The Process of Spiritual Awakening

The Process of Spiritual Awakening

 

“Spiritual awakening,” or “opening the spiritual eye,” signifies the ability to see the world of spirits. This spiritual awakening is the first step toward enlightenment.

 

What is the process of this spiritual awakening? When you sit and chant mantras with one mind, you will first experience entrancement. What this means is that when you are sitting with one mind and one aim—when you are chanting the mantras with utmost sincerity—you will naturally forget about everything. People in the ancient past described this with a scholarly phrase, “forgetting shape, forgetting existence(忘形忘在).” In other words, you will become oblivious of your body—of your very existence.

 

My students, as you will know from your own meditation, many random thoughts surface during the process of meditation. These thoughts must be abandoned. Yet, during meditation, you remember everything, even the times when you suckled at your mother’s breast. As your mind becomes more and more lucid, you will continually remember forgotten memories—ten times, twenty times more than usual. But as time passes during meditation, these memories will gradually subside. This may be compared to a bucketful of water: if you leave it for one or two days, all the dregs settle to the bottom, leaving behind clear water. Similarly, when you pour water into a bowl, the water eventually becomes clear as its impurities sink to the bottom. Just like this, when you meditate, all your worldly, murky thoughts subside. Like dregs settling in water, these thoughts must subside within your mind.