Embodied Sacred Knowing With Relational Consciousness

Abstract

Much of the suffering today comes because people do not have a place to tell their story. C. J. Jung…This research recognizes the value of people narrating their awakening experiences. I used a process of narrative inquiry to discover the meaning of these stories, which disclose a sacred embodied knowing with relational consciousness. Such experiences are difficult to put into words. Few are prepared to witness an experience of divine meaning transcending human understanding, but these experiences offer valuable knowing for the self and, potentially, for others. Although they transcend concepts and words, awakening experiences may deepen a person’s consciousness and ways of relating in the world. Potentially, the value of the experience could be woven into one’s personal and public spaces. As a result, respect for the divine, and the value of the knowing from the divine in the experience, would not be lost. I have written this thesis in a non-linear way; the movement of this work is an open and ongoing spiral. It revisits methods, stories and themes from different places. At each point in the spiral, our consciousness opens to new meaning of an embodied sacred knowing with relational consciousness. This study invited respondents to tell of their awakening experiences. Suffering, awakening, relational consciousness, death, rebirth, and self-identity transformation emerged as themes in these narratives. I have presented an understanding as to how sacred experience influences human development, consciousness, and narratives.