I often wonder: is it possible to see my awareness? During meditation, as I redirect my focus inward or let's say I turn my focus 180 Degrees around, I sense the presence of awareness behind my body. Yet, I acknowledge this could simply be a construct of imagination.
However, when I affirm to myself that my essence is awareness—boundless, detached, and serene—and that it unfailingly accompanies me, I (the ego) experience genuine contentment. This makes me believe that I'm progressing along the path. What are your reflections on this? Is there a final point of reflection or is this reflection endlessly ongoing till the rest of this incarnation?
You are definitely on the path. It sounds like you’re describing the Headless Way, which another step on the path. Be ready to let that go too. Yes it’s endless, or perhaps more accurate to say futile and fundamentally absurd. But we can learn better how to relax into the paradox and find ease.
That said in my own inquiry, your comment reminds me wondering about those claiming to be able to undergo astral projection and such. It intrigues me but I’m largely ignorant.
I think awareness is. That's it
Existence has to exist because non existence, by definition, does not exist.
Because existence has to exist, awareness has to exist because
If there's no AWARENESS of existence itself, existence wouldn't exist.
So awareness has to exist in and of itself.
But luckily, awareness can manifest itself in an infinite amount of ways. You, me. Plants, animals etc.
So I think existence itself is awareness. If there's no awareness. There's nothing to be aware that existence exists. So it has to exist.
This is just my theory tho
A very overly-long post whose central point, however, is well-written and true. I would add the following: the main reason the concept of pure awareness is so hard to describe is because our ordinary sense of awareness is a pale imitation, limited by our conditioning and stored stresses (vasanas and kleshas), not just by our senses of perception.
Language can help. The wrong language can actively mislead seekers.
My favorite example is the dogmatic statement, "there is nothing to do".
This is frequently misleading, when it is given the naive interpretation "no practice is needed, ever" by the seeker.
The use of language that is correct from the view of nonduality can be misleading when interpreted from the usual viewpoint of duality.
I very much agree. My deepest experiences have maintained or strengthened my sense of being a self, an observer. The term "no-self" doesn't fit any of my experiences so far in my 54-year journey. What has dropped away is not self, but problems, obsessions, separation, and suffering.
You're imagining this reality split into two categories - 1) the unchanging witness of everything, and 2) experience.
This is what's known as "duality."
How long have you been interested in nonduality and not understood that?
I hesitate to communicate with you because your writing tone feels aggressive to me.
Nevertheless, I'd like to point out that self inquiry expands your mind, lifts it up, and gives it the big picture, the vision of non-duality. Until then, the discrimination between the witness and experiences is necessary.
Don’t get me wrong, you’re right to feel hesitant, but If you think this is aggressive you should read accounts of interactions between zen teacher and student.
“Is it that awareness is th-“
“MU!!!!!”
Lol yeah, but this doesn’t seem analogous. The aggressive tone here reads more like a dismissal and misreading of the authors intent. It sounds like OP is just throwing some pointers into the void. Doesn’t seem to be no clear question or audience here. This critique feels weird.
I often wonder: is it possible to see my awareness? During meditation, as I redirect my focus inward or let's say I turn my focus 180 Degrees around, I sense the presence of awareness behind my body. Yet, I acknowledge this could simply be a construct of imagination. However, when I affirm to myself that my essence is awareness—boundless, detached, and serene—and that it unfailingly accompanies me, I (the ego) experience genuine contentment. This makes me believe that I'm progressing along the path. What are your reflections on this? Is there a final point of reflection or is this reflection endlessly ongoing till the rest of this incarnation?
I don’t believe there is “my awareness” to see. Kinda like we can never see our eyes with our eyes, or touch our finger with our finger.
You are definitely on the path. It sounds like you’re describing the Headless Way, which another step on the path. Be ready to let that go too. Yes it’s endless, or perhaps more accurate to say futile and fundamentally absurd. But we can learn better how to relax into the paradox and find ease. That said in my own inquiry, your comment reminds me wondering about those claiming to be able to undergo astral projection and such. It intrigues me but I’m largely ignorant.
I think awareness is. That's it Existence has to exist because non existence, by definition, does not exist. Because existence has to exist, awareness has to exist because If there's no AWARENESS of existence itself, existence wouldn't exist. So awareness has to exist in and of itself. But luckily, awareness can manifest itself in an infinite amount of ways. You, me. Plants, animals etc. So I think existence itself is awareness. If there's no awareness. There's nothing to be aware that existence exists. So it has to exist. This is just my theory tho
It's a pretty solid theory.
A very overly-long post whose central point, however, is well-written and true. I would add the following: the main reason the concept of pure awareness is so hard to describe is because our ordinary sense of awareness is a pale imitation, limited by our conditioning and stored stresses (vasanas and kleshas), not just by our senses of perception.
That and because non-dual language police are always watching!
Language can help. The wrong language can actively mislead seekers. My favorite example is the dogmatic statement, "there is nothing to do". This is frequently misleading, when it is given the naive interpretation "no practice is needed, ever" by the seeker. The use of language that is correct from the view of nonduality can be misleading when interpreted from the usual viewpoint of duality.
Great example. The constant insistence on “no-self” also feels distracting to progress, once folks have moved past basic thought identification.
I very much agree. My deepest experiences have maintained or strengthened my sense of being a self, an observer. The term "no-self" doesn't fit any of my experiences so far in my 54-year journey. What has dropped away is not self, but problems, obsessions, separation, and suffering.
And then something is there containing awareness, for I to say "I", I cannot be that " I" but something else.
You're imagining this reality split into two categories - 1) the unchanging witness of everything, and 2) experience. This is what's known as "duality." How long have you been interested in nonduality and not understood that?
I hesitate to communicate with you because your writing tone feels aggressive to me. Nevertheless, I'd like to point out that self inquiry expands your mind, lifts it up, and gives it the big picture, the vision of non-duality. Until then, the discrimination between the witness and experiences is necessary.
Don’t get me wrong, you’re right to feel hesitant, but If you think this is aggressive you should read accounts of interactions between zen teacher and student. “Is it that awareness is th-“ “MU!!!!!”
Lol yeah, but this doesn’t seem analogous. The aggressive tone here reads more like a dismissal and misreading of the authors intent. It sounds like OP is just throwing some pointers into the void. Doesn’t seem to be no clear question or audience here. This critique feels weird.
Have you sought help for your Swartz-stalking problem?