Pure Awareness cont'd

Another practice for experiencing pure awareness is one in which you start off by using the power of your imagination. Once you become accustomed to the experience you can let your imagination go and simply be in that space of higher consciousness. The longer you can stay there without using your imagination the better.

To begin this practice you should sit in a comfortable position free from distractions. Keep your eyes open so that you can be open to everyting and anything surrounding you. Take a few secons and observe your body without labeling anything and then begin observing things that are a little further away from you. Observe textures, colors, contours, shadows, etc. without labeling or judging. Fix you gaze on one object and let your eyes rest on it. Take some deep, slow breaths and relax, realx, relax, deeper, deeper and deeper.

Once you are totally relaxed, imagine a gigantic, transparent canopy high in the sky over your head. The canopy contains all of the love and compassion contained in the universe. Stay with this image and continue to relax.

Now imagine the canopy getting larger and thicker like a large cloud that begins to slowly envelope you. The canopy of love and compassion permeates your body but yet it still extends out into the universe and into infinity. Stay with this image and continue to relax even further. You may begin to feel a warmth of love, kindness and compassion being emitted. This is where you want to be.

If you can the feel the warmth, the love and the kindness permeating throughout your body, stay there as long as you like. This is where you want to be. When you can do this, you can go beyond thoughts, beyond ego and into complete and undeniable pure awareness.

Once you have mastered being in this state of higher consciousness you can shed your imagination and take the practice with you wherever you go. To some people, this experience is a portal to the Divine; they experience a sense of complete peace - free from suffering caused by negative thoughts, fears, and worries.

It is impossible to be in this state of consciousness and with the Divine and be hateful, greedy or sad. When you are there, positive energy floods into you very being and negative energy flows out.

Next time we will go further into the practice of pure awareness.