Inclining Toward Freedom, Even Through Imperfections

The two words that stand out from Larry Yang's passage are Freedom and Imperfections. We all want to be free from suffering, from our limitations created by conditioning of our mind. It is a a journey, a process of making invisible visible, a process of moving from non-awakening to awakening. As the author states: " We can't experience awakening without experiencing not awakening." We cannot see inner light without seeing inner darkness. There is an ancient Vedic prayer which says " Lead from unreal to real, from darkness to light, from mortality to immortality."
We all know that every culture, every society, every family conditions our mind. If we are not aware of the conditioned patterns of mind, we operate on automatic pilot. So the first step is to be aware of habitual conditioned patterns of aware mind. In order to be free from such habitual patterns I need to remain awake and move towards light.Is it easy? Of course not. There are times when my conditioned mind judges others of different race, culture, and religion. The light of mindful awareness helps me to see my own dark shadow, my un-awakened mind, and it facilitates my journey towards light.
Awakening and non-awakening are two sides of the coin of mind and heart. Practicing mindful awareness of my non-awakening helps me to shift from non-wakening or darkness to awakening or light.
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Namaste!