Abstract
Movement into non-dual awareness involves ascension beyond the ego or self and access to higher transpersonal levels or stages. This comprises a process that manifests as an awakening and can initiate a lengthy journey for the experiencer. Once this journey begins, it appears to take on an unfolding life of its own, culminating in an embodied non-dual beingness existence that replaces prior egoic consciousness. Using a phenomenological hermeneutics approach, the authors sought to capture the lived experiences of ten non-dual teachers as they experienced awakening into non-dual beingness. Common themes that manifested throughout their journeys were explicated from their narratives and included: Foreshadowing in childhood, dissatisfaction with egoic consciousness, becoming drawn in by non-duality, the falling away of self, experiences of awakening into vastness, kundalini and other physical manifestations of awakening, the desire to hang on to awakening experiences, dissolution of the self, confronting death and terror, experiencing acceptance and relief, and embodiment of non-dual beingness. Implications of this research and avenues for further research into the phenomenon of awakening into non-duality are discussed.
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Tzu, G., Bannerman, B. & Griffith, S. Losing My Self in Non-Dual Awakening: A Transpersonal Phenomenological Investigation. Int J Ment Health Addiction 13, 758–775 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-015-9564-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-015-9564-z