The Power of Awareness

[Guest guest]

The Power of Awareness

 

Awareness of every reaction is your final freedom.

Vernon Howard

 

Vernon Howard is a bare-bones spiritual teacher for the ages. In his books and

tapes he puts forth the abc's of awareness in an amazing way. If you think he

is too simple for you, think again. It is simplicity that sets us free. Those

teachers who can transcend the mind are forever sending their messages to us if

we would only listen.

 

They speak about awareness as the key to finding peace. Ramana Maharshi and Sri

Nisargadatta are the classic advaita vedanta teachers, but Vernon Howard is an

American genius when it comes to teaching the same thing. I studied him before

I did the other two. When I got around to reading them, I found that Vernon

Howard had already taught me about being the Self, for truth is ever-present.

 

The nice thing about Vernon Howard was that I could sit and listen to him in

real time. As far as I know, he did nothing but speak the truth in every class

he ever taught. The approach that he took was faultless; it weeded out the less

serious students right away. Those who stayed got the good stuff. Ouspensky

worked in the same way. He would pretend to be boring until the goof-offs left

the building. Then he would scatter pearls to the remaining few. That is

exactly how it should be. Those who work hard at understanding always get their

reward.

 

I write about my path through suffering as it unfolds. Being an intuitive

writer, I recognize that what Vernon Howard taught me shows through; that he is

behind me as a guiding principle. You might say that he keeps me honest. His

idea of enlightenment was hard-hitting; there was no one there to become

enlightened. Indeed.

 

Vicki Woodyard

http://www.bobwoodyard.com.