Diane Krippner Healing Arts and Angel Gallery

A - Simply stated, being ‘awakened’ is the dissolution of the sense of a fixed, separate self. Once we realize that our concept of the self is an illusion, we become capable of experiencing ourselves as a flow of consciousness that is no longer subject to the limits and conditioning of the mind. And yes, it is possible in this day and age.

Q - Why is that?

A - It has to do with an evolutionary cycle for humanity and the Earth. We are moving out of a Kali Yuga, an age of darkness and chaos, into a Satya Yuga, an age of blessings and awakening into light. This transition began in the year 2003 AD, and will reach a ‘critical mass’ by the end of the year 2012 AD.

Q - How can Bhagavan claim to simply give awakening to people?

A - Many people associate the awakening with extraordinary effort, struggle, discipline, and asceticism resulting from a total renunciation of the world and complete dedication to the spiritual path. Nothing can be further from the truth. Being Awakened cannot be achieved through effort, no matter how hard you try. In fact, these efforts themselves can become our greatest obstacle! It is would be like trying to pull yourself out of quicksand by tugging at your own hair. Most Indian traditions teach that the awakening can only be given as a gift of grace. In this case, the grace is a product of a neurobiological change in the brain.

Q - How does this neurobiological shift happen?

A - It happens through means of a transfer of energy known as the Oneness Blessing, which is programmed, by Bhagavan and Amma to re-pattern the structure and physiology of the brain. Once this process completes itself, a person finds himself or herself in a permanent state of being awakened. This is not necessarily a mystical state, but simply a state of experiencing reality as it is, without the limiting filters and conditioning of the human mind.

Q - Would I have to give up my present lifestyle if I were to become awakened?

A - Only if you want to. You do not have to go vegetate in a cave somewhere, unless you feel like it. Bhagavan emphasizes that being awakened is a very natural state, and that a person would if anything become much more functional, joyful, loving, and efficient in every aspect of life.

Q - Do I have to change my religion in order to come to the Oneness University?

A - Religion has nothing to do with being awakened, nor even spirituality. It is a purely neurobiological phenomenon. Once awakened, your guiding light will come from within yourself, and you will reconnect with the essence within whatever religion or spiritual tradition you belong to or don’t belong to.

Q - How long will it take to become awakened?

A - It depends on many factors, including the state of your chakras and nadis, your childhood conditioning, your fears and resistance to change, your concepts of God, and your karmic destiny. Some people have become awakened with just one Oneness Blessing while others require a much longer period of time. Bhagavan says that everyone, as long as they are in a human body, WILL become awakened.

Q - What about people who have died?

A - Once the mass awakening takes place, they too will become awakened, says Bhagavan.

Q - How can you promise the awakening in such a short time, when so many of us have been struggling for lifetimes without coming an inch closer to this?

A - It is not so short a time. Humanity has been on the path for a very long time. We have now entered The Golden Age, and new energies are available to humanity that were not available before. Bhagavan says that we have already done our sadhana, or spiritual work. Now is the time to complete this journey as a human species.

Q - Is the awakening the end of our spiritual journey? What comes afterwards?

A - No, it is like stepping through a doorway into a new world, but the journey is without limits! The journey is just beginning.

Q - How will I know when I become awakened?

A - You will know you are awakened when you are no longer trying to become awakened. Suffering is essentially the resistance to experiencing reality as it is. Once awakened, you will no longer be forever seeking to change, deny, defend, or deify your experience of reality. You will naturally experience the present moment for what it is.

Q - What does being awakened look like?

A - Bhagavan speaks of being awakened as making a hole in the wall of your mind. For some people it may take a little longer than for others. For some people it may be a tiny crack at first, while for others the entire wall may collapse at once. Regardless of how it happens, once you experience the hole in the wall, you can walk through the hole into a different perception of reality. Our senses become much more acute. Mystical realities begin to interpenetrate the ordinary realities of our daily lives. As we dissolve the sense of separateness that has kept us walled off from the rest of the universe, the entire universe can move and flow through us! But this must be experienced directly!

Q - Will I be able to perform miracles when I become awakened?

A - All life will become a miracle when you release the rigid conditioning of the human mind. What you call miracles then become the normal experience of life.

Q - Will I be able to do my ordinary work when I become awakened?

A - You will not be plucked out of the world. You will continue to live your life, do your work, and engage in your relationships. As you become more present with each moment, each ordinary moment will become an extraordinary experience.

Q - Will my relationships change when I become awakened, and how?

A - You will discover that what you have called love was simply the survival needs of a neurotic self. You will begin to experience unconditional love and limitless joy in all your relationships, including your relationship with yourself!

Q - Is mass awakening really possible, or is this wishful thinking?

A - The idea of mass awakening is based on natural law. Whether you call it the ‘the tipping point,’ or ‘the hundredth monkey phenomenon’ or the law of ‘entrainment,’ the idea is that when you have a certain number of people holding a ‘higher’ state of consciousness, what we call a ‘critical mass,’ the mass consciousness automatically comes into resonance with it.

Q - What is a morphogenetic field?

A - A ‘morphogenetic field’ is a term coined by biologist Rupert Sheldrake to represent a field of consciousness specific to a given species. The more members of a species that exhibit a certain trait, or vibrate to a certain consciousness, the easier it becomes for all the other members of that species to ‘entrain’ with that trait or consciousness!

Q - Will I be able to heal people when I become awakened?

A - What often happens is that your chakras and nadis become activated upon getting awakened, which in turn activates the capacity for healing the body as well as emotional patterns from the past. The capacity for healing increases even more once you become God-realized.

Q - Do you find that synchronicities in your life increase once you become awakened?

A - Once you become awakened, you are no longer trying to run your life from your limited perceptions of life and reality. You find that the entire universe moves through you. Synchronicities become a way of life, opportunities come your way with seemingly little effort, and life becomes spontaneous and easy.

Q - It seems that becoming awakened is generally an Eastern concept. Is it the same as becoming one with the Divine?

A - It is a difference in emphasis. You can be awakened without being God-realized. You can also be God-realized without being awakened. But when the two go together, then you truly have the grace, power and splendor of Divine Consciousness radiating through everything you are and do!

Q - What happens during the Level-1 Course

A - You enter a fairly intense process of self-examination called “samskara shuddhi” during which you are offered the opportunity to see yourself from many facets, including the deep, dark and ugly. You see and clear your emotional issues, your negative conditioning and childhood patterns, and let go of the fixed ideas that have held you in suffering for so long. You then move along into a process of emptying, through which you see “through” the self and thereby free yourself from the self. From this new state of being, one is prepared for the final phase of the Level-1 Course, which is the Divine Descent.

Q - I have experienced states of being awakened before. What makes this so different?

A - Perhaps it is not so different in some ways. The morphogenetic field of the awakening is sweeping the planet, and many who have never been exposed to these states are spontaneously beginning to experience them all over the world. What many people experience with the Oneness Blessings, however, is not just occasional peak experiences but a neurobiological change in the brain, leading to a permanent state of being awakened.

Q - What is this “dark night of the soul” we hear so much about? It feels a bit frightening to me.

A -. When we bring more light into the body, there is a corresponding emotional and biological reaction. Old barriers, physical blocks and emotional patterns come to the surface in order to be released. The “dark night of the soul” represents a cleansing of the personal unconscious in preparation for a deeper descent of light and is usually considered as a prerequisite for the deeper stages of mastery. Jesus experienced this “dark night of the soul” prior to his public mission as he “wrestled with Satan” in the wilderness. Buddha also experienced this during his process of awakening as he fought the “temptations of Mara.” It is only frightening as long as we are afraid to die. Once we realize that there is no ‘self’ left to die, a new dawn can begin.

Q - You say that mass awakening will take place by 2012. Does this have something to do with the Mayan calendar?

A - The Mayan calendar does refer to 2012 as the ending of linear time, and the beginning of a new phase of experience for all creation. The Hindus also refer to this same time period as a critical moment for our collective transition into the next Golden Age. The two systems coincide, along with the visions of many people throughout the world, who have seen something new and exciting emerge on the planet around this time.

Q - Does karma play a role in becoming awakened? What happens to karma when you become awakened?

A - Your personal karma is certainly a factor in bringing you to the doorway. Once you are at the threshold of awakening, however, only grace can take you through the doorway. And once the self is gone, so is your karma. There is still a measure of ‘national’ karma or ‘human’ karma that remains, but your ‘personal’ karma disappears along with self.

Q - I have heard of awakened beings who did not have a guru. How can you say that a guru must give it to you?

A - The guru does not have to be in physical form. He could be a divine being or even your own Antaryamin (indweller). For most people, however, it is easier to trust and relate to someone who is incarnate in a physical body. The fact remains that it is a gift of grace, and must be given to you. It is like trying to escape from the prison of the mind using only the tools of the mind. The key is on the other side!

Q - Can I expect to be awakened when I come to do the Level-1 Course at the Oneness University

A - Let go of all expectations. You cannot achieve awakening through your own efforts no matter how hard you try. And if it is your time, you will be enabled to receive this gift no matter how hard you think you can resist! All you can do is to open your heart and say ‘yes’ to the experience. Let the Oneness Blessings do the rest. The universe will respond in perfect timing!