The Power of Awareness (Basics)

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.

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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.)

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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. 

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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.