Introduction
The Inner Journey is one we feel compelled to travel.
Once the need for deeper understanding has arisen in us, the journey has begun.
We start by looking at the surface of life because that's all we know. But nothing we learn satisfies for long, or brings us lasting peace and happiness.
Only at the conclusion of the journey - the journey of 'Awakening' - will we discover what we were searching for.
The Inner Journey is mysterious - and we each experience it uniquely - but we are all human, and what happens along the way is essentially the same in each of us.
By understanding what's happening in us we are able to make more sense of the experience, and learn what may still be to come.
How can we know where we are on our own journey?
The process of Awakening will take many turns - you may travel slowly in almost imperceptible steps or stages, or have sudden radical inner realisations.
You may experience inner realities that seem more real than the 'normal' life of the body-mind.
Realisations may seep into your awareness during sleep.
The possibilities are endless.
This series is not about specific individual experiences, it is aimed at being like a map of the overall process. And you will more easily recognise where you are by unfolding the map and looking at it as a whole.
A short summary of the Inner Journey
Awakening is a process of 'waking up' from the 'normal' egoic state of consciousness.
You might find it helpful to read: WHAT IS EGO?
Until we begin to Awaken from the ego, we believe our mind's capacity to know.
In this 'normal' state of consciousness we believe that we can know the truth of our self and all that is around us through our sense perceptions and mind.
Awakening reveals that there's more...
The journey begins when we start to discover a deeper non-rational 'mystical' dimension to life.
Awakening shows us that we have been perceiving life as if from within a dense fog.
As we Awaken, the fog dissipates.
The final stage of the Inner Journey is often called Enlightenment.
Enlightenment, based on what the most revered mystics have said, is when the last remains of the 'fog' disappear.
What is revealed?
If you wish to know, here's a link to the last section in this series: Into The Light
The next section is: What is the Fog?