How to be aware of awareness?

[Anirban657]

15 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

Try focusing your mind on nothing in particular and just let it sit there. The more it sits there, the more Emptiness will dawn on you. Don't try to grasp it. Let it wash over you.

I will do this

[Robi Steel]

@Anirban657 What you describes is a really good formula for mediation. But also for self-inquiry, give your mind the space to see what is actually there in your present experience, dont get too tied up in there. The insight is really subtle and sudden

[Jkris]

@Anirban657 @Anirban657 Preetom asked you very important questions.He is practicing self enquiry.

Are you able to locate the I am Ness or I feeling ?

Is it fixed or located in chest or head ?

Or really can't grasp it ?

Answer them.

Robin steel is equating awareness to experience which is not the case.

I asked winter knight about your question and my reply.He said it is inexpressible but the KNOWLEDGE self is aware of itself is realized.

In other words awareness is continuously experiencing something other than itself

Only in Nothingness the Truth will be realized.

Regarding self enquiry Hold on to the I feeling or I ness continuously till it vanishes.It this I am Ness which is preventing us from realizing the truth.

 

Edited May 4, 2019 by Jkris
Edit

[Anirban657]

3 hours ago, Preetom said:

describe this sense of I. Where is it located?

Is it fixed in one place like somewhere in head or chest?

Or are you kind of chasing it around but can't really grasp it?

@Preetom It is a feeling of being present and aware of the surrounding objects and environment.

It is located behind the eyes.

It is fixed in the head.

I am trying to perceive the I.

[Anirban657]

8 minutes ago, Jkris said:

Regarding self enquiry Hold on to the I feeling or I ness continuously till it vanishes.It this I am Ness which is preventing us from realizing the truth.

@Jkris Is the I feeling or I ness the same that I answered. I was trying to perceive the I behind my eyes. But I am failing miserably. I don't really feel the I or I ness yet.

[eputkonen]

@Anirban657   That is trying to get the eye to see itself.  Just be aware-ness.

[Jkris]

@Anirban657 You know you are.How do you know you are ?

What is the feeling that makes you think you exist ?

That is the I feeling or me feeling or I am Ness or sense of seperate self or sense of seperatedness. 

It is always present in waking state and disappears momentarily when you get deeply involved in thinking or some activity.

In sleep it is absent.

Hold on to this I feeling continuously when ever you have free time.It is not just 30 minutes meditation.It has to be as long as possible.

Hope it is clear.Feel free to ask any questions you have.

 

 

 

 

[Anirban657]

14 minutes ago, Jkris said:

@Anirban657 You know you are.How do you know you are ?

What is the feeling that makes you think you exist ?

That is the I feeling or me feeling or I am Ness or sense of seperate self or sense of seperatedness. 

It is always present in waking state and disappears momentarily when you get deeply involved in thinking or some activity.

In sleep it is absent.

Hold on to this I feeling continuously when ever you have free time.It is not just 30 minutes meditation.It has to be as long as possible.

Hope it is clear.Feel free to ask any questions you have.

 

 

 

 

@Jkris I understand. The instructions cannot be simpler than this. Thank you! 

[Preetom]

41 minutes ago, Anirban657 said:

@Jkris I understand. The instructions cannot be simpler than this. Thank you! 

Indeed~

[Dumb Enlightened]

On 03/05/2019 at 9:22 AM, Anirban657 said:

I know it looks like a stupid question but still, how to be aware of awareness?

I mean I am looking at the wall. I am aware that I am looking at the wall. I ask myself,"Am I aware of the wall?". And my answer is yes. So I am not aware of awareness.

I mean yesterday for the first time when I tried to become aware of awareness, it worked but now it's not happening. I meditate daily but for 6 months I stopped it due to my psychosis. And so I feel a bit less confident about being aware of awareness.

How do I become aware of awareness?

What question do I ask myself? 

Please comment, thank you!

 

When you look in a mirror, you see the reflection of your face, but you don't see your face directly right ? So the only way for you to know that you have a face is by looking at the reflection at the mirror, cause you will never be able to look at your face directly. The same way, when you look or hear, or sense, or taste anything, this very experience is reflecting the awareness that you are, cause you are knowing the experience. Objects are used to know that there's someone aware of them, so any experience is a reflection of your very awareness, there's no experience without the awareness of it. Just pay more attention to the awareness of the experience than the experience itself.

[Jack River]

Simply be aware of that which is aware of such questions of how to be aware of awareness?

[Jonty]

@Anirban657 The instruction from @Jkris is perfect. I got really bogged down with this as well. In reality, being aware of being aware is very simple, but I always found when reading forums that people try their best to be as profound as possible sometimes when in reality, the process itself is very simplistic. Look at an object in the room and realise what it is that is knowing that object. It is not a thought, it is awareness. Concentrate on that and in time you will realise what you are. As others have said, it can be a long process. Notice it and stay with it as long as you can. 

Awareness is the "thing" that you believe is the "life" in you for want of a better phrase. The thing that you believe you are, behind all the thoughts, behind the sensations. It's the thing that knows all of these things.

As others have mentioned, you cannot grasp it like an object. It's no-thing, but you can be "aware" of it if that makes sense. You can be aware of the no-thing or the awareness.

Hope that makes sense! Watch Leo's video on how to do self inquiry. It's brilliant!

[FredT]

Sit down, close your eyes and get relaxed. Then try to go to sleep in about three seconds. Will yourself to get to sleep in three seconds. You can't do it. What is it that resists? Stay with that. 

[MuddyBoots]

On 03/05/2019 at 10:46 PM, Leo Gura said:

Through lots of practice the mind must become very still. That stillness of mind itself becomes the empty awareness of awareness. You. Are. It.

Try focusing your mind on nothing in particular and just let it sit there. The more it sits there, the more Emptiness will dawn on you. Don't try to grasp it. Let it wash over you.

I'm just starting with self-enquiry, it seems like this is very similar to choiceless awareness, but going the other direction. Either use the self to let go of clinging and move into non-self; or use the self to look into itself, which is also non-self. The paradox is making me spin! Ill try watching Leo's video on self-enquiry. 

[zeroISinfinity]

@MuddyBoots Just have really really strong desire for awakening let go of that desire. Meditate. Could give you forceful method but I do not recommend that to anyone because it is way to extreme. 

There is beauty in path. Drop even slightest neurotic need be really curious and you really need to want to know Truth Just for It's own sake be honest about it. Wanting to know Truth for even slightest self serving shit Will not make it. God is not a moron. 

Edited October 5, 2019 by zeroISinfinity

[Eu Sint]

The answer to the question "Who am I" is silence itself. Ask the mental question and then pay attention to the silence that precedes it. Whenever this peace is disturbed by the occurrence of any thought, notice the thought, do not attach yourself to it and let it go, then return to the quiet before. Stay in this peace as long as you can without forcing yourself and return to it after the appearance of each thought.Note that when you pay attention to this quiet you do not think. You are aware, but you do not think! With time after a consistent practice, you will pay attention just to the inner quiet even if thoughts are still running in the background and you will understand that in fact this peace, this Nothing are You. That way you will become aware that you are the consciousness behind the mind.Learn to practice this. even in the dead times  between daily activities. , I tell you this from my spiritual practice of over 20 yearsI . It worked for me, I hope it helps you and it may work for you too.?

 

[MuddyBoots]

Thanks both, great answers 

  @zeroISinfinity    I'd say my desire for Truth doesn't come from my ego (which is scared of Truth!) but a deeper level which is rather, gently encouraging and urging me on, instead of desiring. I use regular ordinary techniques, they're powerful enough for me. 

@Eu Sint   I'm finding there isn't much self to enquire into, mostly just awareness of sounds, sensations, thoughts etc. Probably because I usually meditate at night, in the dark when my ego is quieter anyway. So, the self-enquiry feels very similar to letting-go technique, only subtly different, perhaps this will change in the weeks ahead. I'm considering incorporating self-enquiry into daily life mindfulness practice, when my ego is more active, I have a clearer sense of self/other. 

Coming back to the 'aware of awareness', I don't really get that either. What it feels like is that awareness drops off and is replaced with suchness, isness. I'm wondering if those are just different names for 'aware of awareness' or something else. 

 

[Eu Sint]

On 04.05.2019 at 2:16 PM, Jkris said:

You know you are.How do you know you are ?

What is the feeling that makes you think you exist ?

That is the I feeling or me feeling or I am Ness or sense of seperate self or sense of seperatedness. 

It is always present in waking state and disappears momentarily when you get deeply involved in thinking or some activity.

In sleep it is absent.

Hold on to this I feeling continuously when ever you have free time.It is not just 30 minutes meditation.It has to be as long as possible.

Hope it is clear.Feel free to ask any questions you have.

Very well and simply pointed.. Easy to understand for everyone. But even so it's too simple to be true, isnt it??.    I will continue with a short story, because it’s related to this and people love stories. I remember when I had to say such a great revelation of "I am". At the end of an experience with LSD, after a peak of six hours, in that comeback which followed,I decided to do self-inquiry with the most intriguing question of my life "Who am I".It wasn't like I hadn't done this before, because I used to do this all the time during the day, even though I was involved in all kinds of activities. But it had become a bit automatic and now I wanted to integrate in the calm and peace that comes when returning from the trip. Everything went like this, I mentally asked the question and waited for an answer. He came up in the form of a deep and profound understanding that "I am this invisible ,constant, and perfectly still presence that has been the witness of my whole story life since then.I understood that I am the same silent and unchanging presence that witnessed all the changes that have taken place throughout my life.I was then bombarded by a wide range of questions such as: How could I look elsewhere when I was here all the time?Oh my God this is me? But I've known this forever, it's unbelievable. That's all ? It can't just be that much. Yes, That is me.

I was laughing or I started to cry being filled with unlimited joy. Then I fell into a deep contemplative state, feeling an infinite love for the simple fact that I only exist. There were almost 5 hours lived at an indescribable intensity. "

Everything is just about it, be present here and now.

Infinite Love.?