What is True Self-Awareness?

 

What does it mean to really be aware? Awareness has become something of a spiritual thing when looking at humanity today - like a sate you acquire after/during meditation and/or going through initiations/programs. It is often called ‘pure awareness’ where you have to surrender yourself and let it all go. This is a very limited definition of awareness, because it only takes into account the “individual internal experience”…my question is: what about the physical, what about reality, what about ‘life on earth’?

Let us take a closer look at why you become relaxed when meditating. When meditating the goal is to "silence the mind" and go into a state where you relax. To silence the mind is to stop thoughts and when you stop thoughts you become relaxed. This is because thoughts generate energy - for example, let’s say you think about your day at work you generate stress, or you think about a person who wronged you in some way and then you generate anger. Thoughts are what keep our bodies from being in a natural relaxed state. So when you meditate and stop those thoughts you become more relaxed.

Some people like listening to music while meditating that also helps them to relax. Here, the same thing happens - your focus is on the music and not thinking so you become more relaxed. Also, once you have silenced the mind you will notice that you are more ‘aware’, more aware of the body, of reality – but, only for that moment. You can feel the clothes on your skin and your feet on the ground. You are aware of your surroundings and actually hear sounds like birds and crickets - also your breath. If you cannot hear the birds sing then you are not aware - you are not here in the moment, because you are occupied with thoughts in your Mind. Thus, you are separate from the here, from reality, from the physical – from what is REAL, and are somewhere else in an alternate reality in the Mind. Meditation is stopping thoughts. The question here is why cant you be in a relaxed natural state all the time? Why do you need to first sit still and meditate to achieve this?

So, one of the keys to being here in the moment, aware of your surroundings, and naturally being relaxed - is to stop thoughts. You do not need to meditate to do this. You can be here in the moment at all times and not just when you meditate. Sure, if it works for you go ahead, but there is a way to always be aware and here in the moment in the physical, in/as this REAL WORLD. This is one of the things we do here at Desteni. Stopping thoughts and actually looking at the cause of the stress and anger and any emotion and feeling so that you are no longer directed and controlled  by it, but you become the directive principle in your life. This way you become self-aware and see all those thoughts, feelings and emotions that control your life and then direct it.

If you want to find out how this is done - Join us.