Universe
in
someway
in
your
favor.
Awakening
is
doing
what
you
need
to
do
but
never
forgetting
the
truth
in
your
heart:
we
are
all
One,
we
are
all
in
this
game
together,
none
of
us
are
going
anywhere
until
each
one
of
us
are
=inally
free
from
the
madness
of
the
ego-mind
and
body.
True
awakening
is
true
love.
Love
being
the
recognition
of
yourself
in
the
other.
And
yes,
that
includes
ani- mals
too! This
is
all
nice
talk
for
the
ego
and
it
wants
to
believe,
it
even
pretends
it
believes,
until
con=lict
arises,
and
then
it
forgets
everything
and
becomes
the
neurotic
entity
that
it
really
is
and
does
whatever
it
thinks
will
bring
the
most
psychological
certainty.
If
that
means
rob,
kill,
destroy,
hate,
dominate,
connive
and
gener- ally
oppose
life
itself,
it
will
do
that.
Anything
at
all,
psychological
certainty
Eirst,
everything
else
fol- lows.
The
mark
of
true
awakening
then
of
course
is
not
what
you
say
or
do
in
an
ashram
or
in
your
cozy
living
room
or
in
a
monastery,
but
what
you
do
when
con=lict
arises.
Do
you
see
the
One,
or
do
you
see
only
your
ego
interest?
The
funny
thing
is
the
only
thing
that
comes
out
of
this
ego
dominated
con=licted
worldview
is
more
con- =lict,
within
and
without.
And
that
is
where
the
game
is
supremely
intelligent!
The
more
egoic
you
are,
the
more
con=lict
you
will
create
in
your
life,
and
the
more
con=lict
there
is
the
more
suffering,
the
more
suffer- ing
you
go
through
the
harder
it
becomes
to
maintain
your
egoic
illusions
of
certainty
and
security.
And
=inally
it
is
that
suffering
that
burns
you
enough
one
day
to
become
free
of
the
ego
and
awaken.
10
Smart people realize this quickly and takes the only sane decision: no matter what, no matter how in- tense the game gets, do not lose your clarity and do not create further con=lict, no matter how tempting it is to do otherwise, no matter how much the ego mind screams for Hollywood style intervention! Fools rush in and make a mess out of everything, believing it has not, and then goes back to reading its spiritual books and talks about enlightenment and bright lights and sitting in the right hand of God. Awakening is simple sanity, nothing extraordinary about it, but terribly rare phenomenon in this mad world of pro=it and =ight. Finally, remember awakening is not a degree you earn, its an evolutionary step, the next step of evolution, and it normally it takes time to stabilize even after you have had a full glimpse of the Unity of life.
11
Question from a reader: Thank you ShaCin! I also share your ideas, but mine are more Western in terminology. It was a remarkable experience when I realized that "I" didn't exist. Even more so when I realized that I can remake myself into anything I want to be. Most people get scared when I say that and they run from it. I can understand that. People are stuck in their roles, and if they are able to control their minds, they can see through those roles easily and make new decisions about what they want to do and be. But it requires they start thinking about what that means. But they dont do that. Why is this? Answer: To see through the role that one is playing with everyone and everyone is playing with oneself is one of the hardest challenges for the ego, because the game is so addictive. Each role that we play has one goal: to immortalize its own existence; and it will do whatever it takes, even bring pain and suffering, to ensure that goal. Awakening of course implies that you are no longer trying to see through one role or the other, or take control or tone down one role or the other, but in one fell swipe see through the whole game of assuming roles and in that SEEING drop the whole charade. This is not easy because each role (each temporary structure of the ego) promises us the solution to eve- rything in life (money, fame, sex, power, love whatever is your preference) and we fall for it over and over, until one day we SEE that this game is too costly for a warrior, it comes with too much con=lict and suffer- ing, inside and outside. And that is the secret... how long do you have to suffer before you realize that the game is just not worth the candle? How long do you have to give birth to con=lict within and without be- fore you realize that no matter what the temptation, no matter what the promise, nothing is worth per- petuating the madness that is inevitably within each of us. This madness is our IDENTIFICATION with the amorphous psychological structure called the ego mind, which is forever changing into different roles, and each role claiming total authority of the pure consciousness. Until suffering is total and complete, we are usually too busy with our all important game of roles, trying to accumulate more money, power, fame, success, love etc etc etc. Unfortunate, but that is how us humans are, and that is how we will awaken one day. Suffering is our style, our preferred mode of transportation, until =inally we look around for the =irst time and SEE how dysfunctional life has become individually and collectively, and =inally stop playing this crazy game once and for all. (Note to all egos out there: this does not imply becoming pure vegetable, it implies pure life, which is free from the whole charade of "I will be exactly what you want me to be, to get exactly what I want to get out of you". Being free is not being inactive, its simply the freedom to choose ones action through pure intelli- gence, instead of pure madness.)
12
Question
from
a
reader:
Dear
ShaCin,
Thanks
to
your
guidance,
I
feel
the
needs
of
my
ego
weakening
everyday.
I
feel
more
awake
than
ever
before
but
I
also
have
episodes
of
falling
back
into
the
usual
game
of
money
and
fame.
The
good
news
is
that
I
am
working
on
this
and
everyday
I
feel
myself
more
free
than
the
day
before.
I
would
like
to
know
what
is
the
larger
implication
of
awakening?
I
feel
there
is
a
responsibility
I
have
to
serve,
something
beyond
my
personal
needs,
what
is
that?
How
will
I
know
that
I
am
living
an
authentic
spiri- tually
awake
life?
What
are
the
signs
that
I
am
on
the
right
track?
Answer:
True
spiritual
awakening
implies
you
have
crossed
the
threshold
of
me-me-me-and-my-story
and
entered
the
realm
of
One
Life.
Once
you
have
entered,
it
is
as
if
the
center
of
gravity
of
your
life
shifts
and
all
your
actions
become
aligned
with
the
guiding
force
of
In=inity
rather
than
your
own
ego
needs.
For
the
average
man
almost
everything
he
says,
does,
plans
and
wants
are
nothing
but
pulls
of
his
ego,
which
is
why
he
is
forever
in
con=lict,
within
and
with
greater
life.
He
is
stuck
in
his
own
ego-prison,
ruled
by
his
own
ego-prison-guards,
and
believes
himself
the
king
of
his
own
ego-prison-kingdom.
In
reality
he
is
just
stuck
like
everyone
else,
no
matter
how
much
money
he
has
accumulated
or
how
shiny
his
life
looks
from
the
outside. For
the
awake
one,
everything
he
says,
does,
plans
and
wants
are
responses
to
the
pulls
of
One
Life.
The
awake
one
is
aware
of
something
that
the
average
man
isnt,
the
interconnected
dance
of
the
in=inite
and
its
great
cosmic
journey
through
eternity.
He,
in
a
very
real
way,
feels
the
tug
of
the
dance
every
moment
of
every
day,
and
intuits
the
general
direction
of
the
journey
every
moment
of
every
day.
An
average
man
senses
this
too,
but
since
he
is
totally
absorbed
in
his
nightmare
of
unful=illed
desires,
he
cannot
pay
attention
to
this
pull,
and
so
plays
the
role
of
a
child
building
castles
in
the
sand.
He
has
no
un- derstanding
of
rhythms
of
the
ocean,
the
ebb
or
the
=low,
the
direction
of
the
wind,
the
pull
of
the
moon
and
other
heavenly
bodies
he
is
simply
interested
in
building
his
castle
and
fantasizing
about
his
king- dom
within
the
castle.
In
this
way,
the
spiritual
journey
is
really
like
a
child
growing
up
and
realizing
the
futility
of
building
castles
in
the
sand
and
awakening
to
the
greater
responsibilities
of
life.
Until
he
does
that,
the
ocean
breaks
his
castles
over
and
over
and
over,
just
to
show
the
futility
of
such
childish
behav- ior.
If
he
is
the
least
bit
awake,
he
stops
his
mindless
game
of
castles
and
starts
paying
attention
to
the
ocean;
unfortunately
most
people
are
not,
so
they
keep
building,
keep
competing
with
others,
who
can
build
the
biggest
castle
of
them
all
that
will
last
forever
after.
The
awake
one,
like
the
seasoned
boatman,
like
the
experienced
surfer,
like
a
very
old
man,
simply
knows
there
is
no
point
in
arguing
with
the
ocean,
and
goes
with
the
=low.
The
only
difference
is,
in
the
case
of
the
awake
one,
he
does
not
simply
acquiesce
to
an
overpowering
force
but
he
realizes
that
this
force
is
the
truest
essence
of
who
he
is.
The
unmistakable
mark
of
the
authentic
spiritual
awakening
is
therefore
this:
the
ability
to
feel
the
pull
of
the
interconnected
web
of
One
Life,
the
unquestioning
discipline
to
follow
it,
and
the
total
lack
of
egoic
need
to
feel
superior
(or
inferior)
to
anything
or
anyone.
Above
all,
the
spiritually
awake
man
is
empty
like
a
mirror,
and
his
emptiness
re=lects
One
Life.
On
=irst
glance
it
may
appear
that
this
man
has
no
ambition,
no
passion,
no
emotion
and
no
speci=ic
reason
for
liv- ing.
This
is
because
the
awake
man
lives
every
moment
serving
intent
of
One
Life
rather
than
his
the
egoic
agenda
of
me-me-me-and-my-story.
His
reason
raison
d'tre,
or
reason
for
existence,
is
the
evolu- tion
of
One
Life,
the
Universe,
In=inity,
or
God.
He
is
empty
because
he
is
One.
13
So what does life look like after awakening to the In=inite? Does one go to the cave, shave his head, wear a robe, give up all material wealth, sit in meditation for twenty-seven years, or start working with lepers and cancer victims? The answer is you do what you do but you do not forget the TRUTH that is within you. The question is not what you do, but how you do it and why you do it. You may stick a knife in some- one because you want him or her dead out of anger, or you could do the same to save their life because you are a doctor. It doesnt matter if you are monk, or a banker, or a teacher, what matters is that you are genuinely responding to the guidance of the One Life. Sometimes that guidance will ask you to start a new business, sometimes to serve the lepers, sometimes to leave everything behind and go to the mountains, and sometimes to stay put exactly where you are no matter how dif=icult it may be to do so. Remember, the mark of an awake man is simply this: to know and respond to the energetic pulls of the One Life, without question, without a personal sense of victory or defeat, without fear or greed. You do what you need to do but you never lose the truth in your heart. This does not mean you do not make mistakes, or that you never suffer due to those mistakes. Actually its quite the opposite! Being truly awake implies you truly know that this journey is a journey of eternal evolution, and evolution is about breaking into that which has never been, to higher and higher forms of complexity and sophistication. You can make many mistakes along the way, and you will make many mis- takes along the way, but if you are awake, you will know, even your mistakes are part of the in=inite tapes- try that forms the inner fabric of the Uni-Verse. The secret, the most important secret, your superpower as an awake being, is to ensure every action you take, no matter how small or large, you take from a place of love. When you do that, you become invincible. When you always, and always, act from a place of true love, a love that recognizes everything and everyone as your own self, when you act from that feeling reali- zation, no matter how foolish that act may be, in the end you always win, if you dont, its not the end. This is the secret that protects the awake one, this is what makes him or her a superhero, and this is why they say that all things are possible. They simply know this: no matter what choice is made or which ac- tion taken, if it is one that is started by love... it serves One Life. And when you serve One Life, One Life con- spires to make all things happen for you. This is not a give and take, but the absolute recognition that there is, in its very essence, only One. When you serve One Life, you serve your own self. When One Life serves you, it serves its very Own Self. I hope this has helped! If it has, dont forget to share it with your friends, family and even teenage chil- dren. You will probably save them many years of needless seeking and suffering. If you have more questions or comments, send it to me at sha=indezane@gmail.com And if you are interested in learning from me directly, visit my website at www.rede=ineyourreality.com Or if you are totally new to this journey, start at www.thesevendayjourney.com which will give you a wholesome start on this glorious adventure. Wishing you clarity, strength and passion!
Shan de Zane
14