WHEN WE WAKE UP
The evolution of our bodies has brought us to the power of thought.
Because we think, we believe we are the thoughts.
But one day, you suddenly wake up from thought.
You are still alive, but you no longer think of yourself as your thoughts.
So What Do You Feel?
What Are You? What is Everything?
Let’s have a look…
We begin at the body.
What is it? What is it made of?
We all have a basic understanding of biology.
But what happens if we look deeper and deeper?
The most powerful microscopes in the world have revealed that we are made of subatomic particles, where empty spaces exist between everything considered physical.
And in this void, is where things seem to pop in and out of existence, through forces that we may never be able to understand or explain.
These forces and particles, interacting with one another, create the appearance of physical matter. They pervade through all things, causing interactions that eventually lead to life, and thought.
But the things we see with our eyes, are actually created in our brain. The forms and images it creates are an interpretation of the electrochemical signals produced by our senses.
Technically speaking, it is our brain that sees, and our thoughts believe it, because the other senses of the body reinforce this belief.
So here we are, guided by our senses to see the world with our eyes.
But everything we see and touch is the reaction of neurons in the cerebral cortex of our brains.
So in a manner of speaking, you have never directly experienced anything. Is it possible that our senses might be giving us only a small, incomplete picture of reality — and we simply share those senses with other living things?
Our eyes cannot see the empty spaces between particles. Our bodies cannot touch them. We do not know they are there. But yet, only through science, can we actually believe it.
Now let’s look closer…
The person you think you are, is of course you. But is this your real self?
When we look at the self, what are we thinking? Here, all thoughts lead to the concept of I.
So, who is this I?
Where is this I?
The search for our true essence, or the inner being, has been the ultimate quest of great thinkers throughout history.
Without a sense of being, you would not exist, in the way that I would not be able to perceive you, and you would not be able to perceive yourself.
So the search becomes one for awareness. And if we are aware that we are searching for awareness, we have to ask, who is ultimately aware?
It may not be so easy to identify what your inner self actually is. So why not begin with identifying what it is not?
And this is where we make an effort to find the Seer.
Is your real self the subject, and everything else an object of experience?
For example, if you are sitting in a chair, then you are not the chair you are sitting on. Because you are aware of yourself sitting, or doing anything for that matter, you are an object of your awareness, not its subject.
In other words, anything aware of itself cannot be the subject of that awareness, because the subject simply cannot be aware of itself.
So you, as a body, as a person, are the object of your own awareness.
This implies that you are not your body; you are only aware of it.
In even more words, your body is not the self, and you are the experiencer of your own body.
You are its observer. You are the Seer, seeing the body.
This is the concept which philosophers, monks and sages have grasped for a long time.
A higher awareness…
And like your body, your personality is also an object of your awareness.
While others may help you define it, you are ultimately aware of it as well. A personality is a very complicated construct. It is built through experiences, memories, and actions.
It is a representation of things you like and don’t like, of your desires, and a sort of anchor for how you might act or react in certain situations.
And because it is an object of your awareness, it is possible to be aware of your own personality.
And thus, you are an observer of it.
Have you ever done anything in life that you might have regretted?
And then when you look back, you ask yourself, how could I have done such a thing? This is you being aware of your personality in hindsight, as a recall, and it works well if you are having difficulty being aware of it in the present.
So now, we are beginning to understand how we could be an observer of our own thoughts.
And it is a story of thoughts that represents what we know of ourselves.
The same can be said of your feelings and emotions.
Whenever you have emotions, it is hard not to be aware of them.
I am happy. I feel good. I am angry. I feel sad.
These are objects of which you are aware.
And we are constantly focused on these objects, thinking they are the I. The moment we realize that something must be aware of these objects, we open our minds to the existence of a subject, or a higher awareness.
When people begin to seek this higher awareness, they enter a mental state we call meditation, which becomes the feeling of peace and flow. There is much more science involved in meditation than people may realize.
It is deeply entwined with our understanding of energy fields, on which all life and existence is based.
Just like the universe around us, our bodies too have proven energy centers.
We can feel the heat coming from the sun, but we also have thoughts, feelings and desires that come from the energy in our own body.
It is believed that seeking our true essence has an effect on this energy. In fact, many of the effects of entering a meditative state are both proven, and at the same time, impossible to explain by science.
It is truly a phenomenon.
In this natural state, we begin to explore the energy around us and within us.
In meditation, you are releasing your lower self, and instead of your thoughts being bound to your intellect, they are becoming a form of pure energy that is flowing.
From here, consciousness becomes something else altogether.
It is separated from the self, and the desire for freedom, love and safety begins to melt away.
We now know that consciousness already is abiding peace, love and freedom our mind is trying to become.
Because freedom cannot be aware of itself, true freedom can only be achieved without the desire to have it.
And this is what it means to See.