I am Awake

"I am awake."

Often, in a dream, I notice I am conscious in it. I know it is a dream. I will say to myself - "I am awake". Sometimes the dream is so vivid it seems more real than my waking state. When we have these kinds of dreams, they are called lucid.

Sometimes we are fully present and conscious in life. We totally show up. In our relationships. In our work. In that which gives our lives meaning and in those things we are passionate about. Sometimes we are awake even when life throws us curve balls, or we have to face unspeakable challenges. It is possible to be awake, even then...

One of my favorite lines from the movie "Thelma and Louise," occurs near the end when they are circling around the Grand Canyon - having left much tragedy and a host of  insurmountable circumstances in the dust. There really is no viable future left for them. It is then, that one of them says to the other, as they drive through the middle of the night,

"I am awake."

And you know, it has nothing to do with being awake after midnight, but it has everything to do with being fully alive and present for the first time...

If we are lucky, we may have moments like this. Perhaps even many... When we practice meditation, we might literally receive it as a gift. It is grace. One day, we sit, and our "Inner Eye" opens, and we know we are awake...

When the Buddha awakened, he did not say - "I am enlightened." He did not say, "I finally got it all together." He simple said,

"I am awake."

Today is a day of both a Full Moon and a Lunar Eclipse. This day is associated with the Buddha's "Enlightenment," though that is not how he defined it. He simply noted he was awake - more present and capable of living life more fully and intensely. So much so, the Buddha spent the rest of his life sharing his insights and experience.

Today, and every day, simple say,

"I am awake."

Mean it. Believe it. Practice it. And one day, you truly will be awake...