Hello and welcome to the first meditation on luminous.
Noticing awareness.
Just allow your experience to be exactly as it is from moment to moment.
Without any attempt to change it in any way.
We can divide our experience into three categories.
The mind.
The body and the world.
Our experience of the mind consists of thoughts,
Images,
Memories,
Ideas,
Opinions,
Attitudes,
Desires,
And so on.
Notice the continually changing experience of your mind.
Thoughts,
Images,
Memories,
Ideas,
Each one appearing Lasting Briefly.
And then vanishing.
Without you controlling or directing it in any way.
Our experience of the body.
Consists mostly of sensations.
They are the felt sense of the body.
Examples of these would be the experience of hunger or thirst,
Cold or heat.
A headache or a back pain.
The tingling of your face,
Hands or feet.
The pressure of your legs on the chair or your feet on the floor.
Or the temperature of the air on your skin.
Just be aware of the continually changing flow of sensations that constitute the experience of your body.
Don't try to change anything.
Just notice.
Our emotions or feelings are also experienced in the body.
But there is more to these than a simple sensation.
The feeling of heartbreak.
Is not just like a headache.
It is felt in the body.
But it also has a story,
An interpretation attached to it.
That story consists of thoughts in the mind.
So an emotion is experienced in both the body and the mind.
Just be aware of whatever feelings or emotions may be present in your experience.
However pleasant or unpleasant they may be.
Don't try to change or control anything.
Just notice.
And then there are our perceptions of the world.
We have five faculties of perception.
Seeing,
Hearing,
Touching,
Tasting and smelling.
And we experience the world in five ways.
Each one corresponding.
To one of our faculties of perception.
Sights,
Sounds,
Textures,
Tastes and smells.
Simply be aware of these.
Without interfering with them.
Now be aware of the full spectrum of your experience from moment to moment.
Without compartmentalizing it.
And without trying to change or manipulate it in any way.
In particular.
Don't try to control or stop your thoughts.
Be like an unfocused camera.
Aware of the content of the mind,
The body and the world,
Without focusing on any particular aspect of it.
As your focus softens.
Be aware of the full spectrum of your experience.
Thoughts,
Images and feelings.
The sensations of your body.
For instance,
The sensations of your legs on the chair or your feet on the ground.
The temperature of the air on your skin.
The experience of hunger or tiredness.
Or whatever other sensations may be present.
And include your experience of the world.
Whatever sounds may be present in your environment.
The sight of the objects in your room or the colour of the back of your eyelids if your eyes are closed.
Be aware of any tastes or smells that you may be experiencing.
Simply be aware of the entire content of your experience.
Without preference or aversion for any particular aspect of it.
And if you do notice any particular preference or aversion,
Well,
That is simply part of the content of your experience.
Just be aware of it.
Without any judgment.
And without trying to get rid of it.
Now,
Ask yourself the question.
What is it that is aware of my experience?
Don't answer that question with a word.
Allow the question to take you to whatever it is that is knowing or aware of your experience.
What is it that is aware of my thoughts,
Feelings,
Sensations and perceptions?
Notice that there is something that lies in the background of experience.
Watching it.
Observing it.
Witnessing it.
Knowing it.
Aware of it.
That is awareness.
Or consciousness.
I always use the words of awareness and consciousness synonymously.
Awareness or consciousness.
Is like the clear sky.
Against which the clouds of your experiences float by.
Notice that your thoughts,
Feelings,
Sensations,
And perceptions continually move and change.
None of these remains constant.
None of them stays the same.
But awareness is always the same.
Knowing,
Observing or witnessing the always changing flow of experience.
Just as the blue sky.
Is always the same.
Behind the constantly changing flow of clouds.
Awareness is always the same.
Experience is always changing.
Most of us go through our entire lives so fascinated by or involved in the content of our experience.
That we never even notice the fact of being aware,
Or awareness itself.
That lies,
So to speak,
In the background.
It's like looking around a room.
And being so interested in the people,
Furniture and objects that we fail to notice the space.
Or being so absorbed in a movie.
That we overlook the screen.
In our lives,
Most of us are so absorbed in the content of experience.
That we overlook the fact of simply being aware or awareness itself.
Now that we are no longer focusing on the content of experience.
We have become aware of awareness.
Which lies ever-present in the background.
We are aware of being aware.
This recognition of the presence of awareness.
May seem to be a small thing.
But it is the key to discovering the happiness.
For which we long above all else.
