The way our brain works decides how we experience our physical existence because the brain is the “center” that creates interpretations/perceptions and thus creating our experience of life. Simply put, your entire “world” resides in your brain because it’s through your brain that you create the experience of “your” world. If you compare several humans (men and women), in terms of how their brain works, you will find a lot of similarities, but you will also find several distinctions in the way each person perceives reality. The way your brain perceives reality has a lot to do with the conditioning you receive from external sources while growing up, and also your natural conditioning (genetics/DNA). Bringing a “detached” awareness to the “perceptions” of your brain is a huge catalyst for transformation. The “wholistic” intelligence of this silent awareness can transform several negative patterns of thought running in your brain.
Unconscious identification with mind is unintelligent
When you are totally lost in your brain/mind movement, it’s like being in a “waking dream” state. In hindu scriptures there is a mention of four states of being
– The sleep state (when you are in deep sleep at night)
– The dream state (akin to when you are dreaming while sleeping)
– The waking dream state (when you are lost in the mind while being physically awake)
– The conscious state (when there is a space of awareness, and you are not totally lost in the mind when you are awake)
The conscious state is a highly intelligent state of being because there is the presence of a deeper wisdom that comes from the space of awareness – it’s like being connected to the wisdom of life/universal consciousness.
This space of awareness creates a gap in the constant noise of the thinking mind and thus allows for intelligent response instead of an unconscious “reaction”. As this awareness keeps becoming stronger, it puts you in a place of stability, where you are able to see through the various dysfunctional/negative thought patterns in the brain and thus “transform” it or dissolve it.
Bringing awareness to the fears of the brain
The brain has the capacity to produce highly fear-based thoughts owing to its negative projections/perceptions based on its conditioning. When you are unconsciously identified with the brain there is a tendency to be taken in fully by these fears and thus “react” negatively to many situations in life. When you allow for the space of “awareness” to become deeper in you, you will notice that you are not totally taken in by the mind’s momentum and there is a “peace” even in the midst of the agitation created by the mind noise. This awareness not only helps you respond intelligently to a situation, but it also allows the “dissolution” of these fear-based thought patterns in the mind.
All fears originate in the human brain. All your phobias arise from your brain, and they are created as “thoughts”. None of the phobias would exist if you were to transform the thought patterns in your brain, and the only way to do so is to bring a deep awareness into your brain’s movement – similar to the way a scientist brings deep observation to a chemical phenomenon which is taking place. You can erase deep rooted fears in the brain by shining the light of awareness on them, this is the only way to really make a shift or true transformation. The mind cannot transform itself without the presence of awareness.
Seeing through negative thought patterns in the brain
Once your awareness starts deepening, you would be amazed at how much subtle/gross negativity in present in most of your thought patterns. Some negative patterns to watch out for are – Self-hatred/Self-criticism, Guilt, Fear of the future, Irritation/frustration with the present, Resentment of the past, Fear of the physical world (people, objects, institutions, systems etc) and Lack based thoughts. In most people the major ones are usually self-hatred or inferior self-image and fear of the future.
Bringing a space of deep awareness to these fears/”negative thought patterns” starts bringing a transformation through the silent intelligence of consciousness. A lot of people are not aware of the deep intelligence that is present in the conscious state because it does not involve “thinking” or “sorting out”, it just involves bringing in a “silent” awareness. It can feel very unpleasant to bring awareness to certain painful/fearful thought patterns in the brain, but this is the only way these patterns can get dissolved finally, as long you keep distracting yourself from facing them within you, they will continue to keep you hostage. When you bring awareness to these patterns, it may feel unpleasant for a while, but you will soon see how powerless they become in the light of awareness. The transformation that takes place, under the influence of the intelligence of awareness, is permanent in that those patterns get dissolved for ever.
Hello Sen,
Is awareness is the same thing as stillness or now. Can you elaborate? How to come to the awareness mode.
Awareness is the very nature of the energy that you are, that’s why many spiritual teachers refer to who you are as “consciousness”. The brain can be can be awake or it can be in sleep, but the energy that you are is always conscious and it has the physical reality in its focus all the time, that’s why the universe stays in place even when you are sleeping. Even in the waking state, you can realize, that there is awareness of all the thoughts that happen in the mind. Even when you say “I was lost in thoughts”, there was still an awareness of the thoughts you were lost in – something was aware even when the brain was lost in thoughts.
To be “still” is simply a practice to bring a state of effortless, calm, relaxed, being instead of being lost in the restless movement of the mind. To be “still” is to be sit (or lie down) in a state of effortless surrender, without trying to control your mind, your body or your feelings. You can think of it is a meditation, just that there is no “doing”, just a surrender state of being. You don’t have to be still all the time, but just do it as a practice for 30 minutes or an hour, especially if you have a very restless vibration in you. Being still helps ebb away the momentum of restlessness and agitation, and allow the intelligence/wisdom of your being to come forth. When you are still, you will notice that awareness is present to the thoughts in the mind, it’s a relaxed awareness because there is no effort to focus on anything.
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Dear Sen,
For the last two days, in my 30 minutes relaxed awareness practice, something akin to sleep happens. When I let go of myself , at first I feel a nervousness & anxiousness in my belly, as if I want to close myself off. I allow the anxiety, then fears come through me, at this point I felt very heavy, tired and sleepy, but I allow. After this point I found myself in a trance-like position: no-thoughts, absolute silence (I didn’t force it). It felt like in a dreamless, peaceful sleep. It was not a bliss, or a joy, but it felt warm and embracing. Then my mom came and disturbed my “allowing”. I’m not sure what was this experience, there was a time that I had no thoughts during a meditation, but this was different, it was like a warm space. Is it normal to feel sleepy or trance-like during “allowing”? I’m not sure what was it, I know that I was “relaxed” and I know that it was silent but I am not sure if I was “aware” since I had no thoughts whatsoever. After that I felt very lively and rejuvenated.
Asli, don’t worry about re-creating experiences or analyzing them. There are many such experiences of “bliss and peace” that you may encounter as a part of the release-cycles, it’s every time the space of being opens up (or grows) you can have experiences of wholeness, what I call fore-tastes of wholeness – don’t think too much about it, these are just fore-tastes and would be fleeting experiences. Just continue with your state of allowing and the inner wholeness will start coming to the foreground and become stable, of course it will take time and you will have to be patient as you make this journey through this phase of release of past momentum.