The Message of Awe
Some experience it daily, others just sporadically. Everybody knows awe, yet it remains strangely elusive. Diminishing the elusiveness may detract from the mystery. It may also Open one up to even more depth.
Awe cannot be coerced ― yet it can be invited.
For instance, through the environment: the mountains, the sea, a sunset or sunrise, feeling how this is part of an infinitely more expansive universe, a starry night, a religious building, a specific happening, the excellence in any performance.
More abstractly, one feels this – or becomes aware of it – through an encounter with Beauty, Immensity, Depth… with the Unspeakable.
Anything that invites awe can be seen as a kind of autosuggestion.
In other words, it’s a communication with the non-conscious ― therefore, with ‘total self,’ symbolized through the awesome object or situation.
As with any autosuggestion, trying to coerce it, it may backfire.
Eventually, a symbol always leads to total self. A Symbol Is Always YOU. For instance, remember the last time you felt in awe? Chances are you also felt profoundly ‘you’ in that situation.
Awe is the feeling of grandeur in this.
It shows how wonderful and important YOU are. This is the profound message of awe.
At the same time, as in any of the above cases, awe has an awesome effect also because it head-on humbles the ego in contact with the total self ― not standing in the way for a while, being Open. Awe is this combination of humility and grandeur.
An encounter with total self ― therefore also with meaningfulness.
Awe can remarkably feel like coming home where you belong. You can feel at peace with ‘it’: your life, life in general, the universe… in a profoundly meaningful way.
Thus, experiencing awe should always be welcomed as an important moment. It is a close encounter of the meaningful kind.
It’s also a very wholesome moment. At such a time, you breathe sanity. It’s an experience that you should cherish and carry with you. An experience that – if repeated now and then – makes life more worthy.
And yes, this tends towards the mystical.
A mystical experience is always one of awe, even when it doesn’t feel so at first sight. ‘The mystical’ lies further along the road of awesomeness.
Every day an experience of awe is everyday mysticism.
An open door to Open Religion.
Wow.
Related Posts
Surface vs. Depth in Many Ways
We often speak of depth as if it’s a single thing. But depth unfolds, deepens, and ultimately transforms those who truly enter it. Many believe they understand a domain fully in-depth when they have only skimmed its surface. Others mistake complexity for depth, believing that accumulating knowledge or experience makes them profound. But true depth Read the full article…
Mere-Ego ≠ Egoism
Mere-ego creates a narrowed sense of self, which can make egoism more tempting, but it does not automatically lead to selfishness. By shifting from mere-ego to the total self, one naturally moves away from grasping, fear, and competition — toward inner abundance, connection, and the joy of Compassion. Let’s explore how this shift changes everything. Read the full article…
Consequences of Human Complexity
Science is steadily revealing new dimensions of the human mind. Rather than making people simpler to understand, these discoveries show how profoundly rich, dynamic, and interconnected human beings truly are. The important question is therefore not whether we are complex, but what follows from that realization. Increasingly, it becomes the background against which we may Read the full article…