The word satori comes from the Japanese Zen tradition, and means a sudden awakening.

A satori is a window into a new level of consciousness attained by intuitive illumination. It can happen when you come together with a group of spirit-led people who are all holding an intention of awakening, and it is powerful!

After returning from a Sedona Retreat where the energy was high times ten, we ignited a light within all of us that will not dim. So often we have peak spiritual experiences where a window opens to spirit, but then it closes and we are back where we were before. This happens because when the window opens, we don’t step through it. We saw the opening as an experience that was happening to us, not as the glimpse of our true selves that it really was.

When we recognize and claim our transformation however, it re-wires our brain so we don’t go back to the old patterns that tell us we are anything less than Divine beings. It allows us to step through the window and remain on the other side, where our true self lives. This happens much more easily when we are surrounded by people who acknowledge our light and reflect it back to us, until we can hold it for ourselves.

There were so many satori moments during the Sedona Retreat, and I am sharing a few here in participants’ own words. I am sharing these because I know that you can reignite your own light just by witnessing another’s light being ignited. Yes, this can really happen to anyone, including you, when you believe it is possible:

“Being guided by the Divine Mother into the Living Waters was simply beautiful and I’ll never forget the electricity that flowed through me as I merged with Divine Consciousness. I felt alive, nurtured and held. Now that I’m immersed in that vibration, I find that I’m able to access it quite easily and call it in as needed. It even shows up for me when I’m not expecting it. Sometimes I sense that it’s actually radiating from me. Deeply grateful to be reconnected with this divine energy — it’s great to be home.”

“One transformation is how my soul communicates, through my body-mind. Writing and communication has always stopped me from moving forward in my expansion. What I received was my divine self loves to speak through beauty, color, symbols and tone.  It’s no wonder I have kept myself in this box of not allowing myself to shine. Now, I see a beautiful rainbow diamond light.”

“ I saw the Divine Mother of compassion and love put a white shawl on all the projections of self that I made from the wounded child self. The Divine Mother honored and welcomed each projection as a teacher with a role and a purpose. After honoring them with a white shawl in gratitude, we welcomed them inside me. There was integration within me of all these parts.”

My satori moment came when we were doing the Sacred Heart activation. Everyone in the room had been activated and was sitting in meditation radiating the essence of unconditional love. As tears welled up in my eyes, I almost dropped to my knees in reverence because it felt no different than when I had been in the room with saints from India who were enlightened and surrounded by hundreds of devotees. I was in awe at the power of each individual claiming and radiating out the light of God, incarnate in form. This experience left me forever transformed, as I now know that this is possible for all of us, right now.

Afterwards, I spent three days with Gina and Nirmala, married spiritual teachers who have written 30 books between them. They live their daily lives in an enlightened state, doing the laundry, walking the dog, and paying the bills without leaving their space of Presence. It was so beautiful to behold, and we can all live this way. It starts with acknowledging who you really are.