Welcome to Awakening to Reality

He told me that when he feels stressed, he simply sits and tries to calm his mind into total silence. His initial motivation wasn't spiritual seeking per se—he wasn't following any specific instructions—but simply a desire to stop his racing mind and alleviate stress. However, in that silence, something profound happened. More than once, he saw or felt a "great bright light." Later on, he began to feel this great light spontaneously even before sleep.

When I asked him to describe it—specifically if the light had a color—he said it is a "colorless brilliance." It wasn't so much something visually seen with the eyes, but rather a felt-sense of brilliance.

He intuited that the deeper essence of his being is that light, a knowing derived from these glimpses, though he hasn't yet reached a total realization.

I affirmed his intuition. I encouraged him to let that light reveal more of itself and suggested he inquire, "Who am I?" I explained that this inner light emanating from within is, in fact, the deeper essence of one's Being. Our fundamental brightness is akin to a brilliance a million times brighter than the sun. It has never been lost, not even for a moment; it is merely obscured by clouds. The sun never leaves; it is only the clouds—our ego, our ignorance, our grasping thoughts—that hide it.

I mentioned that although I am not Catholic, I have read the Bible (including the four Gospels and the Gospel of Thomas), and Jesus himself spoke about that inner light on many occasions. (For more on this, see: All Religions on Light).

I explained that through the millennia, many mystics in Christianity and Catholicism have discovered the essence of this inner light and the essence of God. To bridge our understanding, I told him about the Roman Catholic priest Father Laurence Freeman, who taught meditation to Lee Kuan Yew, the founding father and first prime minister of Singapore.

Father Laurence Freeman and Lee Kuan Yew

Lee Kuan Yew realized his true self through meditation guided by Father Freeman. Freeman guided him to discover his "True Self"—or the "Light of Self-Nature"—through the practice of Christian Meditation. You can watch a discussion regarding this here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RoSGUuAj1o

Interestingly, although the main practice of Father Laurence Freeman is contemplative prayer and reciting the mantra 'Maranatha,' he also incorporated self-enquiry into the practices he taught.

The core theological concept here is the "Indwelling Light." Freeman teaches that the Light of Christ is already present within everyone; this is an ontological fact, not a reward we earn through holy behavior. He often uses the metaphor of a stream: the living water of God's love is constantly flowing. We do not need to pump the water; we only need to clear the silt and the residue of the "ego" that blocks the flow.

Freeman further expounds on this by addressing the problem of duality. He explains that typically, our consciousness is divided: "I" am looking at "you," or "I" am thinking about "God." This is duality.

However, the "Indwelling Light" is a state of unified, non-dual awareness. When you enter the silence of the mantra, you are no longer "looking at" the light; you become the light, or rather, realize that your true self is that light. You are participating in the consciousness of Christ himself. As Father Freeman quoted a teacher saying, "The self is the inner light. It is self-evident and it does not become an object of perception."

To enter this state requires what Freeman calls "Poverty of Spirit." He emphasizes that the only cost to obtain this light is the "loss of self." We usually hide behind a "safety barrier" made of our own thoughts and imaginations about God because we prefer a concept of God (which we can control) over the reality of God (which is an irresistible, overwhelming light). To contact this "Indwelling Light," you must be willing to become "poor"—to sit in silence without a single clever thought, theological insight, or holy feeling. It is in this absolute stillness that the shadow of the "ego" dissolves, and the light is revealed.

Crucially, Freeman points out that this light does not stay in the meditation room. Once the impurities are cleared, this light permeates the daily mind. It changes the way you see: you stop projecting your own shadow onto others. You begin to recognize the same "Indwelling Light" in the people you meet—even those you dislike. In his view, this is the foundation of true Christian compassion: seeing the radiance of the same Light refracted through different personalities.

Christ: The Reality of Your Divine Presence

Following this, I shared with him a passage from The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle, which speaks directly to this realization:

Christ: The Reality of Your Divine Presence

Don’t get attached to any one word. You can substitute “Christ” for presence, if that is more meaningful to you. Christ is your God-essence or the Self, as it is sometimes called in the East. The only difference between Christ and presence is that Christ refers to your indwelling divinity regardless of whether you are conscious of it or not, whereas presence means your awakened divinity or God-essence.

Many misunderstandings and false beliefs about Christ will clear if you realize that there is no past or future in Christ. To say that Christ was or will be is a contradiction in terms. Jesus was. He was a man who lived two thousand years ago and realized divine presence, his true nature. And so he said, “Before Abraham was, I am.” He did not say: “I already existed before Abraham was born.” That would have meant that he was still within the dimension of time and form identity.

The words I am used in a sentence that starts in the past tense indicate a radical shift, a discontinuity in the temporal dimension. It is a Zen-like statement of great profundity. Jesus attempted to convey directly, not through discursive thought, the meaning of presence, of self-realization. He had gone beyond the conscious dimension governed by time, into the realm of the timeless. The dimension of eternity had come into this world. Eternity, of course, does not mean endless time, but no time. Thus, the man, Jesus, became Christ, a vehicle for pure consciousness.

And what is God’s self-definition in the Bible? Did God say, “I have always been, and I always will be?” Of course not. That would have given reality to past and future. God said: “I AM THAT I AM.” No time here, just presence.

The “second coming” of Christ is a transformation of human consciousness, a shift from time to presence, from thinking to pure consciousness, not the arrival of some man or woman. If “Christ” were to return tomorrow in some externalized form, what could he or she possibly say to you other than this: “I am the Truth. I am divine presence. I am eternal life. I am within you. I am here. I am Now.”

Never personalize Christ. Don’t make Christ into a form identity. Avatars, divine mothers, enlightened masters, the very few that are real, are not special as persons. Without a false self to uphold, defend, and feed, they are more simple, more ordinary than the ordinary man or woman. Anyone with a strong ego would regard them as insignificant or, more likely, not see them at all.

If you are drawn to an enlightened teacher, it is because there is already enough presence in you to recognize presence in another. There were many people who did not recognize Jesus or the Buddha, as there are and always have been many people who are drawn to false teachers. Egos are drawn to bigger egos. Darkness cannot recognize light. Only light can recognize light. So don’t believe that the light is outside you or that it can only come through one particular form. If only your master is an incarnation of God, then who are you? Any kind of exclusivity is identification with form, and identification with form means ego, no matter how well disguised.

Use the master’s presence to reflect your own identity beyond name and form back to you and to become more intensely present yourself. You will soon realize that there is no “mine” or “yours” in presence. Presence is one.

Group work can also be helpful for intensifying the light of your presence. A group of people coming together in a state of presence generates a collective energy field of great intensity. It not only raises the degree of presence of each member of the group but also helps to free the collective human consciousness from its current state of mind dominance. This will make the state of presence increasingly more accessible to individuals.

However, unless at least one member of the group is already firmly established in it and thus can hold the energy frequency of that state, the egoic mind can easily reassert itself and sabotage the group’s endeavors. Although group work is invaluable, it is not enough, and you must not come to depend on it. Nor must you come to depend on a teacher or a master, except during the transition period, when you are learning the meaning and practice of presence.

A Note on Kundalini

During our chat, he also asked me about Kundalini. I told him that I am not a practitioner of Kundalini yoga, but I shared my only direct experience with it, which occurred through a dream many years ago:

Sleep Kundalini

An awakened teacher appeared in my sleep in the form of a doctor yesterday and guided me into clear nondual presence. He seemed to telepathically direct me on how to bring my energy up through the spine into my higher (crown?) chakras. As I went into it, I felt this presence and state of absorption grow more and more intense until the bliss was so incredible that I woke up.

Even a while after I woke up, I still felt the bliss energy and vibrations going up from bottom to top through the base of my spine up to my nape through my sushumna nadi (central channel). This was slightly different from previous instances where it was more related to something like the heart chakra.

Then something somewhat miraculous happened—keep in mind my mind was super awake and blissful after I woke up, and although it was 4 a.m., I was not in a dreamlike state. I saw my hands glowing with light. At first, I thought it was coming from my watch, but I checked, and I was not wearing one. I sent a description to John Tan and went back to sleep.

Just wanted to share this interesting experience. Today my state of consciousness felt clearer and cleaner.

Incidentally, years later, I found that Chögyal Namkhai Norbu described something similar regarding Kundalini in his book, The Crystal and the Way of Light, acknowledging it as a valid path to enlightenment within the Dzogchen context.

Further Reflections from Eckhart Tolle

To round off these thoughts, I came across another passage by Eckhart Tolle today that addresses the friction between different levels of religious understanding. It serves as a great reminder of how we can view these differences with wisdom rather than conflict.

Question to Eckhart Tolle:

"My Christian friend thinks I am going to hell because I have not accepted Jesus Christ as my personal savior. I disagree with my Christian (or Catholic) friend. I think my friend is stuck in an ego-based belief system. Who is right, Eckhart?"

Eckhart Tolle answers:

Well, I'm sure your friend thinks he is right. And I'm sure you think you are right. And now you want me to confirm that you are right.

There are certain levels of evolution and there are also certain levels of spirituality. And what works on one level for certain people may not work on another level for others...

At a certain level of consciousness, you regard Jesus as your personal savior. There are other levels of consciousness where you may regard Jesus as a representation of Christ consciousness. And Christians can go that way. You can go very deeply and still be a Christian. You can transcend the lower level belief systems that are associated with not only with Christianity, with any religion...

You can go to a deeper, deeper level of realization and can still have Jesus or Christ as the representation of transcendent consciousness. And then that may still work for you. So there are teachings that are quite profound. For example, A Course in Miracles that use Christian terminology, but take it to a deeper level. Other teachings, Joel Goldsmith... He also took Christianity to a deeper level.

There were medieval Christian mystics like Meister Eckhart, perhaps the most profound, who took Christianity, even medieval Christianity, which was extremely absurdly limited and totally intolerant... and Meister Eckhart took that and he revealed, he interpreted in such a way that it suddenly had enormous depth...

So let your friend be saved and allow him to believe that you are not saved and that you are going to hell. And perhaps one day you can talk to him about, not about presence, but about Christ consciousness. You might even select certain passages in the New Testament where I believe St. Paul, for example, says somewhere, "I must diminish and Christ in me must grow." ... Really, that means Christ, the consciousness, the mind of Christ, as it's called sometimes by St. Paul, the mind of Christ, as opposed to the little me.

One thing about the archetype of suffering that is embodied in the figure of Jesus, because the person who is suffering on the cross is an archetype of human suffering... And over the centuries, it has, I believe, to some extent helped many people to enter the state of surrender when suffering arose for them, because they felt that they relived or reflected the suffering of Jesus on the cross. And by feeling that they went through the same suffering as Jesus on the cross, they were able to surrender to their suffering. And if you surrender, then something else arises, inner peace arises...

The cross is, amazingly, it's a torture instrument and a symbol for the divine in the Christian religion... How can a torture instrument symbolize God or the divine? But there is a deeper meaning behind that. Suffering, which is symbolized by the cross, can become the doorway into the divine. And then the very thing, the worst thing in your life that created the suffering, when you surrender, becomes the doorway into presence... The torture instrument becomes a symbol. The cross is now suddenly a symbol for the divine because it becomes a doorway.

— Eckhart Tolle (Source: "Anna's archive -- Eckhart Tolle Magnum Opus")