Saturday, May 10, 2008

Waking Up

The process of waking up is iterative in nature. Waking up can be called an event but can be better described as a process which culminates in an event.

Sleeping is waking up. When we sleep, the process of waking up begins and finally, the event takes place which we actually call waking up.

Physical sleep is just one thing we wake up from. But, life is continuously a dream where we experience waking up so many times.

At the age of 11-14, we wake up to a new physical self. This self existed within us but we were not aware of it till the physical reality awoke in us.

After a broken relationship, we wake up. After failures, we wake up. Making the failure is part of the waking up! And when we wake up, we realize that a new dimension is present within us - the dimension which was always present, just that it was laying dormant.

Death wakes us up to newer realities - we question the existence of this world and this life, its inherent purpose, the presence of God etc. Things which you had never thought of but now, the very same mind within you is thinking of them. The mind has woken up to question, to reason.

Every setback wakes you up. Every difficulty eventually wakes you up. And the best part about waking up is that when you truly wake up, you cross the process of sleep forever. Once you grow a third dimension, you cannot remain stuck in two dimensional boundaries.

Each waking up is perhaps the effect of the previous waking-ups. And you keep waking up until you figure out the ultimate truth. The last boundary crossed, the last sleep completed wakes you up to enlightenment. Thus, the true end of sleep is not waking up, but enlightenment. And then there would be no more sleep and no more waking up.

Similarly, life is death. And while you are living, the process of dying is on (Within 5 years, every single cell of your body will die and will be replaced by a new one). And the process of dying will culminate in an event we call death. And the process will recur and recur till the final culmination of it all which is moksha/nirvaana. Life, thus, I believe is a process which culminates in an event not called death, but nirvaana. And then, there will be no more life and no more death. You will be immortal and you would exist no more!