Awakening and hard life conditions

[StephenK]

Is awakening forged more easily with an easy or hard life? Many of those that have awakened did not have very easy lives prior to their awakening, nor did they have lives wherein Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs was fully met.

How much does awakening correlate with easy/hard life conditions?

Looking forward to your responses.

 

[Free Mind]

It’s totally relative to the individual’s neurology and genetics (or karma). External conditions just influence the inner workings of your mind — the likelihood of awakening by environmental circumstance is determined by how those conditions change variables already established in your entire make up.

 Peter Ralston awakened completely by his own will and accord.

 Ramana Maharshi spontaneously awoke by unknown reasons.

 External circumstances seem largely irrelevant in these cases.

[StephenK]

@Free Mind Yes, that has been my impression as well. There seems to be little correlation. However, and this is conjecture on my part, there does seem to be something to the idea of 'the right stress at the right time' leading to some kind of fruition/awakening. The right set of circumstances can tip one into massive insight territory. An example of this would be how intense week-long meditation retreats can trigger massive awakenings in some people but not others, whilst others can wake up in the midst of a major depressive episode (Eckart Tolle).