Be one with the obstacle and Awareness shines through

 You hear that often from the masters, turn your mind inwards and let your heart shine instead. Easier said than done!

I have been a spiritual seeker—on and off—for most of my life. The most intense period was in graduate school, following an amazing church experience just after I graduated in economics in Germany and was headed for a PhD in the US. While advancing my studies in economics in Providence, RI, I stumbled on the Bhagavad Gita, Vivekananda, Ramakrishna and J. Krishnamurti in the library, and did not rest until I had convinced myself that the power of Christ was real and has manifested again and again. Then came work, my family and I lost touch with spirituality until I reached my early 40s when a spontaneous kundalini Awakening experience found me. It was a magical time and I wrote a couple of books in my free time as I wanted to share the magic of the Way. 

The stagnation really happened when I tried practicing spirituality full time. Getting my arms around non-duality, Ramana Maharshi’s self inquiry and Nisargadatta Maharaj’s “I Am” way of living was harder than expected. Even though this had been a fact of life since Awakening started, I suddenly realized that I had one foot in the real world and the other in the magical world of Oneness. I was halfway there so to speak. What to do? I experienced stuck energy until I realized that spiritual searching and the desire to teach was the obstacle. It was the mind trying to keep itself in business wrapped up in spiritual clothes. So what do you do when you find that the quest and the teaching is the obstacle? Do you stop and throw in the towel? It’s actually quite simple. Awareness is, moment by moment—a restless mind, stuck energy, a frozen heart or a perceived obstacle imply that we have gone for a walk while God is at Home. Be one with the obstacle and Awareness shines through. 

#awakening #spirituality #mind #quest