Being Aware of Being Aware: The Essence of Meditation, Volume 1

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Saunders, P. A., Tractenberg, R. E., Chaterji, R., Amri, H., Harazduk, N., Gordon, J. S., … Haramati, A. (2007). Promoting self-awareness and reflection through an experiential mind–body skills course for first-year medical students. Medical Teacher, 29, 778–784. From the perspective of the mind, this non-practice of abiding or resting in the experience of being aware or awareness itself seems to be a blank or dull state. However, in time, awareness’s innate qualities of imperturbable peace and causeless joy emerge, in most cases gradually.”

Being Aware of Being Aware by Rupert Spira | Goodreads Being Aware of Being Aware by Rupert Spira | Goodreads

For the last several months, I thought I was becoming a conscious being, but I just realized – I have a long way to go. A long, long way to go. However, that recognition does not trouble me. In fact, the recognition that I am not a conscious being actually inspires me. It inspires me because I have a now have clearer idea of what I aspire to be; a conscious being of course. The apparently separate self or finite ‘I’ around whom all experience revolves is the true and only ‘I’ of eternal, infinite awareness – the ‘I’ of God’s infinite, self-aware being that shines in each of our minds as the knowledge ‘I am’ – temporarily coloured by thoughts, images, feelings, sensations and perceptions but never being or becoming anything other than itself.” Take time daily to look at yourself as objectively as possible. It allows for weakness to be recognized and improved upon. All humans need improvement, and reflecting on our own performance gives us the opportunity to learn from mistakes and missteps. Being Aware of Being Aware is the distilled essence of all I have learnt of meditation and prayer over these forty years. I hope it may lead you to the wellspring of peace and happiness within yourself.' Consciousness: This means being aware of your internal experiences, including your emotions and thoughts.

Singer, M.A. (2007). The untethered soul: the journey beyond yourself. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications and Noetic Books. Just as the screen does not share the qualities, characteristics, or limitations of any of the objects or characters in a movie, although it is their sole reality, so the knowing with which all knowledge and experience are known does not share the qualities, characteristics, or limitations of whatever is known or experienced. Thus, it is unlimited or infinite.” When self-awareness and self-reflection are utilized in a constructive manner, they can greatly impact psychological affect. Improvements in various aspects of life can be achieved through improved awareness of the self and interaction with the environment. It is a practice that can benefit humans in many different areas. As noted earlier, self-awareness improves our communication, confidence, and job performance (Sutton et al., 2015). These benefits also apply to advanced students. Increased self-awareness leads to more self-care in medical students (Saunders et al., 2007) and a better understanding of one’s strengths and capabilities along with a boost to emotional intelligence in law students (James, 2011).

Being Aware of Being Aware | Publications | Rupert Spira Being Aware of Being Aware | Publications | Rupert Spira

Our actions will also depend on how much time and effort we believe that realignment will take; the slower progress will be, the less likely we are to take on the realignment efforts, especially if the perceived discrepancy between ourselves and our standards is large (Silvia & Duval, 2001). If you want to be more like post-reflection Monique than pre-reflection Monique (referring to examples of self-awareness skills in action above), or if you’re going to help your clients with their relationship woes, here are some excellent tips for introducing more self-awareness within the context of a relationship: 1. Be mindful It is somewhat mind-boggling, at least to me. But it makes sense. I am not merely the human being I think I am. I am the conscious being observing the human being I thought I was. If only for this instant, I think I have glimpsed what it means to be a conscious, aware being. I am not there yet, I am just starting and have a long ways to go. But I think I am beginning to figure out what being aware of being aware really means, at least to me. And that is all that matters, I suppose. Self-awareness allows us to see things from the perspective of others, practice self-control, work creatively and productively, and experience pride in ourselves and our work as well as general self-esteem (Silvia & O’Brien, 2004).Philippi CL, Feinstein JS, Khalsa SS, et al. Preserved self-awareness following extensive bilateral brain damage to the insula, anterior cingulate, and medial prefrontal cortices. PLoS ONE. 2012;7(8):e38413. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0038413 Seems simple right? Well it is, kind of, at least for a moment. What is difficult is sustaining the detachment from our thoughts, emotions and sensory inputs. For anyone who’s tried to be mindful, it is a similar challenge. It is easy to be mindful, for a moment or even a few minutes, but it is really hard to sustain that mindfulness for more than a few minutes. So we know that self-awareness is good, but what does it look like? How does one practice self-awareness?