Experiencing Pure Awareness (Teaching)

A brief, guided instructional track on how to experience pure awareness.

From a young age, we’re trained to focus on things: schoolwork, goals, devices, problems, feelings. Our attention becomes like a flashlight beam—always landing on something specific. When we chase every object that enters the beam (emails, memories, problems, self-judgment)w e lose track of the space that holds it all.

Pure Awareness is that space. It’s not the flashlight beam. It’s the whole room that the flashlight is in. This talk explains how to experience Pure Awareness and rest in it, living life from a higher perspective.

Transcript

Hello friends,

Thank you for giving yourself a few quiet minutes to explore what many traditions call pure awareness.

I'll keep this simple.

No special techniques,

No special vocabulary to memorize,

Just a fresh look at something that's always been with you,

Quietly present underneath every experience.

So what is pure awareness?

Imagine the sky on a calm day,

Clouds drift by,

Birds cross,

Planes fly overhead,

Storms pass through,

But the open blue itself doesn't come or go.

Pure awareness is like that sky,

It's not a mood,

Not a thought,

Not a peak experience,

It's the ever-present backdrop in which every mood,

Thought,

And sensation appears.

You don't have to create it,

You don't need to earn it,

You don't have to meditate your way into it,

You only need to notice that it's already there.

So why do we overlook pure awareness?

Well,

From a young age we're trained to focus on things,

Schoolwork,

Goals,

Devices,

Problems,

Feelings.

Attention becomes like a flashlight beam,

Always landing on something specific.

But awareness is different.

It's not the flashlight beam,

It's the whole room that the flashlight is in.

And when we chase every object that enters the beam,

Emails,

Memories,

Problems,

Self-judgment,

We lose track of the space that holds it all.

And yet that space,

Awareness,

Never leaves.

So let's examine some ways that we can orient and anchor ourselves in pure awareness.

First of all,

You don't need to stop thinking or slow your heart rate.

Here's a very gentle doorway.

After your next natural exhale,

Pause for just a brief second or two before the inhale begins.

You don't have to understand the pause,

Just feel it.

Just linger in it for a few heartbeats and you'll notice that there's a quiet.

Let yourself feel that quiet.

That unhurried pause is like stepping onto a porch at dusk.

You're no longer fussing with the furniture,

You're gazing out at the landscape.

Thoughts may still move,

But instead of being absorbed or lost inside the thought,

You start to sense and experience the awareness that holds it.

No effort,

No goal,

Just a shift in noticing.

Your focus shifts from being lost in thoughts to the space that's holding them.

It's as straightforward as that.

There are some common misconceptions.

One misconception is that pure awareness must feel blissful.

Well,

Sometimes it does,

But more often it simply feels open,

Spacious,

Ordinary,

And completely natural.

Another misconception is,

Well,

I need to get rid of thoughts.

No,

You don't.

Thoughts are just clouds.

Awareness doesn't mind the clouds.

It sees the clouds,

But experiences the space in which the clouds drift by.

Another misconception is that,

Well,

Only advanced meditators can experience pure awareness.

But the truth is,

We all live in it.

You,

Your neighbor,

A child on the playground,

Even a dog.

The difference is that you're learning to recognize what's already here and learning how to live and respond and experience what is happening from a higher perspective.

So,

Let's look at some everyday entry points.

Some easy ways to begin experiencing pure awareness.

First of all,

The body.

Feel the contact between your bare feet and the ground.

Not the idea of your body,

But just the sensation.

And then,

Quietly notice,

Something is aware of this.

Everyday sounds.

Let the next passing sound register in your awareness.

Then,

Gently sense the open silence that heard that sound,

That contained it.

Emotions.

Even a flash of irritation can be a gateway.

Instead of resisting it,

Ask,

What is aware of this emotion?

Not an answer in words,

But the felt experience when you sense your perspective shifting from the object and any emotion attached to that object,

To the awareness,

The space that contains it.

These aren't really techniques,

They're just small invitations.

And they're scattered throughout your day.

Often,

What is mundane or ordinary can create that shift spontaneously.

It's very similar to what happens when something arrests your attention momentarily.

A scenic vista,

A beautiful song,

A campfire,

Or gazing up into a star-filled night.

Let's look at some obstacles and some friendly reminders.

One of the biggest obstacles to experiencing pure awareness is impatience.

The recognition of pure awareness can be instant,

But the habit of overlooking it is what typically happens.

So,

Be kind,

Go slow,

Exhale deeply,

And pause.

Another obstacle is self-evaluation.

Thoughts like,

I'm doing this wrong,

Are really just more weather.

Smile at the inner weather report,

Then come back to the sky.

Clinging to the experience itself,

Like clinging to fireworks.

If you happen to glimpse vast peace or bliss,

Then that's wonderful.

Enjoy it.

But then,

Let it go.

Don't get attached to that,

Even.

Chasing yesterday's moment only clouds today's sky.

So,

Let's look at some ways that we can start living from recognition.

As you begin to recognize and experience pure awareness more often,

Life and what's happening will start to feel very different.

First of all,

You'll experience lightness,

Because you're not so fused with every storyline.

Burdens,

Problems will feel lighter,

Even when nothing else changes.

You'll also experience responsiveness,

The ability to respond rather than to react.

You'll speak,

Work,

Feel,

But now there's space around all of that.

A breath,

A pause,

Opens between triggers and reaction.

There's a soft clarity that wasn't there before,

And from that clarity,

You can choose a response rather than being lost in an emotional knee-jerk reaction.

Don't think of these as goals.

They're side effects.

When they show up,

Be grateful.

Bow to them.

If they don't show up,

Be grateful anyway,

For whatever is,

For what is.

Awareness itself is already whole,

Always already present.

Just remember that pure awareness isn't far away from you.

It's not something exotic or mystical.

It's the most intimate part of you,

The part that has never left and is always available.

And you can begin very simply,

A pause after an exhale,

Hearing a sound,

Having a sensation,

A sudden openness or a sense of awe.

Ask gently,

What is aware right now?

That question itself is already a step into pure awareness.

The shift in perspective that I'm talking about has been referred to as the backward step,

Or more simply,

Just stepping back,

As we might phrase it.

So,

Let's look at some questions that might be coming up.

The first question might be,

Well,

What's the difference between awareness and consciousness?

Consciousness typically refers to being aware of some thing.

Consciousness has an object,

Like a thought,

A sound,

Or a feeling.

Awareness is the open space that holds all of those.

It's not focused on any one specific thing.

It's the background of whatever consciousness is focused on.

You could say that consciousness is like the images on a movie screen.

And awareness is the screen itself,

The blank space that holds all the passing pictures.

Another question that might arise is,

Is there some specific method to experience pure awareness directly?

Again,

There are gentle doorways,

Not necessarily techniques in the usual sense.

And one of the easiest is simply to pause after an exhale.

Another entry point is to ask,

What is aware right now?

These don't really require any effort or concentration.

They're more like invitations to notice what's already there.

Another question might be,

Well,

Why do you call it pure awareness?

It's called pure not because it's perfect or special,

But because it isn't mixed up with content.

It doesn't cling to thoughts,

Emotions,

Or roles.

It simply knows them and experiences them and welcomes them without judgment.

That's what makes it pure.

And that's also what makes it an experience.

You might ask,

Well,

How do I know I'm really experiencing it if thoughts and emotions are still happening?

Again,

Thoughts don't stop,

Nor do they need to.

You're simply noticing that thoughts are happening within awareness.

That shift from being caught in thought to seeing and experiencing the space around it is the beginning of recognition.

It's not about silencing your mind.

It's about seeing what's already always quietly aware.

And in that awareness,

You will begin to experience and expand the silence that exists between thoughts.

Another question might be,

Can I live from this pure awareness all the time?

Or is it just a meditation thing?

You don't have to live in a cave or sit on a cushion all day.

Pure awareness can manifest in a conversation,

While driving,

While drinking tea,

Or when you hear a solitary bird singing in the stillness before dawn.

You may not stay there all the time,

But the more you return to pure awareness,

The more natural it feels and the more it expands.

It feels like rest,

Like a vacation.

Your stability in the shifted perspective lasts longer and longer,

And you won't be so easily drawn away when the mind wants to chatter or focus on something specific.

Another question is,

Is pure awareness related to the practice of acceptance?

When you're resting in pure awareness,

You're not fighting what's happening.

You're simply aware of what's happening as it unfolds.

And that awareness is already accepting,

Already welcoming,

Not as a moral decision or as a judgment,

But as a natural way of being and facing whatever happens next.

So,

Acceptance isn't something you try to do.

It's what arises when you stop resisting,

When you pause,

When you're completely with and okay with what's happening in the moment,

Rather than being lost in your reactions to it.

Another question,

Why do you ask what is aware instead of who is aware?

Because who triggers the mind to attach an identity?

I am,

It says.

But what is aware pauses that ego reflex and any ego-based or purely emotional-based reaction.

What points back to awareness itself?

The question creates space for the question to arise and linger.

Experiencing that space is the answer to the question.

You don't need to identify with awareness by asking who or attach anything extra to it,

Including your ego.

You just need to feel it,

Experience it,

And begin to rest in it.

The question what is aware is not about finding the answer.

It's about recognizing and experiencing the space that the question opens.

Another question might be,

Well,

This just sounds like another meditation technique.

What makes it different?

Most techniques focus the mind on an object,

Such as counting breaths,

Reciting a mantra,

Or visualizing a specific image.

All of these are helpful,

But a technique can become just another object to hold on to,

Rather than an actual shift in how you experience what's happening in your everyday life moment by moment.

Pure awareness isn't something to focus on.

It's what's noticing everything.

You're not doing something new.

You're realizing what's been present all along.

Another question might be,

Well,

Isn't this like a koan?

Aren't you just rephrasing Zen riddles?

The question what is aware right now is a kind of modern koan.

It's not meant to be answered logically.

It's intended to open you to a direct,

Nonverbal,

Spacious experience.

Traditional koans can sound too poetic or be too puzzling,

Which can activate the mind to overthink and engage in analysis.

This question is plain and clear,

But it's pointing to the same truth,

The same experience that traditional koans point to,

Something that arrests the mind and opens a pause,

A space.

The last question,

Is pure awareness part of a religion or a spiritual tradition?

Many traditions have names for pure awareness.

Atman,

Rigpa,

Tathata,

The Tao,

The ground of the soul.

However,

The experiences these names all point to are themselves universal.

No one culture,

Doctrine,

Or religion owns it.

To experience life from the perspective of pure awareness,

You don't need to believe anything or give up your particular religious faith.

You might even find that your faith is strengthened by living from purified,

Heightened awareness.

You only need to learn how to pause and notice what's happening without feeling caught or trapped by your mind's analysis of what is happening.

You can step out of the play and experience the theater in which it occurs.

Pure awareness isn't something strange,

Foreign,

Or far away.

It's what you are,

And it's as close as your very next exhale.

Perhaps you have additional questions or insights or would like to share your experience.

If so,

Feel welcome to place them in the comments for this track.

Thank you for listening,

And I hope this information helps you gain a new understanding of what meditation is really all about.

Reviews

This is an excellent and available recommendation of open/pure awareness
Thanks Phillip
Love and blessings to you

Thank you so much Phillip. I am going to listen a few times to your talk on pure awareness. I understand what you are saying and there is a lot of great information to take in. I appreciate your input. I think awareness is so beneficial as is living in the moment. Thank you again.🙏