The next step after awakening

If you've also walked through the first stage of awakening

and are entering the next step,

getting ready to truly bring spiritual insight into life and the world,

then the first step is no longer to talk about more spirituality,

but to let spirituality sink to a deeper layer.

Turn it from language into a state of being;

from a concept into a way of deciding;

from a label into how you judge, choose and take responsibility every day.

In other words, translate insight from higher dimensions

into language and structure people can use.

There's a rule here that almost never changes:

The more neutral the language, the further it reaches.

Almost every idea that has shaped the world for a long time shares this trait:

• The later Buddha spoke of "seeing things as they are"

• Laozi spoke of "non-action"

• Jung spoke of "integration"

• Modern psychology speaks of "a regulated nervous system"

Their sources run deep,

but the language they speak is very human.

Because the people who most need to be reached

are often not the ones in spiritual circles,

but the ones still struggling and carrying responsibility in real life.

It's not that they don't want to wake up.

They simply can't carry one more set of concepts.

When we use spiritual language that's too explicit,

usually one of three things happens:

1. Projection and dependence (you become the authority)

2. Emotional consumption (comforted, but unchanged)

3. Defensive rejection (it feels out of touch)

None of these is real transformation.

Real transformation

isn't pulling the world into the fifth dimension,

but letting the third dimension run with less pain.

And right now,

we may be standing on that bridge.