Simple Questions
Whenever I remember, or bring some attention to myself as an individual not lost in what I am doing, I can ask some simple questions that help adjust the depth of my awareness. The more aware I am, the more I exist. The experience of “I Am” is directly proportionate to the intensity of consciousness and love.
The first question is: Am I aware of life – my own and life around me? If the answer is ‘no’ I can simply become receptive to this energy of life, feel what it feels like to have an alive body, and to notice the difference between living and inanimate objects around me. This simple question can open my awareness to another dimension, much greater than just existing as a thought, feeling, or lost in what I am doing. If I am not aware of life, I am closed off to all kinds of perceptions. If I can maintain an awareness of life, I myself become more alive and responsive to what is around me.
Once this awareness is established it can easily evaporate as I fall back into the one-dimensional existence as just a thought, feeling, or doing. There is a remarkable bridge that can feed this connection with life – breathing. Simple awareness of breathing can help me maintain my awareness of life so that instead of it disappearing into the shadows of my subconscious, each breath will deepen my connection.
Conscious breathing improves the qualitative experience of being alive. Unless I am directed by someone who understands the science of breath, I simply watch the breath, without changing or disturbing its natural functioning. If I am working under the guidance of someone who understands the science of breath I can apply what I am being taught, and report my experiences to my guide.
Once I have established my connection with life, and have become aware of my breathing so that this awareness of life does not evaporate, I can ask a second question: Who is observing this awareness of life? A dual awareness occurs when I experience the answer to this question. The observer emerges from the subconscious and becomes equally as real as the observed. My existence takes on a new dimension of detachment and freedom.
Maintaining a connection with the observer or ‘I’ can also be helped with conscious breathing. Each breath can deepen my contact and even leave a residue in me which helps me in the future to come back to this experience. At first the observer feels like being watched by a stranger, but the more I experience it the more it truly becomes my ‘I’.
The observer is not a critic; it is impartial and filled with clarity. If we find we have devolved into self-criticism we can start over with the first question and work at building up again to the second. Seeing is very powerful and important to my self-development.
The third question can now be asked: Can I, by simultaneously experiencing the energy of life, thought, and love, establish a united experience of oneness where there is no separation between the observer and the observed? To answer this I have to start by bringing in the dimension of love. Love is a powerful unifier that can change the quality of separation to involved detachment or unity while maintaining individuality.
This question cannot be fully answered until we learn how to detach ourselves from the ordinary experience of thought, feeling, and sensation. There are many exercises for doing this. Some lead to what is called the spiritualization of the three centers of thought, feeling, and sensation. Spiritualization is experienced as a different quality and intensity of energy in specific parts of the nervous system. For example, a spiritualized feeling center can be experienced as an electromagnetic fire burning from the center of the chest. These kinds of exercises need to be done within the context of a group or community and a guide.
It takes a lot of work on our selves to experience this level of unity, but unfortunately, for many reasons this is the starting point of our transformation. It is with the fire of unconditional love that we are cooked. Otherwise we remain raw, and subject to the habits of all our past actions. With the synergy of our separate parts “re-membered” we can have a more complete experience of “I AM” and from this place we can do things with full intention as opposed to just being subject to reaction.
