My job as a coach, in large part, is pointing out what is already the case. I deliver the self-evident news that all is well, all is one, we are free, we are safe. I point out all kinds of things that are right here—able to be seen like those 3d images that pop out of a 2d picture, once we are relaxed enough.
It’s almost a misnomer to call the awakening and healing tools I use ‘tools,’, because they are built into us. We are the tools, the tools are us. They all boil down to witnessing, to Awarness, or Presence. And Presence, or Awareness is the very thing reading these words. It’s the very thing looking out of your eyes.
It’s the very thing that has everything you ever wanted built right into it.
What is Awareness, though? There is much misunderstanding about it. Most people think Awareness = the mind. Or thoughts = consciousness. It’s very Descartes—I think, therefore I am.
But mind/thought as a candidate for what awareness is can be easily debunked.
Is awareness here, whether or not thought is?
It is, in fact.
And is awareness ‘non-local’? For instance, can you put awareness in your feet? In your belly? How about your left pinky toe? How about 20 feet behind you, in the other room, or inside that tree outside? That is, can awareness be aware of much much more than thought? Take a look…
Because awareness is big. Very big. It’s big like the sky is big—relative to a cloud, a sunbeam, or even a planet or galaxy (i.e. streams of thought).
And if you look, can you see that awareness has always been there? That this background conscious awareness has been watching you your whole life? (And perhaps before this life and after this life?)
The ‘hard problem of consciousness’ in Western science (I.e. Where does awareness come from?) is only a ‘problem’ because we’ve had the whole thing upside down. We’ve thought that there is matter/brain first, and awareness/consciousness arises out of the brain. But it’s the other way around—awareness comes first, and the material world arises out of it.
Awareness is this primary thing—this essential nature—behind everything (including rocks and lizards and plants and computers…everything), and it has all of this inherent support—these built-in tools—for the body, the human being.
We just haven’t noticed. We’ve overlooked awareness like we overlook the space in the room or the ground under our feet—those utterly supportive, essential elements of life.
Let’s tap into Awareness right now, looking together at what is ‘built in’ to this Ground of Being…that which sees the mind but is not the mind.. Look right now and notice what its’ qualities are. Take some minutes..
Here’s a list of the qualities I’ve noticed in Awareness:
Compassion
Interest
Curiosity
Love
Softness
Freshness
Lightness
Permeability
Endlessness
Spaciousness
Silence
Tenderness
Clarity
Intelligence
Acceptance
Insight
Gentleness
Alertness
Attentiveness
What do you find when you tune into Awareness? What qualities are built in? (Share in comments)
Maybe you can see that awareness is like the best partner, parent, and friend. It’s totally there for you, interested in every little thing the body wants, never ever leaving and completely accepting of it all.
This means that we don’t have to go looking for these built in qualities in other things, other people, other places. Rather, we can tune into the qualities in awareness any time, any place.. and bring that compassion, attentiveness, and clarity to our pain, to our whole Being.
This is not in opposition to others bringing these qualities to us—but our relationship to other people, and to what they offer, changes significantly when we realize we already have the gifts here, in spades.
Neediness, co-dependency, attachments, looking-for-love, loneliness.. these things fall away as we bring that awareness into the body, as we attend more tangibly to ourselves, because awareness itself has the qualities, the peace, the love etc that we believe resides in relationships with others, or with things.
‘What’s looking is what you’re looking for,’ as St Francis said.
So we give the part that’s looking for love Awareness. We give the part that’s looking for clarity Awareness. We give the part that’s looking for sweetness Awareness.
And what are these ‘parts’? They are the wounding in our system, a gut punch from the playground or at home from when you were 7 yrs old. A lump in your throat from your teen years. A feeling of being unheard, unseen—deep in your heart, most of your life. These wounds went untouched by awareness—they didn’t get others’ attention, nor yours.
But there’s just one Awareness. And it’s never too late to give it to ourselves. It heals, it strengthens. You can even highlight different qualities of awareness for different ‘owies,’ as Kiran calls them—like a doctor with a wide range of medicine.
It’s all between you, the Awareness, and you, this Body. You have been looking for You, this whole time. And You have always been here (and will always be here).
The cosmic joke. The ultimate plot twist. And very good news.