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<v Speaker 1>There is a most curious and often overlooked aspect of

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<v Speaker 1>spiritual awakening that deserves our careful attention, and it is

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<v Speaker 1>this awakening is not merely a shift in understanding, not

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<v Speaker 1>simply a change in belief or perspective, not just an

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<v Speaker 1>intellectual realization about the nature of reality. No, genuine spiritual

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<v Speaker 1>awakening involves the body, the physical organism, in ways that

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<v Speaker 1>are quite unmistakable, often rather uncomfortable, and sometimes genuinely alarming

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<v Speaker 1>if one does not understand what is occurring. You see,

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<v Speaker 1>we have been educated to think of spirituality as something

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<v Speaker 1>that happens exclusively in the realm of the mind or

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<v Speaker 1>the soul, something quite separate from the physical body. The body,

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<v Speaker 1>we are told, is merely the vessel, the container, the

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<v Speaker 1>temporary housing for consciousness. Spiritual work, according to this view,

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<v Speaker 1>concerns itself with thoughts, beliefs, realizations, states of consciousness, while

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<v Speaker 1>the body simply carries on with its biological functions, largely

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<v Speaker 1>irrelevant to the spiritual process. But this is a profound misunderstanding,

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<v Speaker 1>one that stems from the very dualism that spiritual awakening

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<v Speaker 1>itself dissolves. The truth is that you are not a

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<v Speaker 1>soul or a consciousness. Inhabiting a body, you are a

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<v Speaker 1>psychophysical organism, a unified field of awareness and sensation, thought

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<v Speaker 1>and feeling, mind and matter. And when a transformation occurs

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<v Speaker 1>at the level of consciousness, when awakening happens, the body

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<v Speaker 1>does not simply remain unchanged passively hosting a new understanding.

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<v Speaker 1>The body itself undergoes transformation, sometimes subtle, sometimes dramatic, but

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<v Speaker 1>always significant. Now what precisely happens to the body during

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<v Speaker 1>spiritual awakening, Well, let me begin with something that nearly

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<v Speaker 1>everyone who undergoes this process experiences a kind of energetic reorganization,

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<v Speaker 1>a shift in the way energy moves through the physical organism.

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<v Speaker 1>You may feel sensations of heat or cold moving through

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<v Speaker 1>your body in waves. You may experience tingling vibration, a

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<v Speaker 1>sense of electricity running along your spine or through your limbs.

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<v Speaker 1>You may feel pressure in particular areas, especially around the head,

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<v Speaker 1>the heart, the solar plexus. These are not imaginary sensations,

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<v Speaker 1>not psychosomatic symptoms in the dismissive sense of that term.

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<v Speaker 1>They are the felt experience of actual changes occurring in

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<v Speaker 1>your nervous system, your endocrine system, your entire energetic structure.

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<v Speaker 1>The ancient traditions understood this quite well. They spoke of Kundalini,

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<v Speaker 1>of chi, of prana, of the subtle body and its

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<v Speaker 1>channels through which life energy flows. And while the language

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<v Speaker 1>they used was metaphorical poetic, the phenomena they were describing

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<v Speaker 1>are quite real, quite physical, quite capable of being felt

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<v Speaker 1>and observed. What is happening in essence is this The

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<v Speaker 1>body is learning to process and conduct a higher intensity

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<v Speaker 1>of awareness, a more refined quality of consciousness. It is

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<v Speaker 1>rather like upgrading the electrical system in an old house

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<v Speaker 1>to accommodate more powerful equipment. The wiring must be rewired,

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<v Speaker 1>so to speak, the circuits must be strengthened, the capacity

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<v Speaker 1>must be increased, and this process of rewiring, of upgrading

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<v Speaker 1>it produces sensations, sometimes intense ones. Moreover, as consciousness refines,

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<v Speaker 1>as awareness becomes more acute, you often become far more

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<v Speaker 1>sensitive to everything. Foods that you previously consumed without difficulty

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<v Speaker 1>may suddenly cause discomfort or illness. Your body may develop

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<v Speaker 1>strong aversions to substances that dull consciousness, alcohol, certain medications,

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<v Speaker 1>highly processed foods. You may find that you require less

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<v Speaker 1>food overall, or that your dietary preferences shift dramatically towards simpler,

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<v Speaker 1>more vital, more natural sustenance. This is not arbitrary. This

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<v Speaker 1>is your organism recognizing that it is being asked to

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<v Speaker 1>maintain a higher level of functioning a greater degree of sensitivity,

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<v Speaker 1>and therefore it becomes more selective about what it will accept,

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<v Speaker 1>what serves this heightened state, and what interferes with it.

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<v Speaker 1>The body develops a kind of wisdom, a discrimination that

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<v Speaker 1>operates beneath the level of intellectual decision making. You do

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<v Speaker 1>not decide to dislike certain foods or substances. Your body

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<v Speaker 1>simply rejects them, and you feel the rejection as nausea, headache, fatigue,

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<v Speaker 1>or simple aversion. Sleep patterns often change significantly during awakening.

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<v Speaker 1>You may find that you need far less sleep than

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<v Speaker 1>you once did, or you may go through periods where

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<v Speaker 1>you require enormous amounts of rest. You may wake frequently

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<v Speaker 1>during the night, not from anxiety or disturbance, but from

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<v Speaker 1>an excess of energy that makes deep sleep difficult to sustain.

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<v Speaker 1>Or you may experience the opposite, a profound exhaustion, a

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<v Speaker 1>need to withdraw from activity and simply allow the body

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<v Speaker 1>to process the transformation that is occurring, dreams often become

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<v Speaker 1>more vivid, more significant, more clearly remembered. This is because

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<v Speaker 1>the boundary between waking consciousness and sleeping consciousness becomes more

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<v Speaker 1>permeable during awakening. You are not simply turning off consciousness

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<v Speaker 1>when you sleep and turning it back on when you wake.

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<v Speaker 1>Consciousness is continuous, and you are becoming aware of it

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<v Speaker 1>in states where previously you were oblivious. Your dreams may

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<v Speaker 1>carry profound insights, clear guidance, symbolic communications from the deeper

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<v Speaker 1>levels of your being. The breath, that most fundamental of

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<v Speaker 1>bodily functions, often transforms as well. You may notice that

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<v Speaker 1>your breathing becomes deeper, slower, more deliberate, without any conscious

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<v Speaker 1>effort to make it so, or you may experience periods

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<v Speaker 1>where the breath becomes very rapid, almost panting, particularly during

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<v Speaker 1>moments of intense realization or energetic release. The breath you

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<v Speaker 1>see is intimately connected to the state of consciousness. It

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<v Speaker 1>is not merely a mechanical function for delivering oxygen to

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<v Speaker 1>the blood. It is a bridge between the conscious and unconscious,

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<v Speaker 1>between the voluntary and involuntary, between the mind and the body.

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<v Speaker 1>There are also often unusual physical sensations in specific areas

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<v Speaker 1>of the body. Many people report pressure or activity at

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<v Speaker 1>the crown of the head, sometimes described as a feeling

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<v Speaker 1>of something opening, expanding, or a tingling or buzzing sensation.

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<v Speaker 1>This corresponds to what the traditions call the crown chakra,

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<v Speaker 1>the point at which individual consciousness opens to universal consciousness.

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<v Speaker 1>Whether why you believe in chakras as literal energy centers

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<v Speaker 1>or understand them as useful metaphors, the sensations are quite

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<v Speaker 1>real and quite common during awakening. Similarly, the heart area

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<v Speaker 1>often becomes a focus of intense sensation. You may feel expansion, warmth, pressure,

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<v Speaker 1>or even pain in the chest. This is not cardiac distress,

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<v Speaker 1>though it can certainly be alarming if you do not

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<v Speaker 1>understand what it is. It is the heart center opening,

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<v Speaker 1>expanding its capacity for love, for compassion, for connection. The

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<v Speaker 1>physical heart and the emotional spiritual heart are not separate things.

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<v Speaker 1>They are two aspects of the same reality, and when

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<v Speaker 1>one transforms, the other transforms as well. The eyes often

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<v Speaker 1>change in noticeable ways. Many people report that their vision

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<v Speaker 1>becomes clearer, sharper, more vivid, colours appear more saturated, more beautiful,

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<v Speaker 1>light seems more luminous. This is not a change in

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<v Speaker 1>the optical apparatus itself, though sometimes even that changes. It

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<v Speaker 1>is a change in the quality of seeing, in the

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<v Speaker 1>way consciousness meets the visual field. You are seeing with

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<v Speaker 1>less mental filtering, less conceptual overlay, more direct perception. Some

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<v Speaker 1>people also report that their eyes become more sensitive to light,

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<v Speaker 1>particularly to artificial lighting or screens. This can be inconvenient

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<v Speaker 1>in our modern world of constant illumination, but it is

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<v Speaker 1>simply a reflection of the overall increase in sensitivity that

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<v Speaker 1>a company is awakening. The organism is recalibrating to a

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<v Speaker 1>more natural, more subtle, more refined way of functioning. Emotions

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<v Speaker 1>may become far more intense during the awakening process, or

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<v Speaker 1>they may become far more subtle. You might find yourself

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<v Speaker 1>crying more easily, laughing more freely, feeling joy and sorrow

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<v Speaker 1>with an intensity you have never experienced before. This is

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<v Speaker 1>not emotional instability, though it may be mistaken for such.

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<v Speaker 1>This is the heart becoming permeable, the armour of protection

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<v Speaker 1>and numbness dissolving, the full range of human feeling being

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<v Speaker 1>restored after years of suppression and control. Alternatively, some people

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<v Speaker 1>experience emotions becoming far more quiet, more spacious, less overwhelming.

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<v Speaker 1>The dramatic peaks and valleys begin to smooth out. This

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<v Speaker 1>is not numbness, though it may superficially resemble it. This

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<v Speaker 1>is equanimity, the ability to feel everything without being controlled

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<v Speaker 1>by feeling, to allow emotions to arise and pass without

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<v Speaker 1>being swept away by them. The voice often changes as well.

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<v Speaker 1>It may become deeper, more resonant, more naturally authoritative without

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<v Speaker 1>any attempt to make it so, or it may become softer, gentler,

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<v Speaker 1>more melodic. This is because the voice is an expression

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<v Speaker 1>of consciousness, and as consciousness transforms, the voice naturally transforms

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<v Speaker 1>with it. You are speaking from a different place within yourself,

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<v Speaker 1>from a deeper center, from a more authentic source, and

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<v Speaker 1>this is audible to those who listen carefully. Many people

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<v Speaker 1>report changes in their sense of time during awakening. Time

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<v Speaker 1>may seem to slow down dramatically so that moments become vast, spacious,

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<v Speaker 1>rich with detail and presence, or time may seem to accelerate,

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<v Speaker 1>with days and weeks passing in what feels like moments.

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<v Speaker 1>This is not merely a psychological effect. This is consciousness

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<v Speaker 1>shifting its relationship to the temporal dimension. Experiencing time directly

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<v Speaker 1>rather than through the filter of mental abstraction and anticipation,

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<v Speaker 1>the sense of physical boundaries often becomes more fluid. During awakening.

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<v Speaker 1>You may feel as though your body extends beyond your skin,

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<v Speaker 1>as though you can feel the space around you the

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<v Speaker 1>energy field that surrounds you. Or you may experience moments

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<v Speaker 1>where the boundary between self and environment seems to dissolve entirely,

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<v Speaker 1>where you are not sure where your body ends in

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<v Speaker 1>the world begins. This is not hallucination. This is a

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<v Speaker 1>more accurate perception of reality, a recognition that the skin

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<v Speaker 1>is not actually a firm boundary between inside and outside,

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<v Speaker 1>but rather a permeable membrane, an interface, a place of

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<v Speaker 1>exchange and continuity. There can also be periods of physical

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<v Speaker 1>discomfort or even illness during awakening. Old traumas stored in

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<v Speaker 1>the body may surface to be released. Emotional patterns that

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<v Speaker 1>have been held in the tissues may come up for processing.

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<v Speaker 1>You may experience pain, tension, fatigue, or various symptoms that

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<v Speaker 1>have no apparent physical cause and for which medical examination

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<v Speaker 1>reveals no pathology. This is what some traditions call a

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<v Speaker 1>healing crisis, a necessary purification, a clearing out of accumulated

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<v Speaker 1>debris to make room for the new way of being.

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<v Speaker 1>It is crucial to understand that these symptoms, while real

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<v Speaker 1>and sometimes distressing, are not signs that something is wrong.

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<v Speaker 1>They are signs that something is changing, that transformation is occurring,

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<v Speaker 1>that the body is adapting to a new mode of functioning.

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<v Speaker 1>The temptation, of course, is to resist these symptoms, to

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<v Speaker 1>try to make them go away, to medicate them or

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<v Speaker 1>suppress them, or interpret them as illness requiring treatment, But

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<v Speaker 1>often the wisest response is simply to allow them to

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<v Speaker 1>be with them, to give the body the rest and

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<v Speaker 1>the space it needs to process what is happening. This

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<v Speaker 1>is not to say that you should never seek medical

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<v Speaker 1>attention or that all physical symptoms during awakening are purely spiritual.

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<v Speaker 1>Use common sense. If something is seriously wrong, get it checked.

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<v Speaker 1>But also consider the possibility that your body is simply recalibrating, rewiring, transforming,

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<v Speaker 1>and that this process may produce sensations and symptoms that

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<v Speaker 1>are temporary and ultimately beneficial. The relationship to physical pleasure

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<v Speaker 1>and pain often shifts during awakening as well. You may

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<v Speaker 1>find that you are far more present to physical sensation,

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<v Speaker 1>far more capable of actually feeling the body in its

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<v Speaker 1>full vividness and intensity. A simple meal becomes a feast

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<v Speaker 1>of flavors, A warm bath becomes an exquisite pleasure. The

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<v Speaker 1>feeling of sunlight on your skin becomes almost overwhelming in

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<v Speaker 1>its beauty. At the same time, you may become far

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<v Speaker 1>more sensitive to physical discomfort or pain, not in the

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<v Speaker 1>sense of suffering more from it, but in the sense

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<v Speaker 1>of being more acutely aware of it. The difference is crucial.

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<v Speaker 1>Before awakening, pain is usually accompanied by enormous amounts of

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<v Speaker 1>mental resistance, fear, story making, projection into the future. During

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<v Speaker 1>and after awakening, pain is simply sensation, intensely felt, but

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<v Speaker 1>not elaborated upon, not resisted, not made into something more

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<v Speaker 1>than it is. Sexual energy often undergoes significant transformation during

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<v Speaker 1>spiritual awakening. For some sat people, sexual desire diminishes or

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<v Speaker 1>disappears for a period, as the energy that was flowing

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<v Speaker 1>into sexual expression is redirected toward the process of transformation.

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<v Speaker 1>For others, sexual energy becomes far more intense, but also

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<v Speaker 1>more refined, more conscious, more capable of being directed and

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<v Speaker 1>used for purposes beyond mere physical gratification. The traditions speak

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<v Speaker 1>of transmuting sexual energy, of raising it up the spine,

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<v Speaker 1>of using it as fuel for spiritual development. And while

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<v Speaker 1>this can be misunderstood and practiced in unhealthy ways, there

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<v Speaker 1>is genuine wisdom here. Sexual energy is life energy, creative energy,

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<v Speaker 1>the most powerful force in the physical organism, and during

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<v Speaker 1>awakening this energy is often re organized, refined, put to

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<v Speaker 1>use in new ways. Movement and gesture often become more graceful,

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<v Speaker 1>more fluid, more naturally coordinated during awakening. This is not

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<v Speaker 1>the result of practice or training, though these may help.

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<v Speaker 1>This is the result of consciousness moving through the body

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<v Speaker 1>more freely, less obstructed by tension and resistance and self consciousness.

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<v Speaker 1>You move from your center rather than from your head.

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<v Speaker 1>You inhabit your body more fully, rather than treating it

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<v Speaker 1>as a tool to be operated from a distance. Some

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<v Speaker 1>people report spontaneous movements occurring during meditation or quiet contemplation

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<v Speaker 1>creas as they are called in the Yogic tradition. The

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<v Speaker 1>body may shake, twist, stretch, make sounds, perform moodras or

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<v Speaker 1>symbolic gestures, or without any conscious volition. This can be

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<v Speaker 1>quite startling if you do not know it is a

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<v Speaker 1>natural part of the process. These movements are the body's

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<v Speaker 1>way of releasing stored tension, processing blocked energy, re organizing

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<v Speaker 1>itself for the new way of being. The immune system

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<v Speaker 1>often strengthens during awakening. Old chronic conditions may clear up,

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<v Speaker 1>Illnesses that you have lived with for years may suddenly resolve.

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<v Speaker 1>This is not magic or miraculous healing in the supernatural sense.

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<v Speaker 1>This is simply the body functioning more efficiently when consciousness

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<v Speaker 1>is no longer creating constant stress and resistance, when the

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<v Speaker 1>organism is allowed to operate according to its own wisdom,

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<v Speaker 1>rather than being constantly overridden by mental tension and emotional suppression. However,

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<v Speaker 1>there can also be temporary periods where the immune system

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<v Speaker 1>seems to be compromised, where you catch every passing illness,

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<v Speaker 1>where you feel weak and vulnerable. This too, can be

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<v Speaker 1>part of the process, a kind of purification, where the

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<v Speaker 1>body is clearing out accumulated toxins and patterns, and during

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<v Speaker 1>this clearing it is temporarily more susceptible to illness. Patients

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<v Speaker 1>and self care are important during such periods. The sense

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<v Speaker 1>of being grounded in the body often increases dramatically during awakening,

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<v Speaker 1>before awakening, many people live almost entirely in their heads,

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<v Speaker 1>barely aware of the body except when it demands attention

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<v Speaker 1>through hunger, pain, or fatigue. After awakening, there is a

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<v Speaker 1>natural descent into the body, a coming home to physical sensation,

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<v Speaker 1>a recognition that consciousness is not located in the head,

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<v Speaker 1>but is distributed throughout the entire organism, indeed throughout the

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<v Speaker 1>entire field of experience. This grounding brings with it a

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<v Speaker 1>sense of stability, presence, realness that may have been lacking before.

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<v Speaker 1>You feel more here, more solid, more genuinely present in

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<v Speaker 1>your own life. Paradoxically, this grounding in the body often

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<v Speaker 1>accompanies the realization that you are not the body, that

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<v Speaker 1>your essential nature is consciousness itself rather than the physical form.

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<v Speaker 1>But this is not a contradiction. It is the natural

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<v Speaker 1>result of truly inhabiting the body, rather than using it

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<v Speaker 1>as a mere vehicle. Aging itself may appear to slow

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<v Speaker 1>during awakening, or at least the experience of aging may transform.

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<v Speaker 1>This is not to suggest that awakening makes you physically

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<v Speaker 1>immortal or reverses the biological clock in some magical way,

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<v Speaker 1>but there is often a vitality, a youthfulness, and a

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<v Speaker 1>liveness that persists regardless of chronological age. This is because

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<v Speaker 1>you are living from your essential being rather than from

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<v Speaker 1>identification with the aging body, and this shift in identification

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<v Speaker 1>actually affects how the body functions and maintains itself. What

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<v Speaker 1>all of these physical changes point to is a fundamental truth.

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<v Speaker 1>You are not a ghost in a machine, not a

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<v Speaker 1>soul trapped in flesh, not a consciousness observing from behind

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<v Speaker 1>the eyes. You are an embodied awareness, a conscious body,

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<v Speaker 1>a unified field of being that includes both the physical

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<v Speaker 1>and the transcendent, both the temporal and the eternal. And

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<v Speaker 1>when awakening occurs, when you recognize your true nature, the

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<v Speaker 1>body naturally reflects this recognition, transforms in response to it,

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<v Speaker 1>reorganizes itself to accommodate the new understanding. The body you

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<v Speaker 1>see is not separate from consciousness. It is consciousness in

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<v Speaker 1>a particular form, consciousness manifesting as flesh and bone, blood

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<v Speaker 1>and breath, sensation and movement. And when consciousness awakens to itself,

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<v Speaker 1>when it recognizes what it truly is, the physical form

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<v Speaker 1>through which it is expressing naturally changes to align with

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<v Speaker 1>this recognition. This is why genuine spiritual awakening always involves

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<v Speaker 1>the body always produces physical effects, always manifests as transformation

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<v Speaker 1>of the entire organism, and not merely as a change

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<v Speaker 1>in belief or understanding. You cannot awaken while leaving the

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<v Speaker 1>body behind. The body must come along for the journey,

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<v Speaker 1>must participate in the transformation, must itself be enlightened, liberated,

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<v Speaker 1>recognized as sacred. So, if you are experiencing unusual physical

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<v Speaker 1>sensations during your spiritual journey, if your body is see

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<v Speaker 1>seems to be changing in ways that are strange or uncomfortable,

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<v Speaker 1>or simply different from what you knew before, do not

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<v Speaker 1>be alarmed. This is natural, This is as it should be.

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<v Speaker 1>Your body is waking up along with your consciousness, reorganizing

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<v Speaker 1>itself to accommodate a new way of being, transforming itself

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<v Speaker 1>to embody the truth that you are coming to know.

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<v Speaker 1>Be patient with the process. Give your body the rest

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<v Speaker 1>it needs, the nourishment it requires, the gentle attention it deserves.

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<v Speaker 1>Listen to its wisdom, trust its intelligence, allow it to

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<v Speaker 1>guide you in what it needs, and recognize that these

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<v Speaker 1>physical changes, however uncomfortable they may sometimes be, are signs

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<v Speaker 1>of grace, evidence of transformation. The body's way of saying

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<v Speaker 1>yes to the awakening that is occurring,