The Body Is Made of Awareness

This guided meditation is an experiential inquiry into the true nature of the body. This is an essential milestone of the path. Through direct observation, you are invited to explore physical sensations without labels, memory, or mental images, just as a newborn might experience them: as pure, raw sensation arising in awareness.

As you rest as the neutral witness, you begin to notice that what you call “the body” is known only through sensation, and that all sensations appear in the same open field of awareness. With gentle curiosity, this meditation reveals the possibility that awareness is not inside the body, but that the body is experienced within awareness.

This practice supports a deep recognition of your essential nature as ever-present awareness, pure knowing, stillness, and sensitivity itself. A beautiful meditation for those drawn to nonduality, self-inquiry, and embodied awakening.

Transcript

People say that your body is made of food and in a way is correct but today we will explore that body is actually made of awareness. So be as comfortable as you can and see that you are experiencing body and the way you experience body when your eyes are closed is through sensations. For right now you are having a sensation in the soles of your feet for example the breath is being felt and you are also aware of your head and you are also aware of the gentle smile that I'd like you to now have a gentle smile and the sensations of the smile are all felt. So when your eyes are closed when you're not seeing your body your direct experience of your body is through sensations and see how your body is feeling today if there is any part of your body that needs more relaxing adjusting feel free to do that and see when you comfort your body the sensations different. So if something that was not comfortable and you made it comfortable now it feels different so sensations keep changing as you know but the awareness in which those sensations that are known that awareness remains constant. So awareness knows your body. It is also important to know and clarify this point in time of your journey that your body doesn't have awareness. Awareness knows your body. It's a beautiful metaphor that awareness is like the glow of the candle and the body is like the wig of the candle. The awareness is all around the body. So you have body awareness has body but body doesn't encapsulate awareness and we will explore this like a true scientist with different techniques and different concepts. To start with I'd like you to know that the physicists who are really interested in knowing the reality of matter the solid part that we see and we call matter have found that what we call atom is predominantly an empty space and those subatomic particles such as quarks and other subatomic particles that were first thought as solid subatomic particles they are not solid. They act like wave. So there is no solidity even at the atomic level. Even in modern science from the conventional perspective the solidity was gotten rid of many years ago. However we feel solidity. Our sense perceptions feel solidity. So we need to work with that on net. But for now for today's session we are focusing on body and not the whole world of matter out there. Now we feel the body is made of matter elements and when our eyes are open we see a solid body but when our eyes are closed we feel body as pulsation, Sensation, Vibration. So we work with that and then we will move towards matter. So keep your eyes closed continue to smile as we go on this journey to explore body. See that your breath is known that the sensation of breathing tells you that you are breathing that the breath is long, Short, Calm or not so calm and that smile tells you that your body that your face is smiling. Now imagine in your contemplation that you are a newborn child. You are aware of sensations but you have not yet given names to sensations that you have yet not formed memories that you started calling sensations body parts such as sensation in your arm is not arm to you. Sensations in your soles of your feet is not that for you yet. So imagine and feel and sense the world especially the body from the perspective of a newborn child. No concepts no memory just the direct recognition of all the sensations we call body. Now continue to feel the body from that perspective continue to smile like a newborn child who is curious about the sensations who knows the sensations very intimately and see when you explore sensations like this it is akin to exploring other parts of your existence such as thoughts or emotions but bodily sensations are even more easier to focus on and they are always here. Some people say that body is that part of the soul. Now soul is a synonymous to awareness here in this context. Body is that part of soul or awareness that can be felt seen tested by your sense perceptions. So your five sense perceptions can see that part of the soul that you call body. Master Eckhart had said that. Some people say that body is awareness vibrating at lower frequency. So the newborn child is exploring these newer sensations has not called itself body. So much so that even a newborn child when it sees it feels its mother it feels that the mother is part of itself. There is no separation between sensations and perceptions from itself. Now this is important to note and I'd like you to think about this that all the knowledge of your inner world your body and so-called outer world are the result of your five perceptions and thinking. So mind and your five perceptions tells you gives you information about the world out there about the body and about your inner world. Apart from this nobody has any information of the world. No scientist and no body from the nine billion of us that are present and the billions of people who were present before us had any access to the world outside of this sense perceptions mind. So all the knowledge all the feelings all the sensations all the informations that we ever known has always taken place in awareness. It is not a small recognition if you really think about it and one other thing that you really need to recognize is that all our senses five senses listening seeing testing touching and the fifth one I forget but all your five senses work within a range. What that means is that whatever is out there you can only see a finite range of it. You and nobody has full access to the reality out there through our sense perceptions. Eyes, Nose, Mouth, Ears and your touch your fingers they can only work within a range. Nobody has full access to the reality out there. Now our sense perceptions were only designed for us to survive in the world and to reproduce. So their function was not to see the reality out there. Their function is to survive in the world and to reproduce. However our over reliance on this sense perceptions create an illusion of the world out there. It is not that the world out there does not exist it does exist. But it does not exist the way it looks feels to us. It's a very important recognition to be absolutely sure about. So continue to smile as you keep these facts in your subconscious mind as you continue to explore body and see that your direct experience tells you that you are aware of the body that you know the body. And you are not relying on the concepts and memory about body because you are right now seeing body from the perspective of a newborn child. A pure perspective without narrative without stories without any picture formed about the body. Continue to smile like a newborn child who is curious about these sensations. If this newborn child was asked to make a picture about this sensation what would he or she create on a piece of paper? It would be something like some pulsating energy some moment of awareness. Boundaries are blurred and see that your own picturization the correct picturization of this sensation. This sensation we call body is really like some pulsation some vibration of some energy. The energy that is not out there energy that is here intimate part of yourself not something separate from you. So this energy that you are knowing as body how far is that from you? Is that energy you feel as body is it something out there away from you? In fact there is no distance between what you call self and this vibrating body this vibrating sensation you call body. It is all one. You the awareness are vibrating as body. So continue with this exploration from the perspective of a newborn child and ask yourself this question that right now I am experiencing my body. Because I am experiencing it so intimately I have full access to the so-called material the body is made of. So if you were to touch sense access this material from this perspective of awareness what is it made of? What substance you can feel when you seemingly touching this material you call body from this perspective? It feels like sensations. What is this sensations made of? Know that this sensation is felt and known. You can't deny that the sensation is known. This sensation is made of knowing of itself. Knowing is synonymous to awareness. Knowing Awareness It is like awareness is knowing awareness. The body is known but when you assess the sensation you recognize that it is like knowing is knowing the knowing. The awareness is knowing its own self the awareness. And we are only relying on our direct evidence. And from this perspective when people say that body is like the lower frequency of awareness you may empathize with them. From this perspective when you listen to Master Eckhart's words that body is that part of the soul that is discernible by sense perception. That for your early phase of your life you have seen body from new born child's perspective just like this a sensation a pool of vibration of awareness. And that experience has not changed you can still experience the body from the perspective of a new born child as soon as you drop all the concepts all the images and memories about body. Drop them right now and you have access to that new born child's perspective. It's not out of your reach. Before a moment finishes you have access to this clear seeing that your body is a vibration of awareness. That your body is really another form of your awareness and see your body from this pure perspective. The whole body from the top of your head to the soles of your feet is nothing but awareness vibrating in itself. Awareness accomplishing hundreds and millions of microprocesses seamlessly yet not dividing itself into separate parts. Still being as one unit not separate continue to smile and continue to see the body from this perspective. Like a source of light a light in itself as itself in early phase of our seeking we separated the body to see the awareness to assess the awareness clearly. But once that job was done we moved to the second phase and we are seeing the body as vibration of awareness not something separate from awareness. And thus we have started integrating awareness into the world that is made of matter. Awareness is in ancient world known as mind and people feel that mind and matter are two different things. Mind is here and matter is out there. When you assess the matter very very closely you will find that it is only the mind the awareness. And there are several hypotheses even in modern science that would support this. But there comes a time where you would have to rely on your direct experience and your direct experience tells you that my body is just the awareness vibrating in itself. It is your intelligence taking care of all that the body needs to do every moment. So continue to smile and really allow your body to soak in this wisdom so that this new recognition this new appreciation of the body becomes your most intimate definition of your body that is understanding that you have unlocked becomes your first definition of body. So even when you open your eyes this recognition does not get shattered because your sense perception will tell you that the body is a solid entity. That the body may be different from mind the awareness and in future sessions we will even tackle the sense perception the matter out there even away from body and incorporate them all five perceptions. Into this awareness only perspective but for now you have taken care of two essential phases one is that you are awareness and second that your body is also awareness. Continue to smile and really allow yourself to soak in this light of knowing your body this understanding of knowing yourself your body as awareness will continue to deepen. There will come a time when you will just have to close your eyes to fully see and realize your body yourself as this light. You will have to go through no procedure no mantra just a gentle close closing of your eyes in fact you are always here you have always had this recognition. It is just that temporarily you have convinced yourself of some different reality this illusion of reality is known as Maya. Maya means an illusion that tells you a different version of reality. Maya doesn't mean that there is nothing out there it only means that what you see and what really is are two different phenomenon. So allow the Maya to subside as you truly understand the nature of yourself and nature of your body. And now for a few more minutes let go of any concepts let go of even all the words that I have spoken. And just rely on your own direct experience of pure sensitivity explore your breath as if it is a movement of awareness in awareness. And after all it feels like that see the light of awareness moving in itself feel the heartbeat vibration of awareness in itself. Feel the smile pulsating energy of awareness the whole body nothing but the light of awareness. Illuminating itself by itself trillions of bodily processes taking place this intelligence is not perturbed by it. The most sophisticated machinery so to speak is operating on its own soak in this light of clear knowing. You do not need any shenanigans with spirituality just the clear seeing clear knowing a clear direct understanding will do all the magics you were hoping for you were looking for. And even if by fluke you have seen one or two magics but you have not realized the truth of the nature of awareness those flukes count for nothing. You have to have this clear seeing first and foremost otherwise the job will always remain unfinished something and other will not be working. It is the full recognition or a false recognition see your body see yourself just as this pulsation vibration of awareness. In awareness known by awareness see how layers and layers of ignorance is being washed away. It is like when a white cloth has stained and you wish to clean it all you need to do is to soak it in warm soapy water. In the same way you need to soak in this clear knowing understanding and just sit don't do anything there is no rubbing of this cloth needed just sit in this direct knowing. I tell you you could sit for hours like this you could sit for five minutes like this and essentially it is the same it remains fresh it remains peaceful it remains still. And when you will open your eyes you will find that your whole perspective has shifted. So continue to sit in this clear light of knowing your body as nothing but awareness do not delay for a few more breaths let's continue the awareness. Awareness breathing itself the most magical breath you sitting in this recognition this full recognition breathing cleaning the cloth. And in this process what you are is nothing but love expression of love that is why it feels like this. Knowing body like this can come after years of practicing cleansing body through processes known as Vipassana or yogic processes. But you do not need all of those scaffoldings understanding the knowledge will do the job and you can still engage in those processes. Yogic processes Vipassana where you explore body from the light of awareness. So continue to sit for one more moment making this understanding your most intimate definition of your body yourself and do visit this recognition few times. Thank you so much for sitting with me in this recognition.