What does it mean to be spiritually awakened?

Any experience can be considered an awakening if it opens you to a new, previously unrecognized dimension of being. But the awakening I’m talking about is when you awaken from the dream of suffering and separation to the radiance and joy of your true nature.

This awakening is the essential core realization at the heart of Eastern spiritual traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism and can also be found with the right eyes in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

When you awaken, you realize that the separate person you took yourself to be is just a construct, a mental fabrication, a collection of thoughts, feelings, memories, beliefs, and stories that have been woven together by the mind into the appearance of a continuous someone with certain avoiding qualities and characteristics.

By freeing you from your identification with the separate self, awakening liberates you from the burdens and concerns, worries and regrets, and limitations that the person bearing your name has accumulated over a lifetime.

If you’re like most people, you’ve devoted your life to enhancing, developing, improving, and promoting this apparently separate someone in order to win love, succeed, get ahead, and finally achieve more happiness and fulfillment.

Not many are about to give this up lightly, especially with the control that the ego has on each person.

Besides, your family, friends, and coworkers have encouraged you in your identity because they’re equally committed to their own dream of separate personhood. As a result, you live your life believing that you’re just a limited character in the dream and may never realize that there’s an alternative, another way to experience yourself.

You can awaken out of the dream and discover that you’re the dreamer, the observer, the source of the dream itself.

Awakening or glimpses of awakening can look like this (there are perhaps an infinite amount of unique ways):

One day, you suddenly see the world in a surprising new way that you never knew was there. Maybe you're walking outside or in nature, and you feel a special energy or glow coming from the flowers and trees.

Or you're lying in bed after taking a type of psychedelic drug when the boundaries of your body and mind dissolve and you expand to include the universe.

For some, a NDE (Near Death Experience) gave them a wake-up call to question themselves about the purpose of meaning and their role in it.

Or for me, reading a book called Psycho-Cybernetics and reading a line describing that I don’t have to keep living in the story I have created for myself that was keeping me in the reality of being heartbroken, introverted, and depressed. More on this in future newsletters.

These heart, mind, and eye-opening experiences aren't the same as fully awakening, but they make you think about seeing life in a whole new way. They start you on a journey to find the deeper truth that hides behind everyday life.

I will be going WAY more in-depth with my experiences and understanding of this awakening path in the following newsletters, because, to be honest, there's a lot to cover and talk about along this journey.

Why did I change my username to @awakenwithshaun across all social media platforms?

Previously, my username was @Iamshaunjeter, and before that @_shaunjeter

A few months back, I questioned myself by asking, “Am I only this person whose name title is Shaun Jeter? Does my name speak the entire truth of who I really am?”

No.

“So why is my username this? And what feels more aligned with my purpose in life?”

Awaken with Shaun.

Something interesting and fun to note here is the origin & meaning of my name (Shaun)

The name "Shaun" is of Irish origin and is a variant of the name "Sean." The name "Sean" itself is derived from the Irish version of the name "John," which comes from the Hebrew name "Yochanan," meaning "God is gracious" or "God is merciful."

In essence, the name "Shaun" carries the meaning of being blessed by God's grace or mercy.

Perhaps my usernames in the future will be changed to gracewithshaun or gracebyshaun

Who knows?

What are these awakened reflections? What are these newsletters going to be about?

The newsletter is intended as a guidebook on your journey home, a road map for the pathless path.

These are reflections I have about life.

My pondering and experience of living this spiritual life.

A mixture of what I see and learn from others and also from the experiences I have myself.

The journey from suffering to peace, from limited to limitless, from confused to clear.

Why start these newsletters?

The time has come that I must become who I am meant to be and do the things I am called to do. I have been blessed with a unique story of my own personal suffering and liberation and it is my right and duty to serve those who are “stuck in the suffering” and help guide them to the transition of Peace, Love, Ecstasy, and Wisdom.

I witnessed Rory Vaden speak at the The Summit of Greatness Conference here in Columbus, Ohio back in 2022 and he said a line that I will never forget:

“The most powerful position you can be in is to serve the person you once were.”

Instant goosebumps.

Words have never felt so resonant within me. This is it. I know what I must do in life.

Bit by bit, day by day, I have taken small actions toward this statement.

Also, I’ve had this voice in my head for about 2 years that keeps saying, “Someone is waiting for you to become the best version of yourself so that you can help them become the best version of themselves.”

Now is the time when I fully commit to this purpose and mission in life by daily writing, and here shortly, using the power of my voice.

Quotes/Messages to reflect upon:

• Enlightenment is your birthright, your natural state. You just need to reclaim and learn to embody it.

• There is no bondage in God; therefore, there is no bondage in me.

• Stop sleepwalking through life and being a victim of it. The experience of Love, Peace, and Happiness are right in front of your eyes. It’s time to open them.

• We are spiritual beings having a human experience, not a human being having a spiritual experience. We are changeless beings living in a changing world. It is wonderful to know that something permanent and eternal stands in the midst of our being, and, I experience, watches with joy the eternal taking place. The spirit is never caught, tied, or bound. Ugliness may seem to exist for a brief moment but Beauty, like Truth, endures forever.

• I know God must be present in my every act, word, and thought. Therefore, I know that freedom and fulfillment are mine today, the freedom to think, act, and to move in complete accord with the Divine Harmony.

• All of your choices, whether fortunate or unfortunate, are useful. Each shows you something important about yourself, and all are allies in helping you face the truth.