Awakening- The Complete Road Map

Join us for a transformative series of talks exploring the journey of consciousness as it matures and blossoms into its fullest potential. Throughout 10 sessions, we will delve into progressively advanced levels of maturity—beginning with a contracted sense of a separate self and culminating in a state of fully expanded awareness.

In this opening session, we will introduce the series, its purpose, and the key topics that will guide us on the path to Awakening. Additionally, we will examine the vital force that initiates this journey, the spark without which no true transformation can unfold.

Bring a friend and let's make it a party...

Transcript

Hello,

Welcome everyone.

We are gathered here today to embark in a new journey that is courageously attempting to map out the complete evolution of an awakened consciousness.

Carly and I are going to discuss this with you with the intention to create some kind of a roadmap.

Why is it important?

You know,

When we are going out on a journey,

It's good that we know where we're heading.

Especially such a confusing and amorphic internal journey where what is developed,

Usually what develops is our ability to deal and cope and manage our relationship with external events,

Right?

We learn how to become better parents,

Better professionals,

Right?

Better sons and daughters,

Better friends to deal with whatever hardship and life's challenges.

We become more equipped with tools to deal with life externally.

But what we are going to do now is to develop the skill to evolve internally,

Which is even more confusing and complicated.

The spiritual world can be very erypheric in many ways.

So a roadmap can be very useful when we map out the whole journey from the initial spark of longing that we will discuss today to a complete blossoming of an awakened consciousness that we will discuss at the end of the series.

Again,

When you map out a roadmap,

It's for you to make sure that you are heading in your desired direction,

That you are not lost or confused by changing events.

It's not to create some kind of frustration now that,

Oh,

I should have been in the next roadmap,

I should have known,

I should be more developed.

Don't judge yourself.

If you find yourself somewhere along that map,

Don't judge yourself for not being further away.

That's important to say even before we start.

It's just for you to have the complete picture of what happens to a consciousness that evolves into a fully matured state.

That's what we are gathered here to do.

Now,

It's not a lecture.

I do have some framework of content,

But it's very flexible,

And the more questions you ask,

The more relevant this meeting will be for you.

So don't be shy.

That's your means to participate and contribute to this meeting.

What do you say?

Ready to embark?

Not continuing before I receive a resounding yes.

Karma says,

Perhaps you already introduced yourself and the lovely woman next to you.

We've got Michelle from Ohio,

Debra from Texas,

Deb from Queensland,

Australia.

Nice.

Global audience.

I'm Yaron,

Pleased to meet you.

If this is your first time here,

Wow,

You found an amazing timing to do so.

And I'm Carly.

Carly is the one actually leading this meeting,

Even if it sometimes seems different.

Okay,

So how does it all start?

It's important to realize that the evolution of consciousness happens whether we are aware of it or not,

Whether we are harnessing our intention and resources consciously,

Or we are completely oblivious of it.

Consciousness evolves.

That's the reason that the universe exists,

To allow consciousness to evolve.

We are a speck of dust in this universe,

Helping in our small world to do that.

However,

If we do consciously contribute to that natural state of evolution,

We can definitely accelerate it dramatically.

Of course,

To the effect of how it affects our personal lives,

But also how it affects the united consciousness that we are a part of.

So in this series,

We're talking about what happens when we participate consciously.

And it starts with a spark that ignites within us.

And we are going to describe that ignition today.

You know,

In the Song of Songs,

Which is one of the most beautiful scriptures exists in a written book.

If you haven't had a chance to review the Song of Songs,

I strongly recommend the Song of Songs by Solomon.

So one of the beautiful lines,

It's all about passion.

It's a passionate song,

Sensual passionate song.

And it's one of the lyrics,

It says,

Don't awaken and don't force love until it desires so.

It's a lame translation from Hebrew.

That's how it says in the original language.

Until love desires so.

You cannot brush it.

Don't wake up love until it desires so.

Something happens where this ignition of longing happens.

And there is a way to characterize certain groups,

That you might find yourself in one of them,

Or multiple groups that you feel that you belong to,

That find that this spark ignited within them.

The first and most common group of people to feel this ignition,

Are the people that join this evolution of consciousness consciously,

Are the people that join because of suffering,

Because of hardship,

Because of trauma.

Something difficult,

Challenging happened to them.

You know,

A death of a loved one or dealing with illness or,

You know,

Some kind of hardship that shook the world in some way.

Separation,

You know,

Divorce or something like that.

And people cannot continue to run in the same circles they used to.

Something broke and that leads them to the spiritual path,

Hoping they can get some kind of remedy,

Some kind of cure for their pain from the path.

This is the most common reason for people to join the path.

How to reduce suffering.

And yeah,

The spiritual path actually provides some kind of cure in that sense.

You can learn tools and knowledge and apply it,

And you will see that your suffering is reducing all the way to total elimination.

So this is the first major group of people,

Of people who find this spark ignited in them.

They're longing for more.

Another group of people are people that experience a sense of no-I.

Whether it happens spontaneously or through some kind of practice,

There is a sense of no-I.

What does it mean?

We all experienced it in one form or another,

Not necessarily knowing how to name it,

How to identify it,

But a sense of melting into the experience.

It's like a teaser that we receive from the Divine of what a consciousness is.

It looks like when it's fully developed.

You know,

You can call it trance.

You know,

You may have been to a dance party and just gave yourself to the dance,

To the music,

To the beat,

You know,

And three hours later you wake up to just,

Wow,

What was that,

You know?

Oh,

You know,

You sat on a cliff somewhere facing the ocean looking at the sunset and there is no-I enjoying it.

There is only sunset.

You know what I'm talking about?

Sometimes it happens in sex,

You know,

When the two merge,

Melt into oneness.

They become one flesh.

A sense of no-I.

And then you wake up from that experience or some people call it inspiration,

You know,

Where this painting just painted itself through your fingers,

You know,

On the song or whatever it is you're creating.

Or,

You know,

Some people,

Athletes,

You know,

They can describe the sense of no-I and there is just a running,

Just a swimming,

You know,

Whatever it is that you're engaged in.

It's not me even doing it.

I'm not swimming.

There is swimming happening and I'm just there helping that creation.

So that sense of no-I is like a teaser that we receive from the Divine.

And then we wake up from that experience.

Of course,

The ego grabs it and says,

Wow,

That was amazing.

I want more.

This is what I want.

That also ignites something.

Oh,

Wow,

There is something there,

More than what I'm used to experience in my daily life.

Wow,

This was extraordinary.

I need to investigate what was there.

I want more of that.

Yes,

This is the second group of people.

Another popular group of people to find this spark igniting in them is the people who are not necessarily driven by suffering,

But a more subtle manifestation of suffering.

And that is the people who are looking for meaning.

So nothing happened,

No major crisis.

You know,

All the boxes are checked.

I have a good job.

I have a nice family,

A beautiful house.

I have two electric cars in my parking or whatever.

You know,

And still something is missing.

So for what?

Why is all this?

What's the purpose of my existence?

Some people,

You know,

Come to this world cooked enough to realize that all these achievements has no meaning.

So existential questions arise.

What's the point?

Is there a bigger reason for my existence here?

These are the people who are never satisfied with earthly experiences.

They are in constant search for a deeper meaning.

And then something ignites in them.

How are we so far?

Video silence?

Questions?

Another group of people that is identified is people who meet a source of inspiration.

It could be in a form of a teacher,

Spiritual teacher.

It could be in a form of a book or a movie or a conversation that we have with someone that sparks that,

Oh yes,

Something there is there.

This mystery of realizing something bigger is there.

With the teacher,

It's very easy to recognize.

When you meet a teacher,

What's so special about spiritual teachers?

They are able to bypass your intellect and touch something very deep,

Very intimate in you.

It's not about you agreeing or disagreeing with what they say.

It's not about what they say so much,

But their ability to bypass that,

You know,

Gatekeeper that you have at the entrance of your heart and go deep into your being,

Into your soul,

Whatever you want to call it.

And that touches you in a way that you cannot ignore.

You know?

And something ignites.

Wow.

You know,

It could be a book.

It could be sitting in the nature and watching the stream run.

Some experience that touches your heart.

And that leads us to another group of people that experience unconditional love.

This can definitely ignite that spark within you.

Unconditional love.

Easy to find it in a relationship with a master,

With a guru,

With a teacher.

What identifies a teacher and the relationship that you have with that teacher versus all other relationships that you have is that in that relationship,

There are no conditions.

The teacher loves you not because of what you do,

What you say,

What you believe,

How do you look,

Or even not because of what you can become.

The teacher loves you for what you are.

And that is not something you can control or change.

So the love is unconditional.

And it doesn't matter if that love,

Unconditional love,

Is thrown on you or you finally are able to experience that towards somebody or something.

Unconditional love.

Yeah.

Which is very real.

Think about it.

Our love is almost never unconditional.

We love something,

Immediately fear follows as a shadow.

We love our children unconditionally,

But immediately we are afraid if something would happen to them,

We are protecting them,

No?

Against life,

Against the dangers of life.

Which is,

Of course,

Natural,

But it tames the unconditional love.

It's not unconditional anymore.

And then as the child grows,

No,

He needs to justify his existence,

To behave according to our expectations,

Etc.

Etc.

So an experience of unconditional love can definitely ignite that spark.

You realize,

Oh,

All the love relationships that I had until now are just a faded version of what love can actually be.

And it's not just an idea or philosophy,

I experience it.

I meet that in that person or in me.

In both cases,

Wow,

Okay,

There is something bigger there.

Much more meaningful.

Another group of people that finds that spark igniting in them are people who are experiencing some kind of unexplainable,

Mystical experiences.

Some kind of an intuition that proved to be right,

Or a dream that was able to foresee the future,

Some kind of a mystical vision,

You know,

That somehow shook the fabric of reality as they used to relate to it.

You know,

There is a glitch in the matrix,

No?

And you cannot ignore it.

There is a glitch in the matrix.

And that shakes you in a way that you cannot go back.

It's like waking up from a dream.

So this is unexplainable,

But I experienced it.

My intellect cannot rationalize it,

But I cannot ignore it either.

Do you know what I'm talking about?

You're getting reactions that there are people that identify with that.

Yeah.

So,

Yeah,

Such an experience,

No?

Mystical,

You can say,

You can call it mystical experience.

It definitely does something.

And the last group of people I can identify are people who are just spontaneously have the intuition that life is much bigger than what they were told and taught.

And you can say these are people that come more mature,

As a more mature soul,

Whatever you want to describe it.

They don't really need any trigger from a specific experience or from the outside world.

They just mature enough to wake up one day to realize there's much more than that.

You can call it intuition,

No?

Or just spiritual maturity.

Realizing,

Yes,

Of course,

I mean,

It's not just the material success and experience,

That journey that we go through.

It's much more than that.

Of course it is.

I mean,

I was blind,

But now I see.

So,

As you can see,

All these groups of people,

There is something uniting them.

And that is the realization that life consists of much more than what is tangible.

There is some mystery,

Unexplainable and untouched,

That something in us ignites,

Longing to realize,

Longing to experience,

Longing to unite to.

If you want to talk spiritually,

It's like the soul suddenly remembers where it came from,

At least not as a specific idea or concept,

But as the source of where it was generated.

And it's longing to come back,

That longing to come back,

To expand beyond the borders of the material world and the confinement of our own body and what it can experience.

This is the first step on the path to awaken it.

Now,

I can assume that each and every one listening to me now has been through at least one of these,

If not multiple.

Otherwise,

You wouldn't be sitting here,

You wouldn't be wasting your time.

You wouldn't be dedicated to this learning,

To this path of expansion.

Look around you.

Many people around you are not interested at all.

They're not concerned with that.

They're just preoccupied with life's drama and their challenges,

Their relationship,

Whatever.

And they're just looking for the next opportunity to go out on a vacation,

Living their lives.

No criticism here whatsoever.

They're just not interested.

Either not aware that there is an alternative way to experience life,

Or they're just aware and they're not interested.

So if you are sitting here now listening to me,

I mean,

You're already ignited.

And you need to realize that without that ignition,

There is no path,

There is no journey.

I mean,

Not one that you can actually contribute consciously to.

So the journey to an awakened consciousness starts with that spark igniting in you,

Longing for more.

See if you can identify that spark.

Within you.

And as you go through life,

Make sure that spark is still burning.

Feed it.

No,

Don't let it die.

Feed that spark.

Make sure that you add whatever burning material it needs to stay warm.

What do you say?

Opening for your comments,

Questions.

So AJ was asking,

Which one were you?

Wow.

Well,

The most difficult thing to do is to talk about yourself.

I can definitely say that I was dormant for many years,

Trying to fit myself into the boxes that I was supposed to fit,

According to my upbringing,

My culture,

You know,

Israeli,

I was an officer in the army,

All that.

And my journey definitely took a twist when I met my teacher,

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

The questions were there,

You know,

The longing for meaning,

Definitely,

Always.

But I didn't know how to channel it in a constructive way to awakened consciousness.

And the meeting with my teacher was definitely transformative for me.

I came back from India a different person.

And things that were important to me before gave up.

They were not important anymore.

And yeah,

It's a challenge as you grow to adjust yourself,

Changing in that way,

In relationship with people that you know and love,

Because they don't know that version of you and they are intimidated by that.

What happened to your own?

Who are you and what did you do with your own?

Not because they are judgmental,

But because they are truly concerned.

So I can say definitely for me,

Meeting the teacher was a life changing event.

For me,

I can identify with all of them.

Yeah,

I'm everything.

Every one of them.

Every one of them.

My God.

I am everything,

Everywhere,

All the time.

I should have been in that Marvel movie.

Or whatever it was.

Chris says,

Wow,

Amazing garb.

What do you call that?

Where did you get this?

This is a garb.

I got it in India.

It's wool.

I made it wool.

When I took my teacher's training course.

Thank you.

What about you all out there?

Which ones do you identify with?

AJ says your own was my gateway.

So teacher.

Sorry,

What is the question?

I'm a little late.

So to run through them again,

You can identify with any or all.

The first one was finding the path through hardship.

The second one is finding the path through a no I experience.

The third one is finding the path through meaning.

The longing for meaning.

The longing to find the meaning,

The yearning for the meaning.

The fourth one was finding it through a teacher.

The fifth one is through unconditional love.

An experience of unconditional love.

The sixth one was through a mystical experience,

Through a dream or a vision.

And the seventh one is through your intuition.

So Chris says the yearning and the hardships resonate.

AJ believes that most people deal with most of them and are triggered by one primarily.

Iga says childhood mysterious event and hardships,

Unconditional love too.

Yes.

So,

You know,

It doesn't really matter between you and me.

It doesn't really matter.

What ignites your longing,

What's important is that it ignites and you are aware of it.

Your willingness to not ignore it is the secret.

I can say that 100% of the people on this planet have received the opportunity to wake up at least in one of these groups of people.

More than once.

You know,

The divine is knocking on the door,

But the majority of the people ignore the knock,

Either because they are intimidated by what might come of it.

You know,

People are afraid of change.

They're afraid of the unknown.

Or they're just,

You know,

Too bothered,

Too overwhelmed with life's challenges,

You know,

And they're just like Maslow's Pyramid,

You know,

They're just too concerned with.

Hierarchy of needs.

Yeah.

What life requires,

You know.

I heard a teacher one time say,

Sometimes it takes a cosmic two by four to the head.

Yeah,

That was a good sentence.

Yeah,

This is the first group of people who joined through hardship and dealing with it.

But knocking isn't working,

So.

Yeah.

And many people who are knocked on their heads by life still are not awake.

They just position themselves in a victim,

As a victim,

You know.

And just use the blow they receive to justify their unwillingness to take responsibility and to grow and to wake up.

So it doesn't really matter what specific group you find yourself identifying with.

Or a few groups,

For that matter.

What is important that you are not oblivious to this spark,

To this longing igniting in you.

And you are hearing the calling and,

How do you say,

Adhering to the calling.

Can you say that?

Yeah.

Adhering to the calling.

This is the key.

Christians.

Deborah says,

Hardship and asking who I am now,

The path to myself.

Yeah.

Asking who I am now is,

You know,

Probably the first question after this spark ignites.

This is the mother of all questions.

There are many existential questions to ask.

What is the meaning of life?

What is the meaning of my life?

What is God?

What is love?

Why did I come to this planet in this body?

Above all these questions,

There is one fundamental question.

Who am I?

That's why,

You know,

They say above the cave of the oracle,

This beast of knowledge in the Greek mythology,

The words were written,

Know thyself.

That's the key.

Know thyself.

Who am I?

Know that.

Yeah.

That's the mother of all questions.

And that's the first question,

The most fundamental question you meet when you start your awakened spiritual journey.

And we will definitely refer to that question as we move along in this series of talks.

What else?

Iga says another question.

Where are we going?

Yeah.

Where did we come from?

Where are we going?

Is there life after death?

What is a soul?

How does it connect with God?

So many existential questions.

You have a question?

I did,

But now it's gone.

Oh,

I know what my question was.

Where did you get all of these seven places to start from?

Mostly observation.

You know,

I've been dealing with people on the spiritual path,

Both as colleagues and as disciples,

And the scriptures and what I've learned on my path.

So yeah,

Combination of all.

Mm-hmm.

And you may find some group of people that I was not referring to,

You know,

Maybe something I didn't mention.

Again,

It's less important what specific door you opened.

What is important is that you are opening the door and you're not ignoring the knock.

Time for a few more questions.

AJ is asking,

Can we guide others there?

The best and most effective way to guide people there is to live that,

To be a living example of that.

You don't need to preach.

You don't need to try to persuade.

You don't need to come with your knowledge and shove it down their throat.

Mm-hmm.

I know the truth.

Listen,

It's not about knowing the truth.

It's about living it.

Preaching from the soapbox.

Yeah,

Be that,

Be that.

And people will stand in line trying to figure out what is this spark that they see in your eyes.

They will be inspired by that.

That's the best way I would recommend teaching or guiding people.

But remember,

Love cannot be rushed.

Do not wake up or rush love until it desires so.

If you find someone who walks around with a closed heart and an unwilling soul,

You just have compassion.

You know they are suffering.

There is a huge burden that they have to carry.

You can see that physically,

Energetically,

People are crunched,

You know,

Just exhausted.

I am here for you.

What can I do for you?

Tell me.

Whatever you need,

A glass of water,

A hug,

An encouraging word,

Whatever,

Just I'm here for you.

Know that.

Day and night,

Pleasure and pain,

I'm here for you.

That's it,

Compassion.

And I also,

You know,

For people who are truly inspired to help other people on their path.

I already had two rounds of graduates who completed the Wide Path Coaching Method course and received a certification to lead other people on this path.

So maybe this is something we can start thinking about,

Looking forward to.

What else?

Wide path,

White.

White path,

This is the path we are walking on.

The white path.

Say more words about what the white path is.

White path is a spiritual invitation to grow,

To realize the full potential of your consciousness,

Of your human spirit.

From a contracted,

Self-absorbed context to a completely mature existence.

And it identifies by having a whole heart and a willing soul.

When you truly are available to experience life with a whole heart,

Joyful,

Peaceful existence.

This is the path that we are walking on.

And we come closer to that by shedding off false ideas and preconceptions about what we are growing beyond doubt and fear and suffering until there is nothing that is blocking our view.

There is only silence.

What else?

Enough for today.

So I invite you to just observe,

You know,

Observe where you are now.

Can you experience that longing?

Maybe you can go back and trace where was it ignited?

Just out of curiosity,

What sparked that longing within me?

And most importantly,

Nurture that.

Making sure that it's always there in you.

In spite of life's circumstances,

You know,

And challenges that we all share.

There is,

Beneath that,

There is always that warmth of longing,

Of longing for more.

Next week we will meet and start discussing the actual first steps that happens to an awakening consciousness.

We'll save AJ's question about the ego for next time.

What happened to the ego when awakened?

What ego?

So thank you very much for coming and for sharing this hour with us,

Sharing your questions and your longing.

See how powerful it is when my personal longing joins hands with the longing of a group.

You know,

It's exponentially growing.

So let's keep that alive.

The Sangha.

And next week when we meet,

Bring a friend.

Somebody that you really love or somebody that you really hate.

Doesn't matter.

Bring them and we can grow together.

What do you say?

Yes?

Good.

So have a good weekend.

Thank you.