“Now I Am Awake” – The Clive Wearing Story

Today in Sunday Satsang, Dennis, one of the members of the Awakening Clarity Now community, shared the story of Clive Wearing and its affirmation of non-duality.

In 1985, Wearing—a noted British musician—was stricken with a brain infection that left him with only a few seconds of short-term memory and virtually no long-term memory. 

Dennis said that what struck him were the entries that Wearing made in his journal (see the image above).

As Dennis pointed out in the meeting, “All that remains, predominantly, is ‘Now I am, I am, I am … awake, awake, awake.'” Dennis quoted one striking entry: “‘Now, I am perfectly, completely awake (1st time).'”

“It sheds some light on the mechanism. You know, thoughts needs something to arise, some stimulus,” Dennis continued. “I guess most of the time that’s memory. If there’s no memory, then there’s only direct experience. There’s not even a chance for thoughts to appear. I think in the article, it also states that he has no thought at all. Can you even imagine?”

Equally impressed, Fred said that it sounds like Wearing “woke up.” 

– Link: New Yorker magazine article on Wearing in September 2007