See things as they are - this seems so simple and innocent, but
most people see things as they are thought to be. It doesn’t matter
whose thoughts. Babies are able to see things as they are in a way
before they have learned how to form thoughts.
You are the one (subject) who is aware of everything (including feelings and thoughts).
You are not anything (objects, such as the feelings or thoughts) that you are aware of.
This seems a very simple common sense, but most of us act as if we are our feelings or thoughts.
~ ~ ~
Lesson 1:
I feel uneasy (or sad, angry or depressed, etc).
I am aware of the feeling.
I am not the feeling.
I am the one who is aware of the feeling.
Quite
often, we just feel how we feel and forget that we are not the
feelings. Sometimes, without being aware of it, we act or react as if
we are our feelings. (Everyone can easily give an example about acting
or reacting on one’s feelings.)
~ ~ ~
Lesson 2:
Even thinking about it makes me angry.
I am aware of the thought(s) behind the anger.
I am not the thought(s).
I am the one who is aware of the thought(s).
Similarly,
we may often just feel angry and forget that we are not the anger or
the thoughts behind the anger. Sometimes, actions arise out of anger
and cause irreversible harms either to ourselves or to others as if we
are the anger or the thoughts behind it.
For
example, many people got into prison because of their actions out of
extreme anger. They got trapped in the anger or the thought(s) behind
the anger at that moment. If they had given themselves some time to
remember that they are the one who is aware of the anger and let the
anger be in the awareness, they would have very likely calmed down and
acted differently. It is helpful and empowering to form a habit of
remembering that you are the one who is aware of the feelings or
thoughts/beliefs, and that you are not those feelings or
thoughts/beliefs themselves.
~ ~ ~
Lesson 3:
Being
aware of a feeling or thought does not mean to think about the feeling
or thought, which would be just more thoughts. When you are aware
that you are the one who is aware of the feeling and/or thought, it’s
like a silent space being created between you and the feeling/thought.
You may then be more at ease with the situation you are in, and more
effective actions may arise out of such space. (Sometimes, no action
may well be the most “effective action”.)
Noticing
or being aware of your breath, silence or empty space can help bring
clarity, wisdom, creativity and more sensible responses to the present
moment.
Noticing or being aware of your physical
senses (what you see, hear, smell, taste, etc.) can also help draw
your attention to reality or the present moment, instead of being
trapped in thoughts.
~ ~ ~
Lesson 4:
People with different thoughts or beliefs are not those thoughts or beliefs.
They are also the one who is aware of those thoughts or beliefs.
On the level of pure awareness,
we are all the same.
Babies are aware, with no mental notes whatsoever.
Thus, they are completely open.
The
conditioning of the mind is a big part in a person’s growing up.
Different thoughts or beliefs arise out of different conditioning of the
mind. Such conditioning is a complex result of history, culture,
family, school, society, etc. Nobody can control their conditioning.
Being aware of this, one can be less judgemental and more open and
forgiving.
~ ~ ~
Lesson 5:
When
you are aware and see with clarity that thoughts are just thoughts, no
matter who or where those thoughts come from, they do not have true
power over you. This is the power of awareness.
When
you are truly aware, you can also see that hurtful thoughts usually
come from those who are hurting inside themselves, although they may not
be conscious of it.
Similarly, hurtful
thoughts can only have power over those who are not aware - when they
are not aware, they take those thoughts as some sort of reality or
truth, by which they give the power away to that misperception.
~ ~ ~
Remember:
When you feel angry (or any unloving emotion),
let the anger be in the awareness.
Anger becomes weaker and weaker.
When you feel love,
let the love be in the awareness.
Love grows stronger and stronger.
This
is because awareness itself is unconditional love and love is your
true nature. The power/intelligence of awareness is within everyone.
