Sit comfortably and ask yourself,
Am I conscious?
Am I aware?
I use the word awareness and consciousness synonymously.
Ask yourself a simple question,
Am I conscious?
Am I aware?
In other words,
Am I knowing?
What you are knowing is not important.
Just,
Am I knowing?
Am I aware?
To answer this question,
Your attention does not have to go outward,
Away from its source.
Outside the source,
You will only get objects,
Solid or subtle objects.
The word attention is derived from two Latin words,
Are,
Means towards,
And tendere,
Means to stretch.
So when you pay attention to something,
The word signifies that you are stretching your awareness,
Consciousness,
To that object and touching it with your awareness.
And in its touching,
You know the object.
The Sanskrit word dhyana is also derived from dhi,
Meaning consciousness,
And yana,
Meaning its movement,
Is identical to attention in a sense.
So movement of consciousness outward will only give you information about external objects and things.
However,
Our question is,
Am I aware?
You won't find that answer outside.
And you also know this at subtle level.
So your consciousness will have to abide into itself to find the answer.
Dhi,
Yana,
Or attention,
Will sink into or abide with its source inwards to know this answer.
Am I aware?
Let the attention sink in and without answering,
Become the answer.
As if the light beam of the torch will need to sink into its source.
Awareness will have to be immersed in its own source to find the answer.
And this non-phenomenal action is also the essence of prayer.
Essence of a prayer has nothing to do with words,
Let alone your wants and demands.
As Christian saints call this action staying or abiding with God.
It signifies staying with the source of your awareness.
Ask yourself,
Am I aware?
And become the answer.
Maharishi Ramana calls this process sinking of the mind into the heart.
But he is not talking about a physical heart.
He is talking about the center of your non-physical being.
Your mind has to sink into the center,
The heart of your being.
Awareness has to sink into its source.
Ask question,
Am I aware?
And just be the answer.
Do not explain the answer of this question in words.
This can only be experienced.
This can only be experienced.
This question will help you experience your awareness.
So whenever you want to experience your essential self,
Ask this question,
Am I aware?
And the answer is you,
Yourself.
And just remain as the answer.
No words.
Just pure being.
This process is also called self-enquiry in Vedanta.
Our meditation is not a process of focusing on a mantra,
Light or breath.
All these kind of meditation teach you to focus or meditate on one substance or object.
And due to this,
Your mind,
Which was attached to many things or objects,
Will now be attached to only one thing,
Mantra,
Light or breath.
And then,
It will not be so difficult for such a mind to leave that one thing too.
Whereas this Vedanta technique is the method of direct path,
Directly reaching your essential nature without any practice,
Condition or acquiring any qualification.
Every human being can get a direct glimpse of the essential truth and then remain there.
It is enough for you,
Your being,
To hear this question.
And as long as you understand the question,
That's all you need.
That if you try to do anything more than these,
You will probably start a different thread.
As a metaphor,
When you rotate the focus of a camera in one direction,
It brings the object into focus and exposes it.
But when you rotate the same focus in other direction,
Then that object will become blurry and there will be a time when the presence or absence of that object will be same,
Only an unshaped light.
Similarly,
The act of removing your focus from outside and sinking into the source of awareness means defocusing or unfocusing.
That is our meditation.
We will call this non-action meditation.
Meditation.
And there is no effort whatsoever needed.
The river of experience will continue to flow,
But you will abide as awareness.
You are giving priority to your nature of knowing,
Not what is known,
Not what is known so called inside or outside,
Just the nature of knowing.
The second foundation of the definition of truth is that truth knows itself,
By itself.
Truth means reality,
Which actually,
Essentially,
Always exists.
That truth knows itself,
By itself.
That is why when your awareness emerges itself in its source,
It knows itself,
By itself.
It does not need anyone else's support to know itself.
The sun continues to shine itself,
By itself,
As itself.
This is its pure nature.
And because understanding happens outside of time,
Your mind can't remember it,
Can't see it.
But understanding,
Knowing,
Is taking place.
You cannot deny it.
And whatever I am knowing changes every moment.
So I am leaving this change behind.
And instead of changing,
I am giving priority to my nature of knowing,
Which is not changing.
And abiding here is what we call self-abidance.
Dwelling in the self as meditation.
This is our meditation.
Self-abidance,
Dwelling in our self,
As our self,
Is our meditation.
Assess that your thought,
Which was here two seconds ago,
Two minutes ago,
Two hours ago,
Has completely changed.
Similarly,
Your feeling,
Which was there two minutes ago,
Two hours ago,
Two days ago,
Two years ago,
Has also changed.
Your body is also changing.
But the essential nature of awareness with which you know these thoughts,
Feelings,
Body,
Is not changing.
You may have heard this,
That every person in the world often say that inside,
I do not feel that I have aged.
I am 30,
40,
50,
Or 70 years old.
But I feel inside,
I am the same person.
The person that hasn't aged.
Because the essential nature of his or her awareness is not changing.
That is the sense of not just continuity,
But non-aging is often experienced.
Beyond the aging of mind and body,
There is something in you that is not aging.
In your own direct experience,
You will find that the nature of your awareness is not changing.
The five year boy or girl who was knowing experiences with the same awareness that now are 50,
60,
30 years old is knowing his or her experience with.
Two aspects of awareness,
Being and knowing are always present.
Being and knowing.
In every condition,
In every direction,
At every time,
In every place.
The third foundation of the definition of truth is that truth never changes.
A reality that which actually,
Essentially always exists is only worthy of being called truth.
An unchanging reality is truth.
Your awareness is equally present in your ordinary and extraordinary experiences.
It is present equally in darkness and in light.
And you do not need to do any effort to attain this truth,
This awareness.
Because you're already that.
You're already here.
And if I tell you to stand up and take a step towards yourself,
You won't be able to do that.
Can you even take one step towards yourself?
No.
Because you're already there.
There is no distance to bridge.
You are this very intelligence with which you are understanding this conversation.
What you are seeking has been seeking all this time.
So turn this seeking into its source and become what you are.
A living meditation.
