Awareness can be found in the mundane, and in pleasure and pain

 “Awareness is” operates on a different plane of existence as conditioned living. It’s a parallel universe of sorts, always ready to be accessed. No person can reach it, yet, we can fall into this space by simply letting go of what never was.

 

“Awareness is” comes before conditioned mind. No one is around to claim it, yet it exists. Modern brain has given us the cool facility of observing thought, feeling and action, yet, the observer who sometimes sounds spiritual is conditioned too.

 

Mindfulness is an ok tool on the Awakening quest, and can sometimes prevent us from living in self-imposed hell but it cannot lift us into Heaven. Thoughts as, “oh, that’s greed!” or “what a mean thing to say!” are also conditioned.

 

In the mundane, pleasure and pain, we have the ability to go inside and fall into a different vibration: S (ilence) E (nergy) L (ove) F (low) reign before conditioning. S-E-L-F awaits, and insight, surrender and letting go are the launching pad.

 

From glitch in the matrix to undoing the illusion

 The honeymoon is quite pleasurable for most, but then the problems creep up, the in-laws often bring their share of troubles, but after fighting demons for a while, the lucky pair rides happily together into the sunset.

A relationship is a symbol, just as children or parents are, a job, success or defeat, health or sickness, or won and lost treasures. The spiritual insight is that nothing in this body, mind, world matrix gives us happiness, but it is happy to mirror our own happiness or lack of it back to us.

 

Awakening is like a honeymoon. Number symbols like 444, 11:11, psychic powers, etc., just reflect the break in the mind-generated matrix back to us. “Look,” synchronicity argues, “a rational mind living in a separated world cannot explain these things.” Yet, the journey doesn’t end until we have managed to look through the entire illusion. We are experiencing ourselves in space and time, but the body, mind, world matrix cannot possibly show us who we are. We have to perceive “no-thing-ness” on the inside to be whole.

 

To all the friends who are awakening from the dream, wouldn’t it be a cruel act by the Creator to show us a glitch in the matrix without giving us the instructions how to leave this illusion behind for GoOD? The instructions are clear enough, go after what is meaningful to you with the sense of abundance, and face the stuff that is less pleasurable by first questioning the sense of inner scarcity. Soon it becomes clear that contentment and wholeness resides within, and nothing in this world can add to it, and no one in this world can take anything away from it.

Awareness—When the SELF plays its ACE

 This “I” that we perceive appears real enough but it is a creation of “body, mind, world” and it can be seen as that, a creation that otherwise has no influence on anything.

 

We are that which observes, creates, is—Awareness in short. We can be in unison with Awareness without being distracted by the notion of “I” or the ups and downs of our surroundings.

 

On the inside, Silence and Energy prevail, and on the outside, Love and the Flow of life can be perceived—S-E-L-F in short. Not we but S-E-L-F calls the shots and we are the Awareness behind it.

 

How to get to that state of Awareness you ask. The answer always lies in the moment at hand. Play your ACE moment by moment. Accept the present moment as is, be Curious about its message and have an Equanimous mind.

 

We conduct divine energies in the state of equanimity

 The mature man, fulfilled in wisdom,

resolute, looks with equal

detachment at a lump of dirt,

a rock, or a piece of pure gold.

(Bhagavad Gita)

 

I was lying in bed at 1 am and suddenly felt that well-familiar humming at the back of my head. Silence prevailed other than that well-familiar humming vibration. I scanned my attention through all the subjects of desire and aversion, finances, body, power, etc., and it was always the same uniform feeling of equanimity. Had you presented me the choice between a rock and a piece of gold, as it is referenced in the Bhagavad Gita, I wouldn’t have cared either way.

 

I was reminded of a story between the 19th century sage Ramakrishna and his disciple Vivekananda. Vivekananda’s family suffered from financial distress due to the early death of his father and he ask Ramakrishna for assistance. Ramakrishna touched him and caused a deep state of samadhi in him, “Go and ask the Holy Mother yourself for assistance,” Ramakrishna said to him. Yet, each time he returned, Vivekananda had to admit that he was too busy bathing in Her Glory to ask for such a trivial thing. Three times they repeated this spectacle until finally Ramakrishna asked for this boon himself and Vivekananda’s family was financially taken care of afterwards.

 

We can consciously try to get our arms around this state of equanimity and try our best to live up to this high moral standard, but at the end of the day getting to this state is an energy event. S (ilence) E (nergy) L (ove) F (low) is a cosmic energy event in my experience. It comes when it does, and when we miss S-E-L-F for one self-interference or the other, we can always try our best to fall back into it while enjoying our human experience. At the time of writing the humming at the back of my head persists. It’s a pleasant experience of fulfillment and contentment but in no way an addictive state. Let’s see what tomorrow brings.

 

Peace and power is before thought and sensations

 Physical sensations—cold

and heat, pleasure and pain—

are transient: they come and go;

so bear them patiently, Arjuna.

(Bhagavad Gita, 2.14)

 

Spirituality for beginners:

Observe when you run towards pleasure,

and observe when you shy away from pain.

Observe when you abstain from the pleasurable,

and observe when you face the pain.

 

Spirituality for the advanced:

The doer who knows s/he is not the doer

is at peace. Oneness acts with or without

“you” thinking that you are in the driver seat.

Peace is before thought and sensations.

 

There is a place that is not bothered

by whatever is happening in our life and

not overly excited either by what’s to come.

This space is quietly and lovingly partaking in

the powerful play of creation and demise.

 

To be content, flip the script around

 Inner peace is outer power. Only, the one who reads about this power is likely the one that stands in the way of being one with the inner peace. This “power” is a complete alignment with Oneness’ creation. How can we not be at peace with having infinity as an ally?

 

The one who likely reads this post has it all wrong. We figure once I have this power I will be at peace. The problem is like asking that a non-zero integer multiplied with itself is that integer. Naturally, only 1 occurs until someone comes along and alerts us to -1 as option.

 

Zoom into the alternative mode of living for a while. Start with the inner silence and see how the outer world aligns without expecting anything. Observe life as is by recognizing the symbols that once gave meaning and see their emptiness. Flip the script around and observe what happens.

 

 

Stop the war with yourself

 The saint is a (wo)man

who disciplines the ego.

The sage is a (wo)man

who loses the ego.

Wu Wei Wei

 

How can we discipline the self? Who is the one who minds what is going on, and who is the authority who disciplines?

 

How can we lose the self? On the inside, can we fall back into the silence before thought? On the outside, can we see Oneness in action?

 

We discipline the ego until we realize the futility to be at war with ourselves. We stumble on Oneness and open up to it. Suddenly, its presence is obvious.