Spiritual Living Podcast Archive · Centre for Spiritual Living, Edmonton

To Be Spiritually Awakened

·31 min·2 clips

Discover why you see and feel your foot tap simultaneously, defying the laws of physics.

This episode features Reverend Dr. Jane Simmons, an ordained Unity minister and author, speaking at a spiritual center about the nature of spiritual awakening. Dr. Simmons draws from New Thought, Buddhism, and psychology to explore how individuals move from unconscious living to conscious awareness. She frames the talk around her book's title, "You Can't Sleep Through Your Awakening," emphasizing active participation in one's spiritual growth. Dr. Simmons references the Armenian spiritual teacher Gurdjieff, who stated one cannot unconsciously become conscious, and Julia Cameron, who described humans as spiritual beings having business on the physical plane. She shares a Buddhist parable about a prince who forgets his royal identity, likening it to humanity's forgotten spiritual nature. The talk cites Ernest Holmes's definition of humans as "the ever-expanding principle of conscious intelligence." Dr. Simmons mentions scientific research indicating 400 billion bits of information are available to us, but the brain processes only 2,000 bits per second. She illustrates the brain's editing role with the "Delay and Antidating Hypothesis Paradox," where the brain perceives visual and tactile foot-tapping events simultaneously despite different neural processing speeds. A key insight is that unconscious beliefs formed early in life act as filters, shaping our perception and gathering confirming evidence, such as a belief that "life is unsafe." Dr. Simmons introduces the concept of "HSD" or "Humanity Sleeping Disorder," humorously described as "sleep apnea of the soul," where people project disowned parts of themselves—their shadow—onto others. She presents Byron Katie's idea of judgments as a "compassionate alarm clock" for awakening. The talk uses an analogy of samurai warriors who, after defeat, spent years contemplatively neutralizing their internal "pressure points" so they could no longer be triggered. Dr. Simmons stresses that pain not transformed, as Jesuit priest Richard Rohr says, is pain transmitted, often emerging unexpectedly in behavior or speech. She argues that while positive affirmations are valued in New Thought, ignoring one's shadow or denying unconscious beliefs sabotages transformation because beliefs ultimately override affirmations. Dr. Simmons clarifies that using triggering relationships for growth does not apply to abusive situations but to everyday "paper cuts" like annoyances. The tone is educational, inspirational, and conversational, blending personal anecdotes, humor, and audience interaction with references from diverse spiritual traditions. Listeners interested in practical spirituality, self-inquiry, and integrating psychological concepts with New Thought principles would appreciate this episode. Those seeking a strictly doctrinal religious lecture or a purely narrative story might find it less engaging.

As heard by us

A loose, warm teaching on awakening that turns silence, humor, and attention into practice.

The piece moves from workshop announcements into a pause and then into a talk about awakening as practiced work. Dr. Patrick draws on Zen Judaism, humor, a science-flavored aside about the limits of attention, and a simple foot-tapping exercise to show how much of life can…

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Why you'd press play

Press play if you want awakening framed as something you practice, not just believe.

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