Spiritual Awakening and Other Metaphors

We understand many things only with the help of metaphors, and the concept of a spiritual awakening is perhaps one of the best examples in the area of spirituality. It suggests that in our ordinary life we are asleep, but that we will eventually awaken to the truth. We live a dream, but the dream will dissipate in the opening of our eyes. Spiritual awakening is a powerful metaphor, and it resonates with almost everyone.

It is not the only metaphorical perspective available, of course. Almost as common is the idea of a spiritual journey. In our self-work we travel closer to our destination--and once again this is the truth or enlightenment. I want to introduce one more metaphor--the treasure hunt--and then look at why all of these are limited ways of understanding.

Spiritual treasure; it's hidden deep in a wilderness, where there are no roads. However, there are many paved roads will get you closer, so you take those. And though they are easy and so tempt you to remain on them, at some point they can get you no closer, so perhaps you turn off onto dirt roads that get you a bit closer. Then you must take a footpath. Eventually you must leave even that and blaze your own trail if you are to find the treasure.

Of course the paved roads are the well known religions and spiritual practices of the world, which are relatively easy to follow. You'll even have a lot of company along the way. The dirt roads are the lesser known or less-practiced parts of the spiritual traditions. Few people will join you for this part of the journey. The footpath is the subtle trace of where others have gone before, and of course, once you leave that--as you must--you are on your own entirely. This trail blazing is the deepest inner work for which there is no authority to follow but your own desire for truth.

This third example shows how metaphorical understandings are developed. We start with "treasure" as "enlightenment," and then look at the usual examples of treasure hunting to discover more parallels that can enhance our understanding. But does this process actually help us understand better, or does it simply shape the way we explain things internally and to others? This isn't an easy question to answer, but one thing we can see when we study the use of metaphors for understanding, is that any one of them has limitations.

For example, a spiritual awakening resonates, but if we try to draw parallels with other aspects of sleep, dreaming and waking up, we don't find as much resonance. After all, when we wake up we eventually go to sleep again, which would suggest that enlightenment is a temporary state which comes and goes. That might be an interesting perspective, but it doesn't sound inspirational. We hope to never return to ignorance and suffering once we escape them, after all.

A spiritual journey suggests a destination, and end to the journey. The idea that we will at some point have nothing left to learn and no further to go with our spirituality doesn't sound quite right, does it? A treasure is also an end of a journey or seeking. We might relate to the idea of leaving the paved paths and entering the wilderness to discover the truth, but is there such a treasure chest of all necessary knowledge? It seems ridiculous when looked at that way.

What is interesting here is the exploration of these matters by way of metaphors, and the different perspectives and insights we get with each. When we talk of a higher "self," for example, it reminds us (or just suggests) that there is something inside of us which is more important than personality or our momentary states of being happy, upset, jealous and so on. "Submitting to a higher power" suggests that the important part of what makes us spiritual is out there somewhere--a view favored by most religious people. It might be a better perspective for the overcoming of ego, which has truly practical implications for living on earth with other people.

Much of what is really metaphorical is not even recognized, and digging into these hidden metaphors also might yield some interesting insights. For example, it is common to use "higher" and "lower" in spiritual discussions, without many people ever stopping to realize that these are merely "structural metaphors." Why is more spirituality "higher" and a more animal nature "lower?" Is it simply a subconscious idea drawn from our experience of being able to see more when we are high up, like on a hill or mountain? Or is there something more than that in the idea?

Spiritual awakening... It is a cliche by now, and yet despite its constant use for many generations, it still is the metaphor that "feels" best. Maybe it even motivates positive change more than other perspectives. Perhaps that makes it worth using. In any case we may not be able to escape the use of metaphors, and I certainly won't in my last sentence: We should remember that words are not truth, but are places from which to see what is true, and so like a man knows a mountain better by seeing it from near and far and here and there, we too should look at life and the things in it from the perspectives provided by many different words.

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