Thank you for your kind letter, and I'll see if I can't respond to some of your points. Some of this may be rather spontaneous, so hopefully if you consider it carefully, it will make some sense or cause some recognition:
Q. Teaching the XXXXXXX Course, one of the first things that happens is people realize they maybe aren’t as enlightened as they think they are.
A. 1. Perhaps they ARE as enlightened as they think they are, but also NOT as enlightened as they think they are. For most people (spiritually oriented people) there are two distinct realities - the noumenal and phenomenal, i.e. the absolute and relative planes. (By nature, I must answer according to the Recognition that is afforded me, so if some of this doesn't make sense, play with it.) The process of Waking up or Enlightenment is several layered:
1st - one must let go of the old identifications...I am this idea, this belief, this perception...all the way down to I am this body, I am this mind, I am these emotions, etc. All of these things are objects of awareness. When you separate yourself, or widen the gap, so to speak, between the Seer of all objects and the objects, you are left with what is the actuality of that which we call "I" and is perceiving the objects. That "I" becomes recognized as Awareness. So you have not really changed anything, other than the boundary line. Body and mind are now added to all of the other objects "out there". 2nd - However, that leaves you with an "I" that apparently is nothing. And yet it remains aware. In fact, what you find is that the "I" is in fact Awareness itself. If you investigate into the whereabouts of that "I" or Awareness, you find that it is actually nowhere and more specifically everywhere. Everything, EVERYTHING arises within that Awareness as the Awareness itself. (Much like the dream, where everything IN the dream, including the you in the dream are simply non-divisible aspects of that one dream consciousness.) 3rd - As Awareness, as Infinite Awareness, everything within that awareness is One Thing Happening, i.e. One Absolute Substance. This is Pure Recognition is total Non-Duality. There are no more distinctions. There is just, in the words of one sage, God Godding, including as the apparent 'persons', like finger puppets of the Divine, the Universal Being, Presence, whatever you want to call it.
Now for many, the first stage, i.e. the recognition that they are Awareness, is a huge step, particularly considering 99% of the population considers themselves simply the body/mind. So to recognize that they are something more than that IS, to me, a definite awakening. However, even though they have recognized this aspect of themselves as consciousness, there is still a strong identification (due to habit) of being the body/mind. So they flip back and forth between these two - relative, absolute, relative, absolute. The Absolute recognition, of course affords them deep peace, happiness, quietude, a sense of being home, at one, etc. But they quickly jump back to the relative and wonder where that 'experience' went, and how to get it back. Now, because the Recognition of who they are is not an 'attaining' but a recognition of something they have ALWAYS been, the recognition of that is profound and is the 'enlightened' state. However, they are also identified as being a limited person incorporating all the doubts, darkness, pretenses, etc. Also, and very important, is that the ego/mind/personality wants to grasp onto and own that recognition of Consciousness. However, it is backwards. Although they haven't realized it yet, the ego/mind is arising in and as part of that Vast Awareness that is already present, but due to some temporary clearing of mind/ego, was recognized. As the mind/ego again takes control, it wants to own that recognition, which it can't do. The ego, i.e. the personality can never be enlightened. This is why virtually all true spiritual processes end in some kind of ego death or total dis-identification with the ego, etc., surrendering the temporary or illusory smaller identification into that Absolute Larger Being. It's like saying the wave is the ocean or will become the ocean, when in fact, the ocean is the wave, and for the wave, it must first recognize that it is part of the ocean, and finally that it is nothing BUT ocean - i.e. it doesn't exist as separate waveness, even though waveness may still be showing or 'popping up'.
Q. They have to get past their pretenses and really feel exactly where they are in life so they can take responsibility for all of the darkness they have created.
A. Yes, they do, however it is not that simplistic. This part becomes difficult, and essentially boils down to the fate vs. free will aspect. Ultimately, everyone will act (choicelessly) as if they had free will, until there is the actual recognition that there isn't any (or extremely little). The wave, being the ocean, doesn't make decisions on it's own. They are simply the process of the ocean oceaning, God Godding. Now, this goes against every individualistic ideal. It means, "I don't exist," and for most, "Homey don't play that game!" Thus, most philosophies, religious teachings, etc. move one toward an ever-increasing path of purity or righteousness, and most importantly, understanding. All of this is good and important, except that they too often get stuck within that new belief system, thinking they are doing good. Everyone must face every aspect of themselves - the darkness, etc., but it is not necessarily self-created. Better might be to say ego-identified. Which moves me onto the next point...
Q. I had a little charge on people just stating that they are enlightened.
A. There is a verse in Ashtavakra which has been extremely important for me. That same idea is stated in many other places in similar ways. "If one considers themselves free they are free; if they consider themselves bound, they are bound. 'As a man thinks, he receives,' is a truism in this world." Now considering oneself free may not entirely make them free. However, considering oneself bound definitely keeps one bound. So it is important to rest in the place of being free, being enlightened. In other words, one has to let go of the idea of themselves as ignorant and bound even to begin to recognize the possibility that perhaps they really ARE Awake, they are enlightened, that they as Infinite Awareness are themselves what they are seeking. So, although people may simply be stating that they are enlightened, without any recognition to 'back it up,' it is better than deeply holding onto the conviction that they are NOT Awake, and most probably never will be. Henry Ford said, "Think you can; think you can't - either way, you're right!"
Q. When one looks at the state of the world, we certainly don’t have 1,000,000 or even 1000 Jesuses or Buddhas already in action.
A. No. There was one Jesus and one Buddha. There is also one Aja, one Jason, and one of every other apparent 'individual' personality. Part of the mystery is that each player in the play has their own part and function. We don't need 1,000,000 Jesus's or Buddhas. We need 1,000,000 enlightened Ajas, and Jasons, and Chucks, and Sallys and Tom and Janes, and Albertos and Ingrids, and.... you get the picture. As long as we are trying to be a Buddha or Jesus or anything or anyone else, that is the ego/mind saying there is something wrong. It says that my mind/ego has a better sense of who or what I should be than that Divine Intelligence which created me. It should be kept in mind that the very word 'personality' means a mask, from the old greek plays in which they spoke (sona) through (per) a mask (per-sona). The Aja-ness or Jason-ness is the mask through which the Absolute speaks, lives, experiences Itself in its Infinite manifestation, just as Jesus and Buddha were. The distinction, is to what degree there is identification with that mask.
Q. What are your thoughts about this?
A. So those are some of my thoughts, and more importantly, the Recognition as well as this persona is able to describe it.
Q. I feel like this is an important conversation to open in the spiritual community so we get beyond our pretenses, hidden judgments and spiritual identities. At the same time, I appreciate that nothing creates until someone commits to something. I would love your viewpoint.
A. Yes, all conversations are important in the spiritual community so that all aspects can be understood as well as possible. Often, recognition comes simply through understanding things that were in plain sight, but it just never occurred for us to look at them. You can not very well light to something if your back is to it. So Waking Up, includes a deep investigation of both what we see and believe, and either discovering for ourselves, or having pointed out to us, those more subtle ideas, habits or beliefs that perhaps we're not quite as aware of. Galileo said, "All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them." Most people are content (or rather dis-content) with what they currently hold onto. Thus, above all, a deep love for Truth, to understand Truth and ultimately to surrender into Truth are highly recommended.
I understand that some of these answers may or may not fit into your current belief system or recognition, but we must each speak from our own highest Truth and Recognition, yes?!
With infinite love & deep gratitude,
yours,
Aja
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