What does it mean to be “awake”?

What does it mean to be “awake”? We say it all the time. I am lucky to have very intelligent students here in Seattle who are not afraid to ask me: What the heck does that mean?

Is it just some hokey bullshit we Buddhists like to strive for, the way some strive to achieve longer concentration, more energetic Yoga practices or a better orgasm.

Do we believe that it is possible to “awaken”? “Buddha” means simply “Awakened One”. It is another word for “enlightened”, which is a word I do not like. I prefer something like clearseeing open-heart state, but that lacks pizzazz.

I didn’t do a very good job explaining what I think about this in class last night, but I did say that in order to practice tantric practices, we must believe that it is possible to wake up. So.... here are just a few things I associate with the “awakened” state:

You don’t feel uncomfortable when someone disagrees with you or questions your opinions.

You can handle not getting your way.

You have space for other people's disappointment, meaning you can listen and you can handle when they might be disappointed in you.

You can make a mistake.

You can play or be serious.

You don’t have the ‘never enough’ mentality driving you around.

You are not trying to escape or avoid or blame.

You can rest in the moment.

You know how to both accept everything and still have the energy to change the things that are unjust.

You have the right amount of discipline and you can discern what that is.

You are not constantly picking and choosing.

You don’t feel so separate.

You still have feelings.

You have feelings and you do not deny them.

You experience unconditional love.

Certainly you have experienced many of these. So do we need to embody all of them all them time to be in clear seeing open-heart state? I think we experience flashes or even long periods of these often in our daily lives and we also notice them in others. This is us, manifesting our awakened selves.

We are removing the dust from our eyes. So lets consider the clearseeing state as seeing through the spaces where there is less dust rather than through the thickest layer. We all have these places where we see clearly.

We are also looking for our “armor”, finding the places we are hard and the places we are soft. So let’s consider the places where our hearts are open as open-heart state.  You may find that the clearseeing and the open heart are linked. This is the meaning of Bodhichitta.

Where are the places when you know you are awakened, totally open, clearseeing, open-hearted and free?