Are you conscious?

If you take a look at Gurdjieff and Ouspensky's definitions of consciousness as well as many other philosophers and psychologists's definitions you might come away a little confused.  The battle for a good definition, or better yet an example of consciousness, continues to this day. By looking at various definitions and examples I came up with the following: 

There are five levels of consciousness:

     1. Waking sleep - physically doing something while thinking of something else.  Dangerous situation.
     2. Absorption - deeply engrossed in something (reading, sewing, painting, etc.) and not aware of the surroundings. Dangerous situation.
     3. Attention - Narrowly noticing what is happening in the moment.  A little bit better.
     4. Awareness - Knowing what you are doing and what is going on around you.  A whole lot better.
     5. Pure Awareness - awareness plus in touch with the Absolute.
The best.
    For more about this subject go to 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCLfsD-dBVs&t=37s

The Purpose of Life

"What is the purpose of life?"  I had a student ask me that question in a biology class many years ago.  For some reason I didn't hesitate and blurted out, "To enjoy it."  At the time it struck me kind of odd as to what I said.  

Previously, on several occasions, the question entered my mind but I had never came up with an answer.  Like many people, I suppose, I tried to come up with answers, more or less, philosophical like, "There is no purpose in life; it just is" or "The purpose of life is to help people."  

I don't remember who the student was but I'm fully grateful for his question and fully grateful for what I said, because now I really and truly believe the purpose of life is to literally enjoy it.

Thank you student whomever you are.

My True Nature

When I have a sense of awareness of my body and my thoughts it seems to prevent me from becoming conscious of my true nature. True nature is spoken of by Gurdjieff and Mooji as the silent and unchanging isness that exists in all of us. 

I know that my true nature, unlike my body and mind is not temporary. My body and thoughts are always changing but not my true nature. My true nature is beyond consciousness; it is not consciousness, but more like a knowing of permanent existence. 

So, I sat down and simply put all of my focus on the inside of my body; in the middle of my chest where some people call the "heart center." In a few minutes or so, it was as though that area of my body was expanding. The space kept getting bigger and bigger - that's the best way I can describe it. 

It was as though my being was becoming the universe. It sounds absurd but that's how it was. And there were no thoughts; just a feeling of completeness and serenity. Each time I do this, the same thing happens. And the good thing is, it's not difficult to do. 

So, I guess this is what Gurdjieff and Mooji meant by our "true nature" or "isness."

Recognizing the Ego

When you are able to recognize the ego as simply an attachment to your values and feelings, you can transcend it. To transcend the ego doesn't mean to get rid of it - it means to see it for what it is, an illusion, a manifestation of the mind. This is why knowing the self is so important. The technique of being able to observe yourself while talking, listening, and so on is one of the best ways to self observe. The knowledge of one's own identity releases the ego from the self. 

Your ability to recognize the ego for what it actually is depends upon how far you are willing to go in developing awareness.

I recently had an experience of this very thing.  I want to share it with you on my next post.

Me. Mine and I

Looking back at the last post there were quite a few "Me's" and "My's" and even one or two "I's."  That's so easy to do when writing and even talking. We love to talk about ourselves don't we. Well, anyway, it seems as though I do.

It's so easy to get carried away with the first-person pronoun as though it is the most important subject in a conversation. We tend to think that people want to hear about us.  In reality people don't want to hear all that much about us. They would rather hear about them and how much we like them and care about them.

While carrying on a conversation with someone, if you tell them they look nice today they would probably feel pretty good.  And then they might even return the compliment.

The whole idea of enlightenment is to realize that we are all in this thing called life together. The universe, the cosmos, the All or whatever you want to call it.  It is so vast and may even be infinite. It extends into us, through us, and beyond us. It is what brings us all together into one unlimited field. It is impossible to give it a name because it is beyond our understanding and even our imagination.

Oneness is like a body made up of trillions and trillions of cells. Each cell has its own function, identity, and purpose but yet it could not survive outside the body because it needs the energy, nourishment and connectedness to other cells in order to fulfill the healthy function of the whole body. So it is with humans and other beings. We are not the function of one body but all bodies, all beings everywhere.
                                                         - to be continued -

Who is the "I" I wonder.

The sense and awareness of my body and my thoughts prevent me from becoming conscious of my true nature. My true nature, unlike the body and mind is not temporary. My body and thoughts are always changing but not my true nature. My true nature is beyond consciousness; it is not consciousness, but a more silent and unchanging isness, so to speak.  

The isness, I speak of, is outside of me as well as inside of me it seems.