Realization, Awakening, and Enlightenment

Realization is that there is another way to experience being alive. 

For some period of time, you don't see the world through the lens of your persona, with a personality, playing a character in the game of life. 

You just exist in this world, and it turns out you have no real answers about what you are, where you came from, and what you are doing here. 

But you are here, so you feel and experience it. You study the world you can see and feel, and study your own feelings of awareness, being alive. 

When you have accessed this feeling of being in a world, without the attachment of all those details about your name and character and personality, you have achieved an awakening. You have woken up, to some degree and for some period of time, from the dream state of being alive solely as the character you were playing. You can now look around in amazement and awe at what an incredible, mysterious situation you are in.

This experience of seeing the world with fresh eyes, and seeing the beauty and mystery in everything, is also what many people experience when they take psychedelic substances. These substances can shake people out of their day to day patterns, and give them the realization that they live in an incredible world.

 It is a bright and colorful world, and their problems seem much less important and urgent. Negative patterns of behavior are sometimes abandoned through these experiences. People come back from these experiences and know that they should be living better, with less fear, caring for themselves more.

For those who are nervous or apprehensive about taking psychedelic substances, the good news is that they are not necessary to achieve these states of realization. A state of wonder, gratitude, and love can be found everywhere by anyone at anytime. One must only view and feel themselves in a more basic and uncluttered way. 

What are you really? Where are you? No one has any idea at all. People may be able to recite facts about the planet and universe and atomic structure, but they know nothing about what everything is, and they know nothing about the origins of everything- as in what is everything and where did it come from. And you don't know either. So here you are, some type of creature in some type of world. Fortunately you are well adapted for this world, and many have come before you and established systems so you can be comfortable. 

So quiet down and try to forget everything, and feel what it is to just be alive. Your body is doing so many incredible things without you even realizing it. You are an amazing machine that lives off food, water, and a gas you breathe in. You heal and rebuild yourself constantly.

Looking at the world like this, you will be amazed by what you are, and where you are. You will look at the world around you and see how beautiful and perfectly made it all is. You will notice more the colors and details. You will have no idea what it all is, but you will be so grateful to be a part of it, to be alive in this world to experience it.

Eventually, there is the lifting of the burden that one takes on when living only as the character with personality in the world. When you consistently move about the world experiencing it and interacting with it, while understanding it all is a total mystery, you are in the realm of enlightenment. You are en-lightened, your experience in this world is lighter since you do not associate with the heavier aspects of a human acting as a personality. The Buddhist word for this is Nirvana which can be translated as Blowing Out The desires and suffering associated with being attached to your personal place in the world as a character are extinguished. Maybe not at all times, but consistently you can return to the awe and amazement of just Being.

It can be uncomfortable but eventually you face the fact that this feeling in the awakened state is closer to a natural living experience, not clouded by thoughts of preoccupation from the character. Sure you continue with the game, play your role, take the actions necessary to provide for yourself and family, etc...but you know it's a game. It can be loud, but your mind is quiet