Once we discover that Awareness is our True Nature (not some identity composed of thoughts that we call the ‘ego’), it can be quite an upset to our way of life. While the discovery that Awareness is who we are may take considerable time and energy, it is not the end of the process that we call Enlightenment.
The discovery of Awareness creates a seismic shift in the sense of identity. Okay, we’re Infinite, Eternal Awareness (or Emptiness or any of the 100 other names) which has become these body-minds. Our actual identity is simultaneously the Infinite/Eternal and the here-and-now person (in this particular writer’s case, called “Jonathan Labman”). Both are true, paradoxically and at the same moment.
The implications of this discovery will take us a long time to embody, or ‘live out’ truthfully in the real world. All of our ideas of who we ‘are’ or in this case ‘were’ will actually be only partially true. The ‘ego’ doesn’t really exist? What does that mean? That’s what we begin to discover as we continue the journey of Enlightenment after discovering that we are Awareness.
This discovery that we are Awareness and so is everyone else, will also have a profound effect on how we interact with the so-called ‘others’ (all of whom could be seen to be aspects of the same Awareness). How can we know we are Awareness, and exploit, harm, abuse, ‘use,’ or steal from others?
However, some people stop too soon in their Enlightenment trajectory. This is why some people appear to be so injurious to others. (More to follow.)