How do I manage both being aware and interacting with others without compromising the stillness/awareness?

Written on November 28, 2009 by Tom Stine

A reader sent me the following:

The moment one has to get involved with another person for any reason (or for that matter getting involved with any functional activity for which the mind needs to get involved), the mind moves away to fully involve in the next expected activity with that other person or activity. All that calmness and peace of stillness is suddenly pushed to the background. One can’t avoid interacting with people or doing some activity as they are mostly unavoidable to a large extent. Not to react with the person would mean ignoring and activating a pain body. Even giving attention to humans or a functional activity is taking away the stillness (and the awareness?) that was there when we did only the observation.

How do I manage both the events (being aware and interacting) without compromising the stillness/awareness and the mundane activity?

This question is a good one. And even better, the answer is not obvious at all to the mind:

There is no stillness that gets pushed aside when you interact with someone. Stillness always is present right here and right now, no matter what the body or mind is doing. You are resting in stillness, surrounded by stillness, always and forever in the midst of stillness. Even the interacting, the “someone else”, the doing, the talking, your very nature, everything, everything, everything, IS the stillness. This stillness goes nowhere, does nothing. It IS.

You don’t and cannot manage the events in your life. It isn’t a question of being aware, of actively keeping your mind on “something” that we call awareness. You are awareness. Your mind and thoughts and beliefs all exist within this awareness that you are.

Awareness is something you can know readily. Right now, you are reading these words. We say you are aware of the words. Before you think about them, before anything happens with the words, you are simply aware that they exist. As you think about them, now you are aware of the thinking about them. Without awareness, there is nothing.

So, dive into the awareness. Many words can be used as synonyms for awareness: presence, stillness, God, spirit, Brahman, “the kingdom of God” and on and on. But they all point at this “something” that is prior to everything, the very fundamental ground of all of existence. And YOU ARE THAT ground of existence.

You can never compromise the stillness, never compromise the awareness. You need give no thought to maintaining awareness, holding awareness, being aware, etc. Think about it: right now, can you stop being aware? If you aren’t aware, you are have no notion of existing or not. Without awareness, you don’t exist.

The simplest thing to do is, at times when it occurs to you, put your attention on your awareness. Simply notice it. Focus on it, get curious about it, even ask questions about it. Does awareness have a name? Does it have a color? Does it do anything? Where does it go when you aren’t paying attention to it? Focusing on awareness and asking questions about it a few times during your day is one of the best things you can do.

Namaste.

Separateness to Oneness

Written on August 27, 2008 by Tom Stine

credit: judepics

What if all suffering is born from one thought, one idea: the thought “I am separate from everyone and everything?” Then the cure for all suffering would be simply to drop this belief. Sounds so easy, doesn’t it? Drop one thought, one idea, and you are free forever.

But what does that mean, drop this one thought that I am separate from everyone and everything? That would be dropping the belief that I am me. There really isn’t any way that I can pretend to myself or others that Tom is one with everything. I mean, Tom inhabits a body, thinks thoughts about himself, spends large amounts of time fixated upon the thoughts, feelings and beliefs that seem to make him the center of the Universe. No, Tom is very much separate.

So, the only way to drop the idea of being separate is drop the belief that I am Tom. To drop the identification of Tom as the reality of that which is typing these words. Is the typist, in fact, Tom? Is there anyone actually doing the typing? It is in asking questions such as these that it is possible to get a glimpse of our true nature. When we drop the identification with our “selves” and drop the identification as the one who does things, then we can rest as that which is real. That which is true. That which is truth.

The truth is given many names: spirit, God, presence, awareness, beingness, consciousness, the Universe, etc. Awareness or Love are my two favorites. I can really connect with these terms. Awareness is that which looks out my eyes, and love is that which looks out of my heart. Both of these work for me.

Awareness is that which connects me the quickest to an experience of this sense of oneness, this existence beyond the notion of my separate self. I find that placing my focus upon awareness itself, turning my attention inward and looking at awareness as it is, creates a tremendous sense of openness. It creates a space from which lots of goodness flows. It opens “me” to greater peace. And that is a wonderful thing.

It seems to me that all problems are completely resolved in this experience. In this stillness. In this presence or awareness. Being still, resting in reality, feels like the ultimate answer. We shall see.