Guest guest Posted December 6, 2000 Report Share Posted December 6, 2000 Hi I have a question: What is awareness ?.. Not just a conceptual/mystifying definition or similies ('like electricity'..) or cryptic statements/verbalizations like 'it is your true nature/Self or super-self/God and there is nothing else, Thou art That',.. ...but can you practically, point it to me ? Does it function thru the senses ? When there is a motive to be attentive to something,.. like listening after a sound of a car, when waiting for somebody to arrive, there is a focussed, predetermined direction set by thought. Or, if I try to practice awareness, there is also a narrowing thought- motivation to become 'enlightened', etc. But when, a car is passing down the street, or some bird sings, or have an itch, or thought/feeling, there is an instantaneous perception of that, in radar-like fashion, and it happens of itsself, without any will or personal motive. Is _this one..'it', or something else ? And if so, is it simply a question of being present to that /acknowledging its fact/functioning ? Have a good day, jb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 6, 2000 Report Share Posted December 6, 2000 JB - These are good questions. I wish I knew the answers! Because it seems that the simple act of noticing awareness sets a lot of energy in motion that leads to increased discrimination in the noticing... What you say about instantaneous perception, "in radar-like fashion" is so true. If there is a loud noise that happens right behind me, "awareness" registers the noise an instant before "I" react to it by being startled. Awareness seems to be always on, always functioning (even in sleep) no matter how much or little "I" pay attention to it. Part of the process of increased discrimination lies in de-identifying with the objects of awareness. This is the self-inquiry method. I am not this pain. I am not this awareness of pain. And so on. The question which ties me in knots, when I think about it too much, is similar to the one you raise. What is really going on when one is attentive to awareness? How can I be aware of awareness? What is this faculty that allows me to be aware of being aware? Is it, as one writer (whose name I forget), "consciousness bending back on itself"? Is it a kind of schizoid dissociation of a piece of awareness from itself? But back to awareness itself. It seems to be objective, without a center, without time or duration. So, what would awareness be without the objects of awareness? Would there be awareness if you removed the world and the inner sensing? It seems to me that just asking these questions is interesting. Perhaps there is no need for answers. Back to work, David At 05:53 PM 12/6/00 +0000, you wrote: >Hi > >I have a question: >What is awareness ?.. >Not just a conceptual/mystifying definition or similies ('like >electricity'..) or cryptic statements/verbalizations like 'it is your >true nature/Self or super-self/God and there is nothing else, Thou >art That',.. >..but can you practically, point it to me ? > >Does it function thru the senses ? > >When there is a motive to be attentive to something,.. like listening >after a sound of a car, when waiting for somebody to arrive, there is >a focussed, predetermined direction set by thought. >Or, if I try to practice awareness, there is also a narrowing thought- >motivation to become 'enlightened', etc. > >But when, a car is passing down the street, or some bird sings, or >have an itch, or thought/feeling, there is an instantaneous >perception of that, in radar-like fashion, and it happens of itsself, >without any will or personal motive. >Is _this one..'it', or something else ? >And if so, is it simply a question of being present to >that /acknowledging its fact/functioning ? > >Have a good day, >jb. > > >eGroups >Sponsor<http://rd./M=102308.1038796.2731130.908943/D=egroupmail/S=1700\ 060955:N/A=466331/?http://www.> > > ><//>/subscri\ be/ > > >All paths go somewhere. No path goes nowhere. Paths, places, sights, >perceptions, and indeed all experiences arise from and exist in and >subside back into the Space of Awareness. Like waves rising are not >different than the ocean, all things arising from Awareness are of the >nature of Awareness. Awareness does not come and go but is always Present. >It is Home. Home is where the Heart Is. Jnanis know the Heart to be the >Finality of Eternal Being. A true devotee relishes in the Truth of >Self-Knowledge, spontaneously arising from within into It Self. Welcome >all to a. > >To from this list, go to the ONElist web site, at > www., and select the User Center link from > the menu bar > on the left. This menu will also let you change your > subscription > between digest and normal mode. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 6, 2000 Report Share Posted December 6, 2000 Hi Guys, I doubt that this will really do much more than generate more questions, but there is a part of the brain called the reticular formation which appears to regulate what messages get through (eg from the sensory systems and from the limbic system) to the cortex, and it may well be that awareness is the function of this brain structure. (I am aware that this is more of an attempt to answer the question where is awareness, than what is awareness, but hey... "where the heck!") Love, Mark David Hodges wrote: JB - These are good questions. I wish I knew the answers! Because it seems that the simple act of noticing awareness sets a lot of energy in motion that leads to increased discrimination in the noticing... What you say about instantaneous perception, "in radar-like fashion" is so true. If there is a loud noise that happens right behind me, "awareness" registers the noise an instant before "I" react to it by being startled. Awareness seems to be always on, always functioning (even in sleep) no matter how much or little "I" pay attention to it. Part of the process of increased discrimination lies in de-identifying with the objects of awareness. This is the self-inquiry method. I am not this pain. I am not this awareness of pain. And so on. The question which ties me in knots, when I think about it too much, is similar to the one you raise. What is really going on when one is attentive to awareness? How can I be aware of awareness? What is this faculty that allows me to be aware of being aware? Is it, as one writer (whose name I forget), "consciousness bending back on itself"? Is it a kind of schizoid dissociation of a piece of awareness from itself? But back to awareness itself. It seems to be objective, without a center, without time or duration. So, what would awareness be without the objects of awareness? Would there be awareness if you removed the world and the inner sensing? It seems to me that just asking these questions is interesting. Perhaps there is no need for answers. Back to work, David At 05:53 PM 12/6/00 +0000, you wrote: >Hi > >I have a question: >What is awareness ?.. >Not just a conceptual/mystifying definition or similies ('like >electricity'..) or cryptic statements/verbalizations like 'it is your >true nature/Self or super-self/God and there is nothing else, Thou >art That',.. >..but can you practically, point it to me ? > >Does it function thru the senses ? > >When there is a motive to be attentive to something,.. like listening >after a sound of a car, when waiting for somebody to arrive, there is >a focussed, predetermined direction set by thought. >Or, if I try to practice awareness, there is also a narrowing thought- >motivation to become 'enlightened', etc. > >But when, a car is passing down the street, or some bird sings, or >have an itch, or thought/feeling, there is an instantaneous >perception of that, in radar-like fashion, and it happens of itsself, >without any will or personal motive. >Is _this one..'it', or something else ? >And if so, is it simply a question of being present to >that /acknowledging its fact/functioning ? > >Have a good day, >jb. > > >eGroups >Sponsor<http://rd./M=102308.1038796.2731130.908943/D=egroupmail/S=1700060955:N/A=466331/?http://www.> > > ><//>// > > >All paths go somewhere. No path goes nowhere. Paths, places, sights, >perceptions, and indeed all experiences arise from and exist in and >subside back into the Space of Awareness. Like waves rising are not >different than the ocean, all things arising from Awareness are of the >nature of Awareness. Awareness does not come and go but is always Present. >It is Home. Home is where the Heart Is. Jnanis know the Heart to be the >Finality of Eternal Being. A true devotee relishes in the Truth of >Self-Knowledge, spontaneously arising from within into It Self. Welcome >all to a. > >To from this list, go to the ONElist web site, at > www., and select the User Center link from > the menu bar > on the left. This menu will also let you change your > subscription > between digest and normal mode. > > // All paths go somewhere. No path goes nowhere. Paths, places, sights, perceptions, and indeed all experiences arise from and exist in and subside back into the Space of Awareness. Like waves rising are not different than the ocean, all things arising from Awareness are of the nature of Awareness. Awareness does not come and go but is always Present. It is Home. Home is where the Heart Is. Jnanis know the Heart to be the Finality of Eternal Being. A true devotee relishes in the Truth of Self-Knowledge, spontaneously arising from within into It Self. Welcome all to a. To from this list, go to the ONElist web site, at www., and select the User Center link from the menu bar on the left. This menu will also let you change your subscription between digest and normal mode. Attachment: (image/gif) C:\windows\TEMP\nsmailRV.gif [not stored] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 6, 2000 Report Share Posted December 6, 2000 dear jb, so you have a question... don't love, wim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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