Om! Recognition of the silent space within is not awakening ~ Atman Nityananda

Recognition of the silent space within is not awakening 

Recognition of the silent space within is not awakening as some neo-advaita instructors may claim. By right knowledge, reflection, attention, self-enquiry, and discernment we can recognize the silent space within but this is not awakening. In this case we as an ego recognize the inner silent space, which means that our identity doesn't change. Awakening is not a recognition but the intuitive realization that we are the silent space of awareness and it is accompanied by a shift of identity and perception. We no more identify ourselves as the body-me entity but as the inner silent space of awareness.

We cannot cause awakening by our volition; awakening is something that happens by itself when we are prepared and by the grace of God. When our mind is quite pure and sattvic, when we have sufficiently developed the capacities of discernment, dispassion and detachment, and we practice deliberately self-inquiry then we create the right conditions in order awakening to happen. 
 

Awakening happens in an unexpected moment when we intuitively realize that we are the consciousness beyond the body, the mind and the ego or ‘I. When we realize that we are the inner silent and luminous space of awareness, which is immovable, timeless, free from suffering (it does not affected by what happens to body and mind), full, peaceful and blissful. This realization also causes a change of our identity and perception. Before the awakening we believed that we were subjects (as body-mind entities) and the things of the world the objects. After awakening our identity becomes the silent space of awareness and the body and mind are seen also as objects in awareness, although remains the sense of Iness. 

The moment that awakening happens there is a great release of tension, an extraordinary sense of freedom (although the ego have not died totally), and happiness and of course awakening terminates the seeking mode because we have found what we were looking desperately for many years. There is also a honeymoon after awakening which gradually fades out and after some time ends as well.

Awakening is not Self-Realization

However awakening is not the end of our journey; we must continue our discipline and practice in order to dissolve the egoic tendencies and the ego itself, which soon after awakening reasserts its demanding. Of course after awakening our attitude towards sadhana changes and we can see the play of ego more clearly and more easily. There is a flow and an easiness to do the sadhana although difficulties continue as well as the resistance of the ego. The difficulties and the resistance of ego depends on how much of the egoic tendencies have been dissolved until the day of awakening. 

Although we are in a higher state after awakening and we are greatly out of the ego's play we are not out of the danger to fall and identify again with the ego. The greater obstacles and stronger egoic tendencies are lust for sex, fame (pride) and money.   Without a doubt we can fall in the previous state of ignorant living if we are careless and abandon our sadhana before the complete elimination of the egoic self and our establishment in awareness as awareness. The ego can grow and become strong again and cover our true-self; the awakening by itself cannot prevent our falling to ignorance once again. The great masters have warned us about this.

As long as the ego is alive we are not in the safe zone; until the total dissolution of the ego and the full realization we must continue carefully and steadily our sadhana without to give any opportunity to our ego to revive.