Awareness watching awareness

[Guest guest]

RamanaMaharshi, "sundar22ca" <sundar22ca>

wrote:

> Dear Michael,

> It is clear that you are finding the enquiry method very efficient

in arresting the thoughts.

 

Dear Sundar:

 

The awareness watching awareness method is the most efficient means

to abide as the Self,

regardless of thoughts appearing or not appearing.

 

On the inquiry-abidance page:

 

http://uarelove1.tripod.com/inquiry_abidance.htm

 

I have called the approach that Sri Ramana described

in the book "Who am I?",

the "To whom do these thoughts arise approach?"

 

Peter asked me about this approach

and so I answered his specific question.

 

I placed the "To whom do these thoughts arise?" approach

on the inquiry abidance page because

some people might find that method more suitable

while they are engaged in activities such as work, etc.

 

Someday I may remove the "To whom do these thoughts arise"

approach from the inquiry abidance page.

 

What I recommend is to set aside

an hour or two or three per day,

or as much time as one can spare

by dropping all unecessary activities,

to practice the awareness watching awareness method

with no other activities going on.

 

The current thus established will carry on

into one's other activities so that one will eventually

be abiding as awareness during all the waking hours.

 

If we look at the book "Talks" for example,

Sri Ramana almost never initiated any recommendation

to anyone to ask "To whom do these thoughts arise?"

 

Therefore his advice during "Talks" took quite a different form

than his advice in "Who am I?"

 

In the book "Talks" Sri Ramana almost never initiated any

recommendation that anyone read anything

including the book "Who am I?".

However, when people asked him for a recommendation,

then he would often recommend "Who am I?"

 

This is such an important distinction:

Sri Ramana answering a question regarding a book recommendation

and Sri Ramana initiating a recommenation to read a book.

The meaning of these two is as different as night and day.

However, in order to avoid this email message becoming a novel

I won't go any further into that now.

 

I am not sure from what you wrote below

what your approach to Self-inquiry is.

 

However, I will answer regarding the

awareness watching awareness approach

that one sets aside time for everyday,

because that is the practice I recommend.

 

> "I have the following problems:

> 1. I seem to always 'use the mind' to find that thoughts arise in

my awareness instead of 'seeing' it."

 

In the awareness watching awareness method

you turn your attention away from thought,

body and world (shutting the eyes helps)

and towards awareness watching awareness.

 

As soon as you become aware that you are thinking

you just turn your attention away from thought

and back towards awareness watching awareness.

 

The instruction is not to watch your thoughts,

the instruction is to either ignore your thoughts,

and turn your attention towards awareness watching awareness,

or turn your attention away from thoughts

and towards awareness watching awareness.

 

It doesn't matter if you think it is your mind

that has become aware of thoughts

or if you think it is your awareness

that has become aware of thoughts.

When you notice you are thinking,

just turn your attention away from the thoughts

and towards awareness watching awareness.

 

Or you can just ignore thoughts

and pay attention to awareness watching awareness.

 

> 2. Also, during each session, after I find for a few times, that

> thoughts are arising in my awareness, I start to lose interest in

the enquiry and start to get more interested in the thoughts (as

usual).

 

Less concern regarding if thoughts are arising or not will help.

Of course the intense desire for liberation will also solve

this problem, because being interested in your thoughts

is your ticket to a trillion more lifetimes

of going through a bunch of really yucky stuff over and over.

 

Your becoming interested in your awareness

is your ticket to eternal-life-love-bliss.

 

Perseverence pays off very quickly.

Everytime you notice you are thinking

just turn your attention away from your thoughts,

even if you have to force yourself to do it.

Just keep on perservering.

 

You don't have to wait for

some seeming far off goal called liberation

for there to be a reward.

Maybe the mind will be noisy day after day,

in spite of your boredom, perservere.

 

Because one day, and it might not take long,

suddenly you become interested in the awareness.

It may be a new feeling that you have not felt before

that makes you interested.

 

In the beginning there may be good days and bad days

for the practice, but if you keep on practicing

suddenly a good day will appear.

 

Then the good days start to get closer to together.

Then you can tap into that awareness anytime.

 

Here is something that might be helpful:

You have heard Sri Ramana say everybody is Self-Realized.

Or that you already are the Self, etc.

 

Most people misuse those teachings in many ways

including as an excuse to avoid constant,

continuous,intense practice.

 

Here is a way you can use those same sentences

in a way that can solve the problem of

getting bored with awareness.

 

The Self is awareness.

 

When you are practicing awareness watching awareness,

you are looking at the Self,

you are looking at Self-Realization.

Not in the future,

but from the beginning of your practice.

You are abiding as the Self

from the very beginning of your practice.

 

The Self is not some special or peculiar kind of awareness.

It is just that there is a habit of

always looking outward and therefore over looking it.

 

There is a habit of imagining that one's present awareness

is limited.

 

When you practice awareness watching awareness,

you can begin to wonder

is this awareness really limited?

Is my present awareness,

the awareness that I am looking at now,

really limited?

 

Not as an intellectual question,

but to look, to see:

is it limited?

 

The habit is to think it is limited,

but since humans are always looking outward,

they don't know, is it limited or not,

it is just an idea they have that it is limited.

 

When one looks at it,

one discovers it is not limited.

 

Because of assumptions about what you are looking at

when you watch awareness, there is the tendency to think:

"same old boring awareness".

Then you might complain:

"I become interested in my thoughts."

 

Allow what these words are pointing towards

to stimulate your interest in your own awareness.

The awareness that you are looking at when you practice

awareness watching awareness

is trillions of times more interesting than your thoughts.

You just have to get to know it

by ignoring your thoughts and watching it.

So stick with it, persevere.

 

You might be suprised at how fast the whole situation changes.

Having had a little taste of awareness,

awareness becomes the most fasinating,

then the desire to turn to it again and again

awakens suddenly,

and in comparison,

your thoughts then look totally boring.

 

It is sort of a combination of awareness-feeling,

and one becomes fasinated with that new awareness-feeling.

New because one always ignored it before

by never looking inward.

 

Your present awareness is the Self.

Your present awareness is enlightenment.

Not some far off other awareness.

The awareness you are aware of right now,

not some awareness you are waiting for.

You just have to pay attention to it.

 

So set aside some time each day with no other activities going on.

Shut your eyes, ignore or turn your attention away from

the world, the body, thought

and towards awareness watching awareness.

 

Look again and again at your awareness,

and very quickly you will start to feel it.

It is such a beautiful feeling.

 

Take care,

 

with Love,

 

Michael L.

 

 

 

> If you have an advice, please let me know.

> Thanks

> sundar