Many years ago, mankind experienced a great awakening.  For ages, humans inhabited the earth and lived primarily according to their physical instincts.  They lived in caves, hunted for food, used primitive communication skills and traveled next to nowhere.

The frontier of the mind had not yet been explored to any significant degree.  However, at some point in mankind's evolution, humans began to exercise their mental powers to a greater degree.  Homes were built; food gathering systems were modernized; multiple languages flourished and travel took on many forms.  Today, while our physical instincts continue to be honored and given our attention, our mental capabilities have expanded to an amazing degree. 

Now, we are on the verge of our next great collective awakening.  Imagine how the primitive man may have reacted if he were suddenly faced with modern technology, skyscrapers, airplanes and computer systems.  Likely, primitive man would have reacted with bewilderment, confusion and disbelief.

Fast forward to modern man and to the great awakening now occurring in the consciousness of humans.  Instead of a shift from the predominant emphasis on physical to an emphasis on the mental, we are now experiencing a shift from an emphasis on the mental to a realization of the spiritual or divine nature of man.  In due time, mankind will continue to honor the physical and mental, while living according to the consciousness of his inner being or higher self.

This shift to a realization of our infinite self, along with its manifestation both individually and collectively, is a great awakening.  This shift in consciousness occurs first and foremost within the awareness of each human being, and, subsequently, this shift in awareness will be reflected into our external reality.

In human beings, the great awakening is the revelation of an inner vision of our authentic nature, that of infinite beings of consciousness rather than limited beings of thought and matter only.  In stepping across the threshold into a spiritual reality, we move into a perceptual field far more expansive than the mental realm only.  We become aware that we are the many, rather than one of the many.  We take on a completely different identity, one that is infinite rather than limited or separate from the whole.   We are no longer asleep to our greatest potential.  Rather, we are awake to all that we are.

Each of us is awakening in our own unique manner.  No two human beings will awaken in the same fashion or at the same rate.  Each of us will have our respective experiences, unique from all others.  While we are all awakening together, we are doing so according to the plan our souls have laid out for us.  What we have in common is the opportunity to awaken among the throngs of magnificent souls with whom we co-exist on this magnificent Earth.

While the focus can be placed on the external changes that result from such an inner shift, the key to the great awakening is within each human being.  The external reality can be compared to our reflection in the mirror.  As we change our personal appearance, the reflection in the mirror will change accordingly.  It is rather foolish to make changes to the mirror or the reflected image to experience a change in our actual physical appearance. 

The external changes will occur naturally as our consciousness changes, and the changes over time that occur as humanity shifts from the mental to the spiritual will be immense by today's standards.  Imagine the degree of change in lifestyle when comparing the life experience of the primitive man to modern man.  Such a vast change will appear in our lives as divine consciousness comes to the forefront.  We will live beyond what we can now imagine or describe.

While the collective physical-to-mental shift that took place ages ago was nothing less than astounding, today's shift from the mental to the spiritual will be far greater.  This is a transcendental leap beyond the body-mind mechanism we use to function in Earth reality.  This is a move from the finite to the infinite, from limitation to freedom and from separation to wholeness.  This is opening the "shoebox" in which mankind has existed for so long to fly into the deep blue sky.

From the perspective of an individual soul and as a member of humanity, it is an honor and a joy to participate in the great awakening.  These are profound times during which each of us is given the opportunity to open more fully to the infinite and magnificent beings that we are.  We are here to awaken from the ignorance of our deepest nature to the experience of our grand divinity.  In the great awakening, we rise and shine!