Hello and welcome to Five Minutes in Nature with me,
Liz Scott.
Well,
I've been outside today and it's a very misty,
Grey,
Damp day.
I got completely soaking wet and rather than talk to you outside in the wet,
I've come indoors.
I'm standing beside an open window looking out on a very misty,
Grey day.
And today I want to talk about the principle of consciousness.
If you've been following me over the last few days,
Then you will know I've been talking about the three principles.
And the three principles are something that have really transformed my life.
They underpin the way that I engage in life.
They help me make sense of what it is to be a human being.
And the three principles are the principle of mind,
The Principle of Thought and The Principle of Consciousness that you can see in this room is by using a torch or a flashlight.
You've got a small beam of light and as you walk into the room you can only ever see what that light falls on.
You can't see the whole room but you can just see whatever is illuminated by that beam of light on your torch.
And for me,
That beam of light is a bit like consciousness.
Consciousness is that which brings alive,
Has you be witness and experience what is going on in your life.
That beam of light,
Consciousness,
Makes thoughts come alive and real.
Consciousness is that which brings alive thought,
Brings alive life.
So,
For example,
If I say to you now,
Are you aware of your feet?
Well,
Before I asked that question,
The likelihood is that you weren't bringing your awareness to your feet.
But when I asked about your feet,
You brought your awareness to your feet,
A bit like shining that torchlight in that room.
And as you brought that light of consciousness to your feet,
You became aware of them.
That is what consciousness does.
And the reason that the Three Principles is such a useful understanding is that,
For me,
It makes sense of what it is to be human.
It helps me live my life in a way that feels aligned with the way that life works.
So for me,
Understanding how consciousness works means that I Shine my light on thought I bring alive thought and I'm aware that the more I shine my light on it the more it becomes enlivened So if I'm shining my light on a stressful Situation that I'm imagining might happen in a few days time Well that stressful situation as I place my awareness on this imagination Thought imagining what that situation is going to be when I place my awareness on that and my consciousness on that,
It makes it really look real and frightening.
However,
When I bring my awareness to that which is peaceful or loving or contented,
As I bring my awareness back there,
For me,
That is bringing my awareness back to mind,
The principle of mind,
That place of love,
Of peace,
Of wisdom.
As I bring my awareness back to that place,
Well,
That's what I experience.
Wherever I shine my light of consciousness,
That is what I experience.
Experience.
So I hope that gives you a little flavour of the three principles.
And today,
Of course,
We were looking at the principle of consciousness.
The three principles helps make sense of what it is to be human.
Understanding the three principles doesn't make your life any different.
It just means that you understand how to navigate through life in a more wholesome and nourishing way.
Reflections on the three principles and if you've got any further questions do let me know and I can also record another track on insight timer for you and don't forget I'll be back again tomorrow with another five minutes in nature so please do join me again then.
