This is a post I agree with one hundred percent. The whole process you've described here is one I've gone through over the past two years. My mind and self have never felt so open, free and unrestrained.

I've also been through every one of the events you've described there, but for me, what wound up happening was my awareness and willingness to detach from my own beliefs and morals (until all I could feel were the morals my deepest self required) growing and expanding every time I was faced with a situation in which conflicted with my morals, where I questioned everything and anything that could be possibly questioned, and then weighing out my view of it against the view of anyone who put the situation before me, as well as any it concerned, and tried to see from every possible perspective. Also involved smashing apart my ego with a hammer to remove that overbearing sense of self worth people unwittingly take wherever they go (that sense of "but me..."). I think after all that...I finally know what selfless open-mindedness is all about. It was a very enlightening experience.

Are you also into spirituality, by any chance?

Im not really into spirituality but the whole awakening process brought me to the belief that we are conscious energy and energy can not be destroyed. I would like to focus on this reality for the time being but do enjoy some spiritual reading from time to time.

How challenging did you find your awakening?

>Im not really into spirituality
I would like to focus on this reality for the time being but do enjoy some spiritual reading from time to time.

Fair enough =)
These are things that are best done slowly, and the speed and pace of one's own learning curve, for the most enduring results.

>we are conscious energy and energy can not be destroyed.

Indeed we are, and indeed we cannot. The body is but the vessel. What lies within is the life.
If you subscribe to that too, that is.

>How challenging did you find your awakening?

Well...its waking up from a 'dream' or 'nightmare', as you put it in your post. Its never easy, that's for sure. There were times I was 'third-guessing' myself; asking myself if I even ought to be thinking or believing a certain way, and then my conditioning kicking in and condemning me for even daring to question these all important morals in such a blasphemous line of thought, and then my innate rebelliousness rising above that and countering with "Who defines blasphemy? Others who do not know what it is to be me and see the world from my eyes?"

So a lot of it was often a 'war within', of sorts. My mind fighting itself, if you will. During the entire process, it felt like one eye had had a lens that had been glued to it my entire lifetime slowly lifted off, and the other holding onto its own desperately, so I was half seeing the world through a newer, fresher looking perspective, while I was also seeing things the old way for fear of it coming back to haunt me. It was like looking at North Korea through one eye and South Korea through the other :P

That being said however, I like to believe my own awakening was easier than most. I have always been naturally open minded, liberal, and non-conformist, so I think in my case it was less a question of "Will I awaken?", but more a case "When will I awaken?"

It was an inevitability, I believe. That, and I have also found myself becoming an unspoken leader of countless social groups and formations I have become part of over the years, and if a leader is good, he tends to lead by example. As it happened, in my awakening, I lead about eight others to theirs. That kind of helped and made it easier for me. I wasn't alone in what I was doing, basically.

But yeah, a lot of it came from that.

The most prominent example I can offer is my realization of occupations and how they all played a part in society as it stands today, regardless of how prestigious or how 'undesirable'.

There was this friend I had, female. We were very close, and cared about each other a lot. She was contemplating becoming an adult-film actress. At first I was aghast. What if I stumbled upon anything she featured in? How might that feel? Then I thought about it...in India there's this archaic mentality some have that if a child does not grow up to be a doctor (if female) or an engineer (if male), then the child has let their family down. I slandered this my whole life. Then it hit me...was I mentally doing the same thing? Then I realized that a lot of these actors had their own personal reasons for doing what they did, and seeing as I knew none of them personally, I had no right to judge them for making the choices they did without knowing their reasons. Its part of their profession, in some cases, for them to be looked down upon as objects, persons not deserving of human respect...that's part of what brings in their cash. Doesn't mean they're those same things/persons in their personal lives. They are very much human and have normal lives too, and its simply another acting job with a lot more put at stake than regular acting jobs. So after that I developed a mindset that would entail me supporting this friend if she chose to go forward with it for being her choice (which happens to be a huge element of modern day feminism), and if I stumbled upon anything she made, I'd leave it to my better judgment how to process that in light of my having chosen to support her. We were both smart enough to know how to handle it without letting it affect who we were to each other.

And from there my understanding grew; everything people do for a living...is just a job. If they could, and could choose to, those in less desirable lines work would do something else, but maybe they just can't. So stop internally judging them. You don't know their story. You don't know their reasons. And if it is unjust to make a decision based on only one side of the story, then every time one of us turns our head away from a janitor in disgust, or views a call girl with some apprehension simply because of what comes to mind when we think of them doing their jobs, an injustice is perpetuated at a minor degree.

So that was one major eye opener I had. There were countless others, but I would say this one was the most significant during that phase, with countless more following it.

Yes i can really relate to what you said about it being a war within, it is hard not to resist the change as out identity is built into out old conditioned selves.

The example that you used about your friend is a perfect example of seeing through a conditioned societal belief and as you know it can be very eye opening to become aware and see through their deluded nature in us.

>Yes i can really relate to what you said about it being a war within, it is hard not to resist the change as out identity is built into out old conditioned selves.

Mhm...deeply pervades our sense of 'who we are'.
These days I have a simple philosophy about living life; Do every last thing you feel like doing. But before you do, think about each thing carefully and be sure you can sleep easy at night with it on your conscience. Ultimately if you are at peace with what you do, then no matter what any one else does to you, they can't break or bend you. You are at peace.

>The example that you used about your friend is a perfect example of seeing through a conditioned societal belief and as you know it can be very eye opening to become aware and see through their deluded nature in us.

Word, brother. Word.
And yeah, thanks :)
But yeah, social conditioning must always be questioned for inconsistencies and personal anomalies. Its all way more hollow and flimsy than most people realize.

Yes, but the problem is, people don't realize!

Touché :P

Also, I just realized that was a very long comment, so my apologies :P

Alan Watts brought eastern philosophy to the west in well written books and lectures. It encompasses topics that you are laying out here, might be great references. Well written post thanks for sharing with us. :)

Thanks and thanks for the info, il check him out!

Yes, I would second and third the recommendation of reading Alan Watts. He helped me out tremendously with his presentation of Buddhist and Hindu philosophy. He was a remarkable man.

I agree that Awakening is the best thing that happened to me. I've had both a near death experience and mental suffering. I spent long hours with self reflection and gained great insight into my own spirit.

The biggest obstetrical to waking up I have found is my own ego. It sees waking as some kind of achievement to be gained. The true liberation comes when I realized I actually do not exist as an independent entity.