After the Awakening

Abstract

After the awakening, after the lovers supposedly have ‘gone off into the sunset,’ a crucial new question arises: Toward what is the process of eros ‘transforming’ the consciousness of the lovers? If eros is to heighten consciousness by pulling it out of a plodding sameness and complacence, it cannot do so if the awakening phenomenon itself is allowed to continue long enough to become its own stasis and lethargy. The motivation for eros derives from the fact that consciousness seeks not only happiness, contentment and the reduction of drives, but also complexity, value-expressive activity, symbolization of these values through effective work, life-affirming adventure, and existentially meaningful transformation. It is not enough to be transformed into a permanent state of hypnotic pining and daydreaming.