In the last post we had come to an important milestone – our true identity, the CONSCIOUSNESS that we really are.

It was just a glimpse of the destination (which is Pragya); it was a milestone that actually read ‘AWARENESS’.

Where do we move beyond consciousness? The real fun starts from this point onwards.

Awareness is what a dog has – always relaxed and always alert. He is 100% present. When you infringe his territory he barks, as you retreat he gets into the same comfy position he was before you ‘happened’. From his relaxed position of advantage he keeps a watchful eye till you go beyond his Lakshman Rekha. He does not go back to thinking, speculating what could have been your intention for coming into his territory or how he will attack you more ferociously next time you trespass! He does not celebrate his success, nor does he brag about it to other dogs. He will respond to the situation next time as it presents itself. He acts instinctively and forgets. He does not have a concept of ‘forgiveness’.

When you become AWARE, you notice that the ceiling and pedestal fans rotate in opposite directions; that the digits on a calculator and the telephone are marked differently; that normal switches and electronic switches are ‘ON’ in opposite directions!!!

Awareness implies being 100% present. Awareness implies that Only Consciousness is present, and not the consciousness attenuated by the mind; in other words it implies our presence without the interference of our mind.

With awareness you now start looking into yourself. When something causes irritation you say, ‘Oh! I can sense some irritation’ or ‘Yes, I almost got angry’. You no longer wish to eliminate the cause of irritation or anger. Instead, you watch the rise of anger; as you continue to keep watching you also witness the ebbing of anger. The consciousness, at the point between your eyebrows, can now observe that the anger arose on its own, that the cause of anger was not really the other person or his wayward act but the involuntary response of our own antahkarana. You acknowledge that the other person was behaving strictly as per his character, be it tamasic or rajasic. It was actually foolish on your part to expect him to behave any other way.

You also become aware that your getting angry this way, involuntarily, has not helped improve the situation ever.

Instead of worrying about changing the world you simply resolve to change yourself. In the process you progressively liberate the ‘Real You’ from the clutches of involuntary mechanisms that are constantly operating inside you.

Osho said, ‘Awareness is like fire to thoughts. It is just like you burn a lamp in the house and darkness cannot enter. Thoughts are like darkness; they enter only if there is no light within… If you really become integrated in your awareness, thoughts don’t enter you; you become an impenetrable citadel. Not that you are closed, remember – you are absolutely open, but just the very energy of awareness becomes your citadel. You can see them coming ……. Then you can move anywhere, then you can go to the very hell - nothing can affect you. This is what we mean by enlightenment. If you can retain one-minute of awareness, you can become a Buddha.’

Look around. Just look; don’t interpret, don’t judge.

What do you gain by awareness? You’ll gain nothing! Rather you’ll lose many things – the miseries, the pain, the anguish, anxiety, ambition, jealousy, hatred – you’ll lose all. You become unburdened!

Are there any tools to facilitate awareness to take root? A disciple of Swami Rama suggests three simple tools. When an inappropriate thought occurs:

• Do not deny their presence.
• Do not justify their presence.
• Do not feel guilty about their presence.

Let’s live in ananda. Life is a beautiful journey. Let us not convert it into a race.

Aum Shanti

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# posted by Abhay Gupta @ 9:48 AM