“The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.” Albert Einstein

Awakening Consciousness

When I take a look at our society as a whole and think about the stage of evolution that we are at, it amazes me how many problems still exist on earth. We have advanced tremendously in technology and commerce, but one thing we have neglected to advance is the world’s consciousness, the ability to be awake in the world.

Any problems we have come from a lack of awareness. If our politicians were really conscious there would be no question about right and wrong, they would be able to make the right decision. In pure awareness there is no dark only light. In fact, if everyone was really awake and conscious, the role of government would be very limited, because people would not depend on someone else to lead them.

We live in the age of information, but even with all the knowledge of the world at our fingertips, what good does it really do us if we are not conscious and awake?

The problem is that knowledge essentially binds us, the more knowledge a person gains, the more psychologically asleep that he becomes. The more knowledge he gains the more entrenched his mind becomes in a certain way of thinking. He may think he is thinking outside of the box, it’s the same box; he just makes it look different.

“When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge.”- Albert Einstein

Just really take a good look at the world around you; you will realize that most of the population is operating from a level where they are psychologically asleep. Today’s society has become extremely efficient at doing things with little to no awareness, we just run on auto pilot. Once you realize how much you really are operating on auto pilot in your day-to-day life, you will be able to search for ways to become more aware.

Think about the very first time you were learning to drive, remember how engaged you were? You could feel every movement you made, you were fully present in what you were doing, you were in a state of heightened awareness. After a few weeks all your motions were effortless, you could look at your rear view mirror, adjust your stereo, and change gears with very little awareness.

Levels Of Consciousness

Your mind has different levels of consciousness. First is your conscious mind, then behind your conscious mind is the subconscious mind. If you learn to pay close attention you can hear the subconsciousness’ whispers. Then behind the subconscious mind is the unconscious. The unconscious is who you really are, behind your thinking mind, behind your body, the essence of your very nature. Behind the unconscious is what Dr. Jung called the collective unconscious, which is the whole of humanity’s evolution until now.

In order to become more conscious and aware and rise above the unconscious state, you need to experience being alert and awake. This is something you cannot just simply understand logically or philosophically, because it will only remain as an intellectual understanding.

“the intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.”- Albert Einstein

It is going to take a real effort to wake yourself up, to discover your true potential, to become aware that you are far more than what you appear to be.

How Do You Start Becoming More Aware?

You have to learn to become observant and watchful. Learn to observe and be a witness to every act you do, every thought that passes your mind. Watch every desire that bubbles up within you. Observe even seemingly little things like your gestures, walking, talking, breathing, eating, everything can be an opportunity to watch.

You will realize that the more watchful that you become, that your internal chatter will become less and less. Your thoughts become more manageable and you gain a new clarity. A clear mind is a happy mind. As you grow in your awareness, your inner growth will explode because you begin to let the deepest parts of your being rise to the surface.

You will also come to notice how much of your growth was being suppressed by the awareness of the whole (society) and dependent on others. At this lower level of awareness you observe how people mostly try and grow by means of arguing, simply trying to outwit, and out smart others on pure logic.

One day while drinking some coffee I observed two people arguing, the person who feels that he came out on top is puffed up in his ego, and all he did was make a brilliant logical explanation to satisfy his own desires. The other person now feels bitter towards the other, did not accept the other person’s point of view, and still chooses to keep his own beliefs.

I can see that both are oblivious to what actually happened. Nothing was accomplished, but in their minds they felt something was achieved. They were simply not aware of what was going on inside themselves, being lost on the inside is being lost on the outside.

Awareness Steps to Achieve Spiritual Growth

Step 1: The Body – learn to become aware of your body first. Learn to place your attention and sense your body’s energy from the inside out. Learn to feel its presence, its aliveness. You can begin by starting in small parts of the body, such as your hands, until your attention can encompass your whole body.

Step 2: Your Thoughts – Once you become observant of your body, expand your awareness to observe and watch your thoughts.

Step 3: Feelings and Emotions – When you are able to watch your thoughts, learn to watch your feelings and emotions.

When you are watchful of your body, thoughts, feelings, and emotions your awareness will begin to operate from a state of inner harmony.

Step 4: Aware of your own awareness – When you live a life of inner harmony, that harmony allows you to be in a position to become of aware of your own awareness.

When you are able to be aware of your own awareness you will realize how cunning the mind is, and how great it is at rationalizing. Rationalizing is not awareness, awareness means that whatsoever is happening in the moment is happening with complete consciousness, that you are fully present.

The problem lies in that all the mind can do is think of the past and imagine the future. To be present and totally aware is to be in the space of no thought, dropping your analytical mind. Also try and understand that dropping the mind does not mean to be in a vegetative state, it is simply a space where you move into a deeper depth of understanding and perspective.

Your mind is only able to work linearly, from point A to point B, from one thought to the next. If you move vertically that is a movement of consciousness, which is awareness.

Learn to continually bring your self to the present. When you catch yourself living in the past or imagining the future, bring your awareness back to the present moment. Do not feel bad when you realize you are not in the present, this is just a habit you need to gradually get out of until your new habit is being more in the present.

One important thing to remember also is to not make the mistake of constantly thinking “how can I be in the present moment”, because this involves thinking; this is a very delicate line.

Just learn to be a passive witness, which means you observe without judgment, and slowly you will fall into moments of beautiful silence. By constantly being in a state witnessing you will fall into the gaps between your thoughts.

“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality.It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day.Never lose a holy curiosity.” – Albert Einstein

Awareness is Key to Spiritual Transformation

With whatever you find yourself doing, learn to continuously be aware of whatever is going on inside you. The more you become aware of yourself doing what ever it is that you are doing, the more you become centered in your inner being.

Once you begin to be stronger inside, you will develop a deeper feeling of the inner presence that you “are”. Your energies will become concentrated around this centered presence, and your true self is born. Ego is only a false sense of self, but if you don’t awaken your inner self you will go on believing that you have a self that is only your ego.

When you have little or no awareness of your inner world, you are a victim of circumstances because you operate only by reaction. From this level your physical senses rule, your physical senses only job is to respond. You only take action when something has been done to you.

When you are grounded in your inner being you create a distance between your inner being and your physical senses. Something can affect your physical sense but cannot touch your inner self. When you take actions from the center, your actions are total and complete, inspired actions not hindered by past and future.

You will come to find that becoming a witness of your life will be something that should be done passively. Learn to do what you are doing non-verbally; verbalization is escaping from the experience.

When you look at the Stars in the sky with awe and admiration you feel a deep connection of beauty within you. As soon as you try to verbalize what you are feeling, you remove yourself from it, because to verbalize is to think, and to think is to not be fully present.

Learning to be non verbal in your internal world will make you the witness of your inner world. Language is only needed to communicate with others, but language is not needed to communicate with one’s self.

Thoughts come and go, think of your mind as the host and your thoughts as the guests. Once you learn to watch, witness, and observe your thoughts, you will be in a position of mastering your mind.

Your thoughts are there but you are no longer a slave to your thoughts, you are the master of your thoughts. Don’t try and control your mind, this is impossible, just learn to become centered in your consciousness. Just watch, don’t try and stop your mind, just observe it and allow it to happen on its own.

Being aware and clear headed will allow you to take responsible actions, because any action you take born out of awareness is total and complete. Any action you take will be action that arises from your watching.

With Awareness You Can Be Decisive

Only awareness can be decisive because your mind only conceives possibilities and is constantly in a state of indecisiveness.

Many people strive to be a man or woman of character, but a man or woman of character only reacts. Character is mechanical because it operates from memory; moral conditioning on what is right and wrong.

The problem with this is that life is constantly changing, it is never the same. But a man of character always responds with the same answers. A man of consciousness simply takes action, and whatever action he takes in the moment is natural and perfect for the situation.

Becoming a man of awareness will also allow you in seeing your own faults. The moment you become aware of your faults they will begin to disappear. They were only allowed to exist because you where unconscious of it.

So don’t be worried about errors and mistakes in your life. Put all your energy and effort into becoming a more conscious awake being. In a state of pure awareness your faults can’t exist. Someone who tries to be a good person requires great effort. A conscious person needs no effort, living a conscious life makes you a good person.

Someone trying to be good is constantly judging himself and others, his inner world is one of continuous conflict. He condemns and represses and learns to hide it in the deepest parts of his being.

You are good by just being aware. There is no question of whether what you do is good or bad, from awareness whatever you do is good. A person of awareness is calm, relaxed, quite, serene, creative, only good can come from these states of being.

You will know when you become a person of awareness because you will quit watching others, that’s what everybody else does; all you need to do is watch yourself.

Did you enjoy this post? Then you may enjoy: Living In The Moment: A Guide To Stepping Out of Psychological Time

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