BUILDING AWARENESS

As we seek to live consciously, with intention, and view our lives, its events, and the world for what it is, we must learn to recognize that our thought patterns are mere abstractions – a series of conditioned responses that are being generated through filters, collectively known as the ego. Who we are is pure consciousness, stillness. We are no different than nature, yet we let our ego’s create perceptions and viewpoints about the world that we live in.

We, as people, have evolved to become essential consciousness plus the conditioned ego. It is for this very reason that two people with the exact same circumstances can have two very different viewpoints about the world and their life’s events. Sure, some of you may counterpoint that by assessing chemical imbalances or dispositions towards anxiety or depression that could negatively skew the manner in which we view life’s events.

And there very well may be DNA contributions from our gene pool that have been passed down. Prior events may have conditioned our minds to view things positively or negatively. But our ability to remain in awareness can allow our past conditioning and genetically influenced responses to slowly subside if we don’t feed them with further energy. So how do we go about doing this?

RECOGNIZING AWARENESS

If we just take 10 minutes daily to sit in silence when we wake up in the morning, or once we return home from work, we can see that thought patterns emerge and dissipate. If we stay in this ‘silence’ mode without trying to cognitively silence the mind, we will notice that we are aware of our thoughts, our sensations. Together, these modalities form our perception of life, our events, and the world we live in. And we realize that we are actually aware of all of this.

This daily practice of non-doing, where we essentially just sit back and allow our minds to run amok without deliberately following any thought patterns by feeding them with incremental energy, allows us to recognize that there is space between us and our thoughts. This space between who I am (as a body, observer) and my thoughts will in time allow me to recognize that there is an awareness.

OBSERVING THOUGHTS & SENSATIONS

Just sit back and observe the thoughts and sensations that arise. A friend is successful in business or a relationship and a feeling of envy arises? Let it. Be aware of it. Fearful of an upcoming presentation at work? Allow the fear to show up. Excited about an upcoming vacation to Italy? Sure, let that excitement show up as well. The key is to not deliberately add energy to these thought patterns. What happens when we live unconsciously is that we take our thoughts to be true. Envy harbored long enough becomes an ingrained feeling and thought pattern – jealousy. Joy harbored long enough creates an attachment to constantly wanting to feel uplifted, creating excitability, which can lead to irritation. Fear harbored long enough becomes anxiety. Allowing ourselves to recognize that we are aware of our thoughts and feelings, allows these conditioned responses to show up without feeding them incremental energy.

STILLNESS & LIVING CONSCIOUSLY

Recognize that this space indicates that there is stillness within is. Stillness, that once intuitively recognized, will point us inwards, allowing us to live a more peaceful, conscious life. One where our minds, and subsequently actions, are not being dragged around by the turbulence of the mind and the impulsiveness and compulsiveness that comes with it, but one where our actions and thought patterns are aligned with who we really are.