Self Awareness

For example: I can will my body to pick up a book, but neither my body or the process of it picking up my book equals my Self. I can like or dislike having to pick up the book, but liking nor disliking it equals my Self. I can talk, walk, eat, think, judge, interact and so forth, but not one of these actions can be me. My Self is the pure force that contains all these actions, but it is not the content of what it holds.

Like a container filled with supplies, the container is not the supplies even though, in our current society, all attention seems to be occupied with the supplies and the content. The Self is the container. Awareness of the self means to shift your attention from the activities and content of life, to life it-Self; the formless stillness in which all activities are created. This, life, consciousness, is our true nature.

To become aware of your true nature means to discover who you really are and remind yourself of that often enough, if not continuously. So ask your self: Who am "I"? What am "I"? Meditate on discovering the answer to this question. Become aware of the very core of your individualness. Try to feel the presence of your "I-ness". First we have to enter the very heart of our individual I, which will open the gate to the cosmic Self; the container; Life itself.

Once the experience of being aware of your being is well rooted: you will be unaffected by the dualities inherent to the external world of shapes and forms and the fluctuations of the mind. You will feel great joy simply for being aware of who you are, unaffected by other people, their thoughts and feelings, and plain outer circumstances. You body might be cold, hot, ill or healthy, you will be free from your attachment to the dualities. This result and practice is called: non-attachment.

When rooted in this state of the self, Self-Awareness will automatically shine through and spiritual growth is accelerated as it becomes a natural development.

Developing Self Awareness

• Witnessing the Mind
• Mindfulness Meditation

You have to be willing to become conscious of the I behind all action: the self behind all thoughts and activities. In this process you will have to find your way through the garbage and activity of the mind, in order to find this self-consciousness.

The concept of self-awareness is not so hard to understand:
however, the experience goes beyond your everyday understanding. The true deed and experience of being self-aware can only be understood once it is experienced. The concept has its origin in the mind but the Self is not of the mind, hence the understanding of the concept can never be the actual experience of self consciousness.

Developing this experience is done by observing the activities of the mind:
By realizing the "I", the self, that is doing the observing. Try to realize the purity of the silent individual that is always observing... This meditation can be difficult in the beginning because we are very much identified with the activities of our mind. Do your best to see through that illusion and realize the Self. This is the practice and the importance of Self Awareness.

Return from Self Awareness to Meditation Techniques Return from Self Awareness to Mind Control