From this point of view, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that we seldom experience our real Self and we seldom experience the divine. When we come to the possibility of awakening, we may tend to think of it in the abstract, that some people made intense efforts and eventually became enlightened. But awakening is not for someone else and it is not something that someone else experienced and wrote a poem about. Awakening is the process of being present to our own life and of our own Higher Self. When we make active efforts to be present, we are not waiting for something external to happen. We become aware of ourselves now. And as we learn to develop habits that remind us to be present, we actually begin to discover our true Self. In turn this self-discovery energizes and empowers us to continue making more efforts to be present.

As the state of presence is simple, so too is the Higher Self simple. It is easy for us to fall into complications, and to regard tangential things as more important than the simplicity of our own presence. This is because the lower self opposes presence, and resists our efforts to be present.