STILL AND IDENTIFICATION WITH AWARENESS.

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Pravin Kumar
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STILL AND IDENTIFICATION WITH AWARENESS.

Post by Pravin Kumar » Mon Sep 24, 2018 7:22 am

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Stillness and Identification With Awareness

"I recently received the following question:

Hi Colin, I want to ask one thing that is it enough to sense or to abide in the inner stillness to identify with awareness?"

Inner stillness is an outcome of correct identification rather than a precursor to it, as I wrote in ‘Mind As A Servant’:

"I would like to add this quietening of the mind happens by itself, with no effort, when one is no longer identified with it. For in this it is now just a willing servant (the working mind) waiting for ‘work’ to occur, day to day problems to solve, rather than the ‘master’ ( the deluded spinning mind) which constantly seeks happiness by acquiring more money, power, friends, goods … etc. This takes place because, in assuming the role of master, the innate happiness which does not need to be sought is veiled by identification as the small (illusory) self, leading to the mind wasting countless energy bolstering its self image. Which points to another outcome of awakening, identifying with Awareness Itself, that much energy is now available which was previously being squandered in the useless search for the peace, happiness and fulfilment that are always already present."

This quiet mind, that results, is that which many spiritual traditions have lauded and developed techniques for its adherents to achieve. This is why the mind is often denigrated and one is told to still, and transcend, it by rigorously adopting these practices. But, as is often the case, this is putting the ‘cart before the horse’ (see ‘So What … What Now' in 'Beyond The Separate Self') for awakening is prior to (and produces) the still mind, not the outcome of it. So I urge you all to awaken by investigating this moment of experience, consisting of thoughts (all mind stuff) and sensations (everything detected by the body and its sense organs) appearing in Awareness, which reveals that we are in essence this Pure Awareness, and then to honour this awakening.

This takes place by reinvestigating when any needless mental suffering occurs, caused by reverting to identification with the small self and the mind attempting to reassert control, which will result in reawakening and the mind being ‘put back in its place’. As I said before the good news is that the more this occurs the less often these ‘insurrections’ will take place as it finally begins to settle and accept its rightful role as the servant not the master.

All of which implies that abiding in inner stillness may be a sign that correct identification with Awareness is taking place, but a still mind does not necessarily imply (or prove that) this is taking place. For the mind may be very active and busy, when required to work or solve problems, whilst one remains awake. Conversely a still mind may be experienced by one who is misidentified between bouts of ‘mind spinning’. For me a more reliable symptom of correct identification is lack of mental suffering, caused by thinking about the non-existent ‘small self’ speculating about the future or wallowing in the past.

The other problem with equating ‘sensing or abiding in the inner stillness’ with awakening could be that when this is not the case this may lead to unnecessary suffering, for one may jump to the conclusion that one is now misidentified. Whereas, it may just be that the mind has plenty to do, which is often the case in this busy and highly technologically advanced world most of us live in. The point here is that awakening is not a state, or experience, and to think of it as such is an error.

Here is a poem I wrote on the subject based on an article of the same name :

Awakening is not an Experience

Experiences come and go,
In That by which our minds can know,
Thoughts and images when they show,
And sensations as they to and fro.

The Knower which is ever behind
The ephemeral body/mind.
A constant conscious subjective presence,
Our fundamental innermost essence.

For each of us the world is made,
Of experiences which appear and fade,
In Awareness which is ever here,
Closer than close, nearer than near.

If to yourself you wish to be kind,
Avoid identifying with the mind.
Just a flow of images and thought,
In That which need never be sought.

To awaken identify with the latter,
The source, ground and end of all matter.
See that you are the permanent
Awareness, and thus ever content.

This awakening is not an experience,
Nor with thoughts and images a dalliance.
A realization of That which never changes,
In which cosmic energy just re-arranges.

Many experiences may it evoke,
They varied greatly in those who awoke.
But freedom is seeing ‘I am That’,
And the cultivation of this fact!

-----------------------------------------------------
An article from 'Sensual Awakening - A Tantric Approach'.

Colin Drake
For detailed palm reading and spiritual guidance Consult at: pravinjsoni97@hotmail.com

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