Awareness

Awareness In Depth

Developing awareness is about developing the ability to Know More about each passing moment, to become more sensitive to the subtler thoughts and sensations that you are experiencing in any given moment.

Most of us would usually just be aware of the "important things" that are happening in any moment.

For instance, up until now, have you been aware of the sensations that are currently happening at the top of your head? Have you been aware of the pains that is on your body? Have you been aware of what is causing you stress and unhappiness in the last few weeks?

Perhaps, you haven't been aware of these things because they haven't been important to you, and as a result, your awareness have been mostly focused on what you have been desiring to do or on the things that need to be done. 

To develop Self-Awareness is to see the importance of knowing what is happening in oneself and in one's life in every moment, i.e. the thoughts and emotions so that one can be aware of them all the time. 

It can be difficult to develop such Self-Awareness because the demands and expectations in the world of culture and society can often push us to excessively use our minds to focus on things outside of us, giving us little room to be aware of what is actually happening inside.

I.e. When we are constantly having to rush to complete our work throughout the day, we can easily miss the beautiful sounds of birds chirping away above the tree branches or miss the subtle desires we have within to pursue our dreams.

When we are so focused on getting "this" and "that" outside of ourselves, we can also lose awareness of other things. 

It's difficult to be aware with a busy mind.

When our mind is so busy with thoughts about what happened yesterday, we can start to lose awareness of what is happening today.

That is why it's important to develop Stillness. The more Calm and Still the Mind is, the more the Mind will naturally be aware of the things that are happening in the moment of an experience.

So, to develop Awareness thus is about developing Stillness. The practice of meditation will help you greatly to develop the state of Stillness. 

What is Stillness?

It can be difficult for one to understand what the state of Stillness is when one has been living with a busy mind. To experience it is the only way to know what it is. 

And one can always go deeper into the states of Stillness. So, Stillness can be experienced in degrees. When the Mind is completely Still, then one is truly living in the Present Moment. When we are living in the Present moment, we are living without worries, without fears, without chaos—a joyful experience!

But to live in the Present Moment all the time is the destination of the journey. Because to reach there will require one to address all the suffering states of the mind within. When one is without suffering, one will naturally be in the state of Stillness Awareness.

But throughout the journey, as one develops Stillness, one will be able to experience the feeling of being in the Present Moment from time to time.

The more develops Stillness, the more one will be able to become aware of the Unstillness that is happening within. One will be able to detect the deeper thoughts and emotions that are happening inside. 

How can one not hear the noises around them clearly with a silent mind?

Through Stillness, one will also be able to absorb the life experiences that are happening in the world outside. 

The more one is aware of the world inside and outside, the more one will also be able to see the relationship between the way one's Mind reacts to one's life experiences. This is how Self-Knowing is developed naturally, which will help one to understand what experiences are currently causing one's unhappiness, and why one is perceiving such experiences as unhappy ones.

So, with Stillness comes Self-Knowing because it simply makes one naturally aware of every moment of experience.