We have many reasons for embarking on a spiritual path. To feel happier and more peaceful. To fit in with a group of like-minded people. To escape from suffering. But eventually we discover a deeper search, the search for Truth. At this point our spiritual search becomes real.
To begin our search for Truth we can and should begin with what we can simply say is undeniable. We quickly notice that most of our thoughts and beliefs are only relatively true. In different circumstances and perspectives the opposite can be seen to be just as true. This is why we call them relative truths. Byron Katie’s The Work is a good way to discover this.
Right now you are reading these words. We don’t need to examine the very nature and truthfulness of language quite yet. There are words on a screen and you are reading them. You are translating these symbols into meaning. Good so far?
In order for this to happen there must be the words, the screen and the one who is reading them, you. This you has eyes to see the words, a brain to translate the images into words and meaning, past experience of learning the language (how to translate these symbols into meaning). This you also has past experiences that brought you to this page and this post. With me so far?
These all may seem true and obvious but they are still flickering around the superficial edges of truth. Now we’re going to go a little deeper.
What we neglected to consider in the above paragraphs is consciousness. In order for us to perceive these words there must be a consciousness to be aware of them. Without this awareness, we could not be aware of these words. Let this sink in for a bit.
Without consciousness you could not be aware of these words you are reading right now. You might say that without consciousness these words could not exist. Certainly you could not be aware of them without this awareness itself.
In fact, without consciousness you could not be aware of the screen you are reading these words on. Isn’t this so? Let’s go a step further. Without consciousness you would not be aware of the you that is reading these words. Yes, without consciousness, you would not even be aware of you. Let this sink in for a bit.
Without consciousness this entire process of reading could not exist. Without consciousness you, the reader, could not exist. So consciousness is pretty essential to this whole thing, wouldn’t you agree? Yet it’s something we don’t usually consider at all. Our focus is fixed on what consciousness is aware of, not consciousness itself.
Perhaps this is changing for you right now. Perhaps your attention is moving to the consciousness that is aware of all of this. Aware of these words and aware of what is reading these words.
What you are doing is dropping your attention back to a more fundamental truth than you are usually focused on. You are returning to something that is always here but usually unnoticed and unconsidered.
Without consciousness none of this could exist. Not even you.
Lets just imagine that I wrote these words you’re reading right now in a private diary that I refused to share with anyone. They are not on your screen. Your eyes cannot see them. Your brain cannot translate them. But since they exist in my private diary that only my eyes can see, consciousness is aware of them. And consciousness itself is not personal. It is universal, unlimited, infinite and eternal. You may think of this consciousness that is aware of these words and the one reading them as your personal consciousness. And this is partially true or relatively true. Consciousness can appear as a more limited personal consciousness, just as it can appear as an even more limited personal self, body/mind. But in actual Truth it is not personal. So consciousness is aware of these words even if they were only written in a private diary and only seen by me. And without your personal self or even personal consciousness being aware of it, you are also aware of these words written in a private diary and only seen by my particular eyes.
That might be a bit much for the mind to take in right now. You may have to surrender even deeper beyond the mind, beyond even personal consciousness to experience this.
We may be fortunate to know some people who call themselves psychics. We are amazed at their ability to know intimate details in the lives of complete strangers, including names, dates, events, etc. With professional psychics appearing on stage we may think this is some kind of trick. And often it is. But with people we know, we realize a trick cannot explain what is happening. So what is really happening here?
Consciousness is not personal. It is universal. If you can tap into or simply return to this impersonal, universal consciousness, things are known or accessed beyond what the personal self or personal consciousness knows. As you can imagine, the personal self, body/mind, is not capable of absorbing the totality of universal consciousness all at one time. It just can’t work that way. You can’t squeeze the unlimited into the limited. The box is much too small. In dropping back into this state of universal consciousness it is all here but it is untranslatable by the body/mind. In the case of psychics and healers, what is needed, some tiny limited bit of the unlimited, is accessed.
What is necessary to be aware of anything in our life is consciousness. And this consciousness is more than simply personal consciousness. This consciousness is aware of both the personal consciousness and the personal body/mind self. Neither of these could exist without consciousness itself. If we want to truly discover what we are, which is the greatest Truth we can discover in this human life, here is a good place to explore.
Even now, simply be aware that none of this could exist, these words, your reading of them and you, without consciousness. For a moment focus on the consciousness itself that is aware of these word, the reading of them and the one who is reading them. Drop back to this fundamental Truth and spend some time here. It’s very enjoyable isn’t it? You may want to close your eyes and be aware of the eyes and the one who is closing the eyes, and any thoughts that arise and then return your attention to what is aware of all this. Rest here. Rest in this awareness. This is a return to Truth.
