For a long time I was not aware of something really important: Awakening was the main point of the teachings of Jesus. A follower of Jesus not aware of his central teaching? Wow. Thankfully, I became aware of this truth through the teaching of my friend and mentor, Ron Martoia.
More recently, it was reconfirmed in a strong sense by something I read. “Wake up!” was the message that greeted me on the back cover of Anthony de Mello’s amazing book, Awareness. As I progressed through the book, it became more and more clear that most of the Church still have not fully seen what Jesus pointed to.
De Mello explained it carefully and thoroughly. As I now read the gospels, it is clear that there is a deeper meaning to most of the things Jesus did and taught.
It all starts early in the gospel story where Jesus commands us to ‘repent’ and ‘believe the message’. The Greek word for repent or repentance is metanoia (μετάνοια). It is often translated as repentance, but it literally means to ‘change your mind.’ Meta – higher or beyond, noia – mind.
We need awareness. Without it we cannot see or enter the kingdom of God… Which was Jesus’ term for this heightened state of being or consciousness — right here and now.
Awakening can therefore be defined as follows: Attaining a higher level of awareness that enables us see. When we see, we start understanding, and that leads us to let go of everything that causes us suffering. Most of our suffering is self-inflicted. When you experience an awakening, you realize that you are not what you think. Nor what you feel emotionally. This helps you to retain your peace and composure under all circumstances.
Self-inflicted suffering is caused mainly by attachment. Being attached to something means that you believe you won’t be able to be happy without that specific thing (or person, for that matter). That’s not true! We already have everything we need to be truly happy. Attachment is an ego need, and the greater part of awakening is to drop these attachments.
Jesus taught that the one who tries to save his life will lose it, but the one who loses his life for Jesus’ sake will gain it. That part of our lives that we need to lose is our false selves, or our egos. This is also what Paul refers to in his reference to our ‘old man’ that we need to lay off.
See, in growing up every person develops an identity for him/herself. It is an identity constructed by the mind, and it helps us cope with the shortages of love, security and control that we need as human beings. We live in an imperfect world, and ultimately we will feel a lack of these three elements. Thomas Keating’s work explains this concept thoroughly.
Developing this false identity is not a bad process. In fact it could even be considered as necessary for further growth… How can you overcome an ego that you never developed? It would just be sad (wrong?) not to be aware of this and to live purely from your ego your whole life long.
If you live out of your true nature things like “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23 NIV) come naturally. However, for us to realize our true nature in God we need to overcome that part of us that want to attain our happiness through attachments. Attachments to money, possessions, certain pleasures or privileges, or the presence of certain people in our lives. And the part of our make-up that has such attachments is the false self, or ego.
Some of the best teachers on awakening happen to be inter-religious and not Christian per se, like Ekchart Tolle. He incidentally quotes Jesus more than anyone else. Apparently, he also changed his name to Eckhart after being inspired by the Christian Mystic, Meister Eckhart. No wonder his teachings make so much sense…
The big problem with Christianity as it developed over the ages is that it started to become a belonging system. I am Catholic. I am Protestant. I am Lutheran… Evangelical… Presbyterian. You get the point. Sadly, you are none of those things! You are a human being and a center of consciousness. All the rest are labels, and they stand between you and true happiness and freedom.
Jesus never intended for his message to lead to belonging systems. He was all about transformation and growing up. And often He talked to, taught, and healed people who didn’t even belong to the Jewish nation. He did so without any attempt to convert them to his group — to get them to belong.
Richard Rohr teaches that every founder of a religion started by defining who is in and who is out. Jesus always spent time with those people who were out in the society’s eyes. Could it be that Jesus never even intended to start a new “religion”? Maybe He just wanted to birth a community of people living from their true selves. A community who truly is light and salt to the world around them. A community who can’t help but bear the right fruit at the right time.
De Mello also states that all mystics have one thing in common. They know that “All is well.” And that despite external circumstances that would have the average person in a temper tantrum in seconds. So the mystics seem to have figured out what Jesus was truly pointing to, right? Wouldn’t it be wise for me and you to do the same?
The only way we can be deeply happy and attain the peace that Jesus referred to as the kingdom of God, is to grow in awareness and to wake up. Much of what we will look at on this site will be aimed at helping you do exactly that… Learning to see and to understand will ultimately lead you to awakening.
