Awakening Through The Ages

While modern spirituality is at an all-time cresendo, with the New Age movement pairing rapturously with social media to make it’s message instantaneous, Awakening, as it’s come to be known, has been around for millenia. And if the Universe is as old as modern science thinks it is, then likely, this coming into awareness of inner truth might one say, is far, far older.

To clarify, I am speaking of a spiritual awakening. Though rising each morning to another day is no less poetic, it is certainly more frequent than awakening from spiritual slumber. Call it what you will – Enlightment, Nirvana, Salvation, Gnosis, Moksha, Fana, Samadhi, Apotheosis, Illumination, Ascension – the word will fall short as it always does. For how can one describe that which isn’t speakable? Afterall, “the Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao” said the wise master Lao Tzu, in an attempt to explain what he clearly knew he could not. But perhaps it is simply the attempt at defining the experience which reassures the seeker, whether new or old, that he can indeed discover the knowing within his own heart. And if we look back throughout history we find those who have said that which cannot be to such a degree that they’ve done the supposedly impossible; activate the timeless knowing within another.

The great teachers of the past are etched and echoed in eternity, elusive yet ever clear, as they embodied this evolutionary inevitability. Their teachings resonated with people so intimately, so unforgettably, their messages have not only survived all attempts at being erased, but have amplified, intensified, and solidified over dear fatherly time. Their clues point to intersecting philosophies. Their methods of arrival vary. But their goal was always the same: bring forth the undeniable truth of Unity.

The term awakening comes from the Old English word awacian, which meant to arise, or to come out of sleep. Buddha itself is defined as the awakened one. In modern times, it is often paired with ascension, meaning the rising of one’s consciousness to continue the endless journey of union with the divine. But what it is about this concept that is so important it has been shouted from moutain top of nearly every culture since time immemorial?

The Sumerians from Mesopotamia are considered to be the oldest civilization, dating back as far as 4500 BCE. They believed that everything, from farming to writing to sex, was under divine order. They saw no separation between religion, politics, or everyday life, but rather believed every act carried with it spiritual significance. To them, unity to the higher order wasn’t about personal salvation or even enlightenment, but about upholding cosmic harmony during the earthly life. Despite having a multiplicity of gods, they saw that all was governed by universal truths.

The Egyptians went from worshipping a pantheon of gods to a monotheistic view under Akhenaten’s reign around 1350 BCE. It is still considered one of the most radical shifts of spiritual evolution in ancient history. It was an understanding that was ridiculed as much as accepted, ultimately paving the way for the idea of Oneness to continue reverberating throughout global cultures.

Starting near 600 BCE, the Hindus from India evolved the understanding of completeness by internalizing the self to be the universal one. Around the same time, we see Chinese Taoism taking form in its teachings that all is formless, and nameless; all originating from the Tao itself. Less than 100 years later, Buddha began his teachings of enlightment through the four truths and eightfold path, sharing that in truth there was no self at all.

Fastforward to roughly 4 BCE when Jesus enters the picture from the Middle East. His comprehension of love and light as the source of Creation was manifested in his very being, performing miracles within himself and those he healed. His unique awakening sparked a religion that has stood for thousands of years. His embodiment of this Kingdom of Heaven that waits within each of us has resonated to such a degree that we seek to know its mystery like never before.

One cannot forget too the shamanic cultures of North and South America, who for centuries have grounded this message into their lore. The rituals, stories, practices, and music display different interpretations of the same core belief – we are all connected. This is once again expressed in the Hermetic principles from Alexandria around 100-400 CE, wherein God is One, eternal, unknowable, and the source of all.

Today, teachers like Eckhart Tolle continue to great message of awakening, using presence as the doorway to discovery. Channeled messages are transcribed through meditation ceremonies from groups all over the U.S. as they receive similar philosophies from higher dimensional beings as the ones touted throughout time. Great minds of the 20th century like Alan Watts and Ram Dass still reverberate in New Age philosophies of the West. Most significant of all, are seemingly ordinary people with extraordinary comprehension and integration of these works all around the world. They too share this message, and it is essential that all do, for it is accessible to each and every individual. For all are that Source, that Divinity, and it is in this discovery that we are all moving towards. Every human holds within him this seed of truth. And it is up to him to awaken it.