Consciousness, Mind and Awareness

the mind of ego vs the Awareness of mind

 

Consciousness, mind, awareness, brain...these are words we may, at times, use interchangeably. However, they are different aspects of our experiences and each are subject to change and growth depending on the circumstances and intent...or not. Yep, this is the world of abstraction. The yellow brick road of life that leads to the rabbit hole. But, let’s start at the beginning of it all...consciousness. It is without a doubt our biggest mystery of life. What is consciousness...and God? They might be more similar than one thinks. What is it and where does it come from? No one knows, yet here we are...sort of!

 

Next to consciousness is the most ubiquitous element in nature...light, which science has defined. It is packets of energy released when electrons jump orbits...so-to-speak. A photon is pure energy of the electromagnetic spectrum. Not so with consciousness. We have no particle, subatomic or otherwise, no measurement other than the relationship of consciousness to the CNS via the various scans and diagnostic modalities. The mathematical physicist, Dr. Roger Penrose said, “Consciousness is beyond computable physics”. As we have no way of actually measuring it, the best we can do is to define its most fundamental nature. To put it very simply, consciousness is the awareness of itself. You are conscious because you are aware of you. However, for consciousness to be aware of itself, for you to be aware of you, requires an awareness of all that is not you...a separation of self from all that is not.

 

We’ve all had moments that we woke from a very deep sleep and in that moment didn’t realize where we were or if it was even day or night. It was just a conscious awareness of you. You were aware of you...a conscious awareness of self without all of the baggage of the mind’s interference and distraction from the moment...the moment you woke. But, you still experienced and “recognized” you as you. But, that almost negligible moment, the very instant before that moment, that extremely brief flash before you were aware of or had any thought of you, simply an awareness of the sense of being awake...that’s consciousness aware of life. It is consciousness experiencing the creative consciousness.

 

The Mind of Ego

 

Place or rest your hand in front of you so that you can completely relax it. Now, mentally detach from it. It is just there. It is lifeless and no longer is your hand. I’m going to tell you to do something and I want you to immediately do it.

 

Move your hand! The decision to move the hand was consciousness, itself. Everything that encompassed the way the hand was moved...the path, all physical and sensory aspects...everything, is mind and the experience you had in moving it, is the awareness. Your decision to move the hand, movement and awareness of it, is unique to you, just as your handwriting, and is effected or created by life experiences, profession, even how you are currently feeling. Was your hand moved in a gesture of protection or kindness? This is the mind. Who you are is not only shaped and colored by your mind, but the mind is the illusion of you...the virtual structure of your past experiences, future concerns and the resulting wants and desires...it is the "virtual structure" of you.

 

Consciousness is awareness of self; the mind is the virtual framework from which our choices are made and our experience of those choices are defined and qualified; awareness is that which we are cognizant within our experience, which is at the whims of the mind. Your awareness is the consciousness of your senses coming from your experiences and there is so much that goes unnoticed. Notice that the definition of consciousness and mind indicate they are separate aspects of being and that the "mind" greatly influences our awareness.

 

The interaction of self with its inner and outer worlds has certain characteristics and qualities that we come to expect and depend on. Our family, culture, society, religion and education, etc. obviously play a huge roll in how we see the world and what we expect from it...in shaping and coloring our mind. The mind is the virtual structure from which consciousness bangs around in. For our view and experience of ourselves, ultimately, come from our experiences. At this stage of evolution, our awareness is simply what we knowingly experience as a reflective separate consciousness. Within our experiences, we have a structure of how things work, good and bad, based on religious and social norms, our perceived wants and needs, etc.

 

The "mind" is defined by the past and concerned about the future. Throughout your life you have had many types of experiences. You have more than likely changed some habits and beliefs as well as your overall view of yourself and the world. But, if you look back at yourself, more than likely you recognize you as you. The core defining aspect of the mind at this stage is an awareness of separation and from that comes wants, desires, fear, hesitation, embarrassment...and the list goes on.

 

The Awareness of Mind

 

The nervous system is our connection between our self and our world. It communicates our choices and relationships of body, mind and “spirit”, and by way of the senses provides doorways into virtually every moment if we simply bring our attention to what we are feeling or sensing.

 

Each of our senses, touch, vision, auditory, taste and smell (yep, they are grouped), and proprioception (awareness of and movement through and within space) has a spatial “quality or aspect of perception” that is most intimate with the 4th dimension allowing for a more intimate connection to our experience. Becoming increasingly aware of these qualities is no different than learning anything that requires developing sensory “discrimination” or sensitivity...that which we can become aware of. This affords a clarity and stillness that goes unnoticed much of the time allowing us to see the effort of the mind, the effort of ego...our illusion. As this integrates with our awareness, we begin to soften the hold of the mind...of the self. You become less focused on self as the mind of separation fades as more intimate connection to the spaces around you come into view. But, it may take your attention and playing with it a bit. It’s an aspect of the sensory system to become more aware of...becoming more aware of an aspect or doorway to 4th dimensional realizations.

 

Years ago, I was watching an episode of Opera. It was a follow up from a previous episode about teenagers dealing with extreme behavioral issues. On the follow up episode, the great majority of kids had made significant and positive changes in their behavior. When asked why, they basically said, “I saw how stupid I looked on TV”. The experience, as an observer, of sitting and watching themselves, created a similar situation as bringing your attention to the sensory aspects that are most intimate to the 4th dimension of space that allow for a more complete awareness of our relationship as an observer vs participant.

 

The simpler a process is, the more it can be a part of your moment-to-moment experience. Don't under-estimate simplicity.

 

If you want to know something...if you want to experience something, you must bring your attention to it. That doesn’t mean look at it. It means become aware of it...embrace it...feel it. That is why a musician is not likely to discover principles in quantum physics, and a physicist is not likely to write music, unless it's the same person.

 

Simply re-directing awareness can give the mind less to think about and more to experience via the senses, movement and wonder...the wonder that precedes curiosity. Then, possibly, in a moment of compassion, Awareness turns-in-on-itself as it experiences the illusion of you.

 

Following are a few simple conscious cues to bring stillness and wonder to your awareness. Play with these until you can bring them into your awareness as easily as with any past memory. Then simply bring them into your awareness in as many moments as possible...and your life will change.

 

Seeing Space

 

Earlier, I mentioned that there was "so much that goes unnoticed”. Well, some things go completely unnoticed, while some just don’t get our complete attention. When we look out at our world, we see spaces filled with landscapes, sky and “stuff”. But, we take the three dimensional quality of vision for granted. It is not given its due attention. We intuitively judge distance, speed, and shape and size of objects relative to us. As such, this makes our perception of space as a background and not a “participant”. We take it for granted. I realize how ridiculously simple or stupid this sounds, but there is an aspect of the three dimensional quality of vision that is more intimate with 4th dimensional integration, which is discussed below. Yeah, kind of weird.

 

This is an exercise to first bring to the awareness a sense of your separation and later a sense that space doesn't separate us but envelopes us. It can help clear your mind and make you more aware of your senses.

 

This works best if you have two or more objects occupying a space. An area with a few people or even trees work well, but this can be done anywhere with anything.

 

Become aware of the people or objects in front of you. Don't just look at them, but see them. Notice heir placement within the space...the distance and depth between them, kind of like lookimg at a chess board. Now, see and become aware of the space itself, its depth...the spaces that separate all that occupies it.

 

Did you feel any movement within the space...a perceptual shift so-to-speak? That was your mind following awareness. If you didn’t feel a shift, don’t worry. Simply play with this when it crosses your mind and you will at some point.

 

Hearing Depth

 

The auditory aspect that mostly aligns with the 4th dimension is simple. It’s longer or continuous notes played as an underlying beat or tone. It could even be something like a dog repeatedly barking in the distance. Anything that, when listening, pulls you out into the spaces around you. Note: if you Google music and consciousness, you’ll more than likely come across Solfeggio frequencies, among others, concerning “special” tunings. What everyone fails to consider is hz, the measurement for sound and light waves, are per second. Seconds are a purely arbitrary division of time that could not accurately be measured until the 16th century. For example, 432hz/second is supposedly “special”. Basing any significance on a time measured frequency is flawed. 432/sec is 216/ 2 seconds or 864hz/.5 seconds. Just a quick note: what can be significant is the phi relationship to various notes. Phi is the constant for time, just as pi is the constant for space. Just one example, you see phi relationships in plant growth, which, like the human body, is a snapshot of its past (time), which also develops with phi relationships as it relates to the anatomical structure of the body.

 

Finding Curiosity and Wonder

 

All form eventually changes or ceases to exist. Space and time do not. They are always present...always infinite.

 

Curiosity and wonder are conscious qualities of the 4th dimension...doorways to the creative consciousness, the quantum aspect of consciousness. Wandering around in the curiosity and wonder of abstract ideas and concepts keeps the “egoic” mind from completely engaging. This allows for curiosity and wonder to permeate our consciousness, even if only for a few minutes. The more you feel anything, the more it becomes part of your day.

 

Following is using space and time to bring to your awareness a sense of curiosity and wonder...a question without an answer. Discover the one or two that work best for you and have fun with it.

 

Infinite Space

 

Imagine the vastness of space, endlessly going on and on in all directions without any limits or boundaries. If space did have an edge or boundary, then what would be on the other side...outside of space? Regardless of how fast, how far, or how long you could travel through space, you would never be any closer to the edge, or the middle, than you are right now. Can you get into the vastness and wonderment of space?

 

Now, try to imagine if space didn't exist...no point to point to, no box that it might have fit in. Did you feel the wonder and curiosity that immediately followed the question...the moment before looking for an answer? Feel the wonder and be curious without needing or looking for an answer.

 

Time

 

It's easy to get how time goes on and on, but can you wrap your head around how there is no beginning for time. Did you feel that? Do you feel any wonderment with how space and time have the same quality of vastness...infinite?

 

You can bring this same sense of wonder into any moment of effort, thought, judgment, etc., simply by remembering how they feel...simply feel wonder. You can evoke the feeling of wonder just as you can feel any past moment in your life. Allow wonder in your life!

 

The Movement of Expansion and Contraction: The Normal Breath

 

Below are two links to the unrestricted breath. I recommend reading the page on the 1st link before listening to the audio so you know what to expect and will not be in your head as much. It is to bring your awareness to the movement of inspiration and expiration of what should be your normal breathing process as it occurs without effort. Most people do best either sitting or slightly reclining, but feel free to experiment. Gently, inhale and exhale through the nose. Initially, do this as an exercise in the morning and/or evening for as long as you would like, but at least 10 minutes to integrate it. I cannot over-emphasize how powerful this can be. I know what you must be thinking, "I have been breathing since birth and have never noticed anything related to a conscious shift". Give it a chance! You may be surprised.

 

Guided Audio

 

Simply give the mind less to think about and more to experience.

 

By becoming more aware of the 4th dimensional qualities of our senses; finding and feeling curiosity and wonder in our lives; and, bringing your awareness into fundamental movements of the body (breath being the most fundamental), quiets the mind and allows the Awareness to begin freeing itself from the effort of the mind of past and future. As awareness moves between the mind of effort and the quiet mind, it begins to sense both states of mind as one becomes aware of the other. Then, possibly in a moment of compassion, Awareness turns-in-on-itself as it experiences the illusion of you.

 

What Now? Apply the exercises.

 

Start by truly spending a day in your head. Take notice of the thoughts, emotions, apprehension, expectations and needs that pass through your awareness...what concerns you, the choices you make, the reasons for them, or are some of your choices simply out of habit? Do you hesitate on some choices or actions out of fear of rejection or not being understood? How many times have you argued a point for the sake of "making your point"? How much effort does that take? Have you ever not done something because you didn't want to look silly? Have you ever been afraid or hesitate to tell someone you love them, because they may not say it back? Do you not still love them? Have you ever been embarrassed? This is the self-reflective conscience.

 

Your thoughts and choices at this point are simply your awareness following your mind; its whims, wants, needs, and its fears, apprehensions, and perceived limitations.

 

As discussed earlier, feeling integrated breath movement can be one of the most accessible and profound doorways to experience stillness and ease. In any situation, simply absorb yourself in the light floating sensation of breathing and the emotions that it brings. This brings you into a more present space where wants, desires, and judgments do not and cannot exist, nor the expectations, apprehensions and fears that accompany them.

 

Notice when awareness shifts from stillness to thoughts, wants or expectations coming back into your mind. Did you feel movement from stillness to tension? Regardless of what the thoughts or desires are, you can simply bring your awareness back to the light movement of breath, that feeling of wonder, your senses, and the stillness they allow as you let the effort and dialogue go. Do you feel movement into ease as you once again leave effort behind? As you become more aware of this process, begin to ask yourself, "Can I let go of that desire and be ok if I don't get it?"

 

Our Core Desires

 

If you truly look at why you want and desire what you do, you may find at the depths of all desire is one of four core desires.

 

Can you relate to the mind's four core desires of intimacy that come from separation?

 

With each desire we feel closer and more connected. But, will the ego ever feel connected and intimate in each and every moment? Can you let go of core desires?

 

Now, your mind begins to follow your awareness, instead of awareness following your mind. At this point the rules of the game truly change as the mind is no longer in control...Awareness is, and if you wish to feel compassion, then simply feel it.

 

As you go through this process of moving between ease and effort, you will become more aware of the effort it takes to be “you”. This will allow for moments in which your awareness splits so-to-speak as Awareness begins to sense the mind of past and future...of separation...of the illusion, and “you” begin to sense that which is not “you”...the Experience.

 

From the “chaos” we are born into...to the awareness of self...to its increasing understanding of its relationship to its world...to the “innate” infinite self becoming conscious as it evolves into 4th dimensional consciousness.

 

Simply feel your breath, recall that feeling of wonder, and see and care for those around you.

 

 

Continue...Harmonics of Healing