The Path of Remembrance: A Spiritual Awakening Journey to Inner Wholeness
Awakening isn’t a one-time event; it’s a cycle of forgetting and remembering our wholeness. This piece explores that rhythm and how returning to ourselves, again and again, forms the heart of the spiritual journey.
🔊 Listen to “The Path of Remembrance: A Spiritual Awakening Journey to Inner Wholeness” if you prefer.
The Path of Remembrance and the Awakening Journey
Most people picture spiritual awakening as a lightning strike — one giant ‘aha’ moment that changes everything in an instant. And sure, sometimes there are flashes like that. Everyone wants instant “enlightenment,” but it is a journey that comes in steps. It really is a lot messier than that. We tend to forget. We remember. We forget again. And then something — a word, a breath, a moment in nature — pulls us back into remembering once more.
But forgetting isn’t the enemy here. It softens us. It humbles us. It lends texture to the spiritual awakening journey, just as silence makes music possible. Without the slipping, the returning wouldn’t carry the same sweetness. Forgetting is part of the rhythm of remembrance, a sign that we are alive and still learning.
That’s the path of remembrance. It isn’t about climbing some spiritual mountain and never slipping again. It’s about learning to walk kindly with ourselves through the cycle — the falling asleep, the waking up, the losing, and the finding. Forgetting doesn’t mean we’ve failed. If anything, it makes the remembering truth richer, like how shadows make light more vivid.
As we speak of a spiritual awakening journey, it’s not really about chasing perfection or arriving at some finish line. The path of remembrance invites us to continue leaning into presence, even as life unfolds around us. Each small act of remembering truth — in stillness, in laughter, in connection with the earth or with another soul — draws us closer to our inner wholeness. It isn’t about how many times we forget. It’s about how gently and honestly we return.
Forgetting as Part of the Path
We’re often so quick to think forgetting means we lost everything. There are still glimmers of our previous progress. Life gets in the way and can pull us further from our truths, leading us back into confusion. It frequently brings up questions.
- Am I truly awakened?
- Am I failing?
- Am I doing something wrong?
The spiritual awakening journey is like the waves of a tide, and life can pull our attention into survival, responsibilities, and the endless noise of the world. That’s not a weakness. That’s being human. I have said it before that ‘we are spiritual beings living a human existence”, and it makes sense sometimes to forget where we are in our connections beneath this noise.
But forgetting is not the end of the story — it’s one of our most outstanding teachers. It humbles us. It sharpens the joy of remembering. It reminds us that light is precious because of the shadows that surround it. Every time we return, even after drifting, we carry a deeper understanding of ourselves than before.
“Some call it ‘spiritual amnesia’ — a veil that blocks our previous memories when we enter this world… Traditional teachings suggest this amnesia isn’t a mistake. It’s actually part of the experience. Part of the plan.” –Niluka Sripali Monnankulama
The Moments of Remembering
If forgetting is the tide that pulls us out, then remembering is the tide that brings us back to shore. And the funny thing is — these moments rarely show up when we’re trying hardest to “be spiritual.” They sneak in sideways.
It might be standing barefoot in the grass, feeling the earth hum beneath you. Or the stillness that catches you mid-breath when the world suddenly quiets. Sometimes it’s not quiet at all — sometimes it’s laughter that bursts out of nowhere and reminds you how alive you are. And yes, sometimes remembering shows up in the middle of tears, when life has cracked us open just enough to let the light through.
These are the awakening moments, the glimmers of remembrance that say: “Oh, right. I know this place. I’ve always known.” They don’t hand you a certificate of enlightenment (wouldn’t that be convenient?) — but they do carry you back into your inner knowing. They remind you that even when you forget, the truth hasn’t gone anywhere. It was waiting patiently, like an old friend who doesn’t mind how long it’s been.
I’ve written before about how even forgetting can hold medicine for us — Healing Through Forgetting: Memory Loss as Medicine. That piece explores how what feels like losing ground can actually become part of the path that brings us closer to remembrance.
Walking the Path Together
If forgetting and remembering were only private experiences, this journey might feel lonely. But the truth is, we don’t walk the path of remembrance alone. Every time one of us remembers, it ripples outward. That spark lights the way for someone else — and their spark, in turn, helps us when we forget.
When I say collective remembrance, I mean the way we end up holding each other up without even realizing it. None of us is doing this awakening thing on our own. Sometimes it’s as simple as sitting with someone steady in their truth — and just being near them helps you remember yours. Other times it’s a friend or a stranger who looks you in the eye and says the words you needed most: “Don’t forget who you are.”
And here’s the part that always makes me smile: even our stumbling helps. Your honest struggles can become the exact medicine someone else needed to hear. That’s the grace of a shared healing journey — we hold the mirror for each other, even when we don’t mean to.
In this way, the spiritual awakening journey stops being about “me” and starts becoming about us. About awakening together. About remembering, not just for ourselves, but for the whole.
“We can only awaken within the compassionate arms of our communities together, in solidarity.” — Larry Yang, Awakening Together: The Spiritual Practice of Inclusivity and Community
📓 Journal Reflection:
Take a moment to think about your own journey you have been taking.
- Did you have a spiritual awakening and thought, “Oh, this is it”!
- When do you notice yourself drifting into forgetting — what kinds of situations or feelings tend to pull you away from your truth?
- What helps you find your way back into remembrance? Is it nature, silence, laughter, or connection with another person?
- How do those returns feel in your body and spirit?
Write honestly. There’s no “right” answer — only the threads that help you see your own path of remembrance more clearly. Please remember, this does not mean you haven’t had a spiritual awakening; it is only a reminder that it is a step to full enlightenment.
Practices of Remembrance
Remembering doesn’t have to be some big mystical breakthrough. Most of the time, it shows up in the small things — the quiet ways we keep coming back to ourselves when life gets noisy.
Here are a few practices that help me (and might help you, too):
- Journaling. Not the kind where you write perfect pages of wisdom — just getting the clutter out of your head and onto paper. It’s amazing how often your more profound truth sneaks onto the page when you’re not trying too hard.
- Meditation (the real-life version). A couple of minutes of stillness, or noticing your breath in the middle of the chaos, can open that door back to remembrance.
- Nature. I find that nature seems to be the best teacher we have. Bare feet on the ground, leaning against a tree, listening to waves or birds. Every time, it whispers: you belong here.
- Connection. Connections to another person who shares your journey, or is similar. A conversation, a laugh, or even a profound discussion. It’s wild how often someone else’s presence nudges us back to our own.
These aren’t rules. They’re invitations. Try what calls you, skip what doesn’t. The point isn’t to be perfect at any of it — it’s simply to have ways of finding your way home when you forget.
Closing: Returning to Inner Wholeness
The path of remembrance isn’t about never forgetting again. It’s about softening into the rhythm — the drifting, the returning, the truth that waits for us underneath it all. Forgetting doesn’t erase the journey; it makes the remembering sweeter.
Every moment you come back to yourself, no matter how many times you’ve wandered off, is a victory. Not the loud kind the world applauds, but the quiet, steady victory of choosing presence over noise, truth over distraction, love over fear.
So if you find yourself wondering, “Am I failing? Am I doing this wrong?” — Remember this: forgetting is part of the path. And every step back into remembrance strengthens the flame that has always been yours.
Affirmation:
“I walk the path of remembrance. I am whole. I return, again and again, and I am always home.”
“Each return is not the beginning again, but a step deeper into who we truly are.”
— Aureleynia