Growing up versus waking up

Waking up can be a profound process. I do not mean going to bed and waking up in the morning. IWe are not talking about having another birthday and being a year older. What does it mean? It is about truly seeing and understanding ourselves. A knowing of ourselves. How can this be achieved? We discuss this ancient process.

When I turned 18 I thought I had grown up, but I felt no different to when I was 17.  When I turned 21, I felt I must have been grown up, but still I felt no different to when I was 20.  When I turned 30 I felt I must have grown up by now, my attitude changed and I felt I had finally made adulthood.  My self confidence grew as I finally thought I could speak up as my word was finally worth listening to.  30 was the first time I had enough confidence and I didn’t feel like a child but I was still asleep.

I thought because I was finally grown up at 30, I must have woken up.  But I didn’t understand what it meant to have woken up.  I think I am still yawning now, but I’m much closer to waking up than I certainly was when I was 30.

What is the difference between growing up and waking up?

So while both growing up and waking up are complimentary, they are also a progression and very different.  Where as growing up is a western Psychological theory, waking up is a more eastern Psychological practice and way of looking at things.  So what is the difference between the two?

Growing up is the developmental stages we as human beings all go through as we age to acknowledge a sense of our own identity and understand the perspective of life, as we grow from childhood through teenage years to adulthood, it is described as horizontal growth along a lineal line stretching from birth through to death.

The time it takes to grow up varies from person to person due to the different experiences we all have, this growth is just as varied to each of us as is the experiences.  We can all go through the same experiences but what lessons we take from the experience is different for each of us.  Growing up uses thoughts to process what has happened, it is a reflection on life that has effects on our behaviour.  We can get good at being able to controlling and managing our thoughts as they go through our mind.  It is all about looking through the filter of our own eyes to work out what happened and what is likely to happen if the same thing happens again.

……lessons we take from the experience is different for each of us…….

To have woken up is a thought concept and described as vertical growth of the spiritual person into a higher understanding and state of consciousness.  It can be described as going through an awakening or enlightenment, to become aware of the deeper truth of life and who you are beyond the body you live in and the story you tell yourself about your life.  It is the concept that there is no such thing as self and life is bigger than you, we are the witness to the witness, to what is happening and real.

Going from growing up to waking up

When we go from growing up to waking up, we stir up internal confrontation within us because we are facing the fear of surrendering to the unknown.  Letting go is fraught with fear of the unknown.  Previously we were used to managing the mind and being in control of ourselves, we grasped at situation to try to hold onto outcomes and we thought we had a knowing of the outcome before the situation arose.

…being able to be still….

Waking up is a profound peaceful and humble experience.  It is about being able to be still, emptying the mind of everything, understanding the body is not the person.  It is a knowing, a gut or body feeling that is not in the head or a thought.  It is an understanding that you are not who you think you are, but the knowing that something within is the knowing.  You are more aware of self-gratitude and the infinite awareness of giving up the “I am who I think I am”.

Waking up requires a sincere and authentic intention to want to see the truth of who we truly are.  To be a better person than we were before and changing our old environment, eliminating limiting beliefs that are stopping us surrendering and moving forward, then setting up a new environment in the vicinity of the vortex that will take you through to greater understanding and knowing, allowing us to be open to all the universal mysteries.

When we have woken

When we have woken up we allow the thoughts to pass through the mind without any judgement, or playing with them to create stories.  We don’t get stuck in the sludge that traps us like quicksand rather feeling the pain and letting go or surrendering to the universe.  These stories take us further away from non-attachment.

When we are non-resistant to emotions and allow the feelings to happen, we witness the feeling letting it move through our body at its’ own pace.  When we have fully awoken we are aware of surrendering and being the witness, becoming the witnesses witness.

This is the magic of waking up and helps us pass through turmoil and challenging situations so much faster than when we get stuck in the quicksand of the story.