Awareness Aware of Awareness

Recognising ourselves as human beings with a soul or spirit has rendered us a lot suffering.  When we see ourselves as individuals there is already an implication that we are all separated, each housed in a physical body which is distinctly different from one another.  There will always be labelling, categorisation and segregation.  There will always be you and me, your race and my race, your colour and my colour.  There will always be past, present and future.  Sages and ancient teachings have long reminded for thousands of years that we are in fact spiritual beings with a human body.  Or putting it in another way, we are actually conscious beings observing the human being we thought we were.  We are all part of the universal life force with complete awareness. The difference lie in what we choose to focus our awareness on.  When we choose to focus our awareness on external objects and events, we lose sight of what is happening within ourselves and naturally project our experiences and personalities onto the outer world.  Instead of being absorbed in the drama and even playing a role in it, let us bring our attention back to our inner landscape right in the present moment and without judgement.  We try to notice our thoughts, feelings and sensory experiences in an all-encompassing way.  Eventually, we can progress to rise above those responses and simply rest on the formless consciousness -- being aware of being aware.

There is only ONE consciousness, when we can reside in it and not anything else, we are merging with everything and everyone else where there can no more separation but only love.

Thoughts and Karma

The mind is empty by nature
What arises in the mind are thoughts
Thought is the real plane of action
Manifested with a lag on the physical plane
As activities appearing external and solid
Formed and formulated on the mental plane
Potency is in the inner self
Everything one sees is nothing but a reflection of thoughts
From past or present and as a continuum
No outer world but a personal mind only
With thoughts there will be karma
Also with no intrinsic existence
-impermanent, non-singular and dependent

The Lifespan of an Emotion

Whats is an e-motion?  Simply put, it is just energy in motion.  It is a barometer that indicate the change of energy and its intensity in our system. By nature, it is non-judgemental as there is really no "good" or "bad" emotions.  The duality of "good" or "bad" comes from our own labelling.  Once we become aware of this change of energy within us and decide to give it a name, it is then called a feeling: happy, sad, angry, anxious, excited, etc.  Even if you do not give it a name, you can recognise it at a physiological level as expressed by a tingling sensation or some sort of tightness in a certain part of your body.  Though little-understood, this is a psychosomatic reaction - the interaction of mind and body since these two departments have always functioned as one unit.  Thus when unaddressed, such suppressed emotions could develop into discomfort and illnesses over time.

The neurologist Jill Bolte-Taylor has mentioned in her book My Stroke of Insight that the physiological lifespan of an emotion in the brain and body is 90 seconds.  When you are engaged in a fight with someone and in a rage, the sensation of adrenaline rush, faster heart beat, heat in the face and stiffness in the neck are all supposed to take 90 seconds for it to set off and dissipate on its own.  Likewise, when you are on stage giving that speech the first time, the butterflies in your stomach, light-headedness and palpitation are only there for a minute and a half.  So why is it that when we are emotional it feels like we are stuck in a rut and cannot escape?  It is the narrative that we are holding onto that makes our thoughts linger on and hence the associated emotions.  The breakthrough lies in the ability of residing in the present moment and not assuming that the situation and environment should be otherwise.  After all, would you rather experience a 90-second chemical process or stay in an emotional loop?