Q: Spiritual conversations seem obsessed with awakening moments. Big insights. Bliss. Unity. That sudden, unshakable knowing. That’s not where most of us are, and it feels like they just create envy rather than motivation. Why do those moments get so much attention?
A: Yeah, peak experiences are the stuff of legends, aren’t they? They make for compelling books and podcast stories. And yes, they’re absolutely real. But after decades of practice, teaching, and watching how insight actually plays out in daily life, I’ve noticed something consistent. The real work begins after the peak fades and ordinary life resumes with all its curveballs. When you still get irritated. When grief shows up. When desire or fear didn’t get the memo that you’re supposed to be awake now.
That’s the point where many of us secretly wonder: Does this spirituality thing actually work in real life?
Q: So what happens after a peak? When someone feels awake, understands the language, maybe even teaches it, but still reacts?
A: That’s the plot twist we’re often not warned about. People assume awakening is a finish line. Cross it and life should smooth out. Relationships should improve. Reactivity should vanish. Peace should be the default setting.
Instead, traffic still irritates you. Doubt still visits. Old patterns still show up under pressure.
Many spiritual paths focus on transcendence but stop short of integration. They talk about rising above the human experience without showing how to live inside it with clarity and responsibility. Awakening doesn’t remove humanity. It puts it under a brighter light.
Q: You keep mentioning “leaks.” What do you mean by that?
A: Think of awareness as a system designed to run cleanly and steadily. A peak experience is a surge. Everything lines up and the power flows. Insight feels effortless.
Leaks are where that power drains.
<p”>They’re not dramatic. They’re habitual. Subtle places where attention slips and old conditioning takes over. Defending your position. Resisting what’s happening. Using spiritual language to override discomfort instead of meeting it.
People chase another peak, assuming the clarity is gone. Usually it isn’t. It’s leaking.
Peaks are moments. Leaks are patterns.
Q: What does a leak actually look like in everyday life?
A: Someone challenges your view and you feel your body tighten. Your jaw clenches. Your breath shortens. You respond with something like, “That’s just the ego” or “It’s all an illusion anyway.”
It sounds spiritual. It may even feel convincing.
But if your nervous system is activated, nothing has been resolved. That’s bypassing, not clarity. The leak is using concepts to avoid direct contact with what’s happening in the body and mind.
This isn’t about judgment. These patterns are learned. Cultural. Reinforced for years. The work is noticing them without turning the inner critic loose.
Q: How do I actually find and fix these leaks?
A: When irritation, defensiveness, or urgency shows up, pause. Don’t elevate above it. Don’t suppress it. Don’t transcend it or zen it away. Just observe:
- Check the breath. Is it shallow or held?
- Check the body. Where is there tension or bracing?
- Check the mind. Is it insisting, resisting, or truly inquiring and genuinely curious?
These are small moments, but they’re decisive. This is where clarity either stabilizes or drains into reaction.
Presence is quiet. It’s steady. It doesn’t announce itself. It keeps asking for accuracy.
Q: This sounds ongoing. Isn’t awakening supposed to be an arrival?
A: Awakening is an entry point, not a conclusion.
What guides you forward is direct feedback from your own system. Frustration. The urge to control. The impulse to defend. These aren’t failures. They’re signals. Information.
Spirituality stops being theoretical when you stop chasing peaks and start paying attention to leaks. Plug them gently. One at a time. Without drama.
Life begins to cooperate. Not because you’ve mastered it, but because you’re finally meeting it directly. When you shift from chasing the next breakthrough to tending what’s already here, everything changes.
That’s the difference between insight and embodiment.
That’s spirituality that actually works.