The Turtle and the Water

A sea turtle was mistaken for a land turtle and placed in a terrarium with sand and a heat lamp. The turtle wasn’t feeling well and had a longing for something it couldn’t quite identify. One day, when it was out of the terrarium and wandering around the house, it noticed the front door was open. It strolled out into the garden for the first time and found a large puddle of water. It was like a religious experience for the little turtle to submerge itself in the water; finally, it felt at home. But after that experience, nothing was the same. Once it had tasted the water, it was all it could think about and long for.

Just like the turtle that tasted water, we humans are profoundly affected by a direct experience of our innermost being. Post awakening it can then become difficult to wholeheartedly return to the filters, identifications, masks, strategies, and armors we had previously.

You might also notice that your “navigation system” changes. From being guided by your desires and fears, your calculations, hypotheses, belief systems, and opinions, your main compass becomes your intuition. Instead of acting on autopilot, you act consciously from a neutral, still place.

The transition phase can last for a short period or many years, and it can be anything from mildly confusing to completely life-changing. However, there are also a few individuals, like Eckhart Tolle, who wake up suddenly. His entire experience of the world/himself changed totally in an instant. Everyone’s journey is unique and should not be compared to anyone else’s experience, but once you wake up from the dream, it doesn’t matter what caused you to wake up.

The grief you never processed because you kept yourself super busy with work to avoid feeling the sorrow and longing suddenly surfaces.

The pain and anger over your failed marriage, which you suppressed to not show your children how badly you felt, might come up again. The shame over a financial crisis, the pain of being abandoned, the regret of causing suffering…everything we’ve swept under the rug can come up…or nothing at all.

When you dare to feel what is, it’s like pulling up weeds by the root instead of just trimming the leaves. It’s more strenuous and painful, but far more effective and the only thing that seems to work in the long run to become free and healed. For some, it’s a tough and slow process, with much digging and pulling to get the root out. For others, it’s a super quick process of just plop, with some pain, pulling up the weed by the root. But then there are those who wake up almost instantly and deeply understand who they really are. When they realize they are not their thoughts, feelings, memories, traumas, sensations, desires, fears, or personality, but the still awareness that is aware of the thoughts, feelings, and sensations, the weed simply becomes irrelevant. Everyone has their unique journey here on Earth, and it serves no purpose to compare your unique journey with anyone else’s.

A sea turtle was mistaken for a land turtle and placed in a terrarium with sand and a heat lamp. The turtle wasn’t feeling well and had a longing for something it couldn’t quite identify. One day, when it was out of the terrarium and wandering around the house, it noticed the front door was open. It strolled out into the garden for the first time and found a large puddle of water. It was like a religious experience for the little turtle to submerge itself in the water; finally, it felt at home. But after that experience, nothing was the same. Once it had tasted the water, it was all it could think about and long for.

Just like the turtle that tasted water, we humans are profoundly affected by a direct experience of our innermost being. It can then become difficult to wholeheartedly return to the filters, identifications, masks, strategies, and armors we had previously.

You might also notice that your “navigation system” changes. From being guided by your desires and fears, your calculations, hypotheses, belief systems, and opinions, your main compass becomes your intuition. Instead of acting on autopilot, you act consciously from a neutral, still place.

The transition phase can last for a short period or many years, and it can be anything from mildly confusing to completely life-changing. However, there are also a few individuals, like Eckhart Tolle, who wake up suddenly. His entire experience of the world/himself changed totally in an instant. Everyone’s journey is unique and should not be compared to anyone else’s experience, but once you wake up from the dream, it doesn’t matter what caused you to wake up.

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