pseudonymous
Obtuse Kineticist
Waking Contemplation
When a person begins the inner journey to Self awareness, choosing a discipline for transpersonal experiences is a necessity. The most common of these internal disciplines practiced by explorers is meditation. It comes in many different varieties, and for most Westerners can be a difficult process to become adept at.
I still on occasion will meditate, but as I was not taught to do it a certain way, I generally will lay on my back in bed, get comfy, and begin a process of systematically "feeling" a part of my body with my mind. This allows there to be something to focus on so that the chatterbox syndrome is not an issue. I primarily used meditation several years back as a means to pain managment while suffering from an illness.
Approxiamately 35 miles from my island home here in Maine is an old abandoned strip copper mine that covers over 200 acres. It is not spotted from any main roads, and can only be accessed down a menacing looking dirt driveway. As is my nature, I happened to be in the area one day, and a mysterious dirt road is an open invitation for my spirit to go exploring. Once I discovered this place, it has been my constant daily summer haunt for Self awareness exploration.
While driving into the mines one day I discovered a large concrete slab that at one time was the office building floor. It was off to the side out of view of anyone driving along the dirt roads of the copper mine, so I went to it and got out of my truck to inspect. Once I began to pace on it back and forth I realized a peace came over me. There weren't any humans within 5 miles of the mines, and the only sound was the wind rustling the leaves, and an occasional bird calling out.
An amazing thing happened that day, nearly 6 years ago, that has become my single greatest methodology for causal Self awareness. I refer to it as "waking contemplation". I have no idea if it a common practice, but have not run across much comments on it in writing or in speaking to other seekers. It started simply enough, by me pacing that concrete slab, where I had a mental question that I couldn't resolve over days of turning it over in my mind.
I began pacing the length of the slab floor speaking out loud my questions. As I would make my way back and forth I found that as long as I spoke out loud, I would begin to answer some of the tougher aspects of the topic I was discussing with the air around me. Before I knew it, I had not only figured out the problems regarding the issue, but had additionally given myself much more information than I had bargained for.
Within 24 hours of accessing this new data, somewhere in the world I would receive confirmation by either a magazine article, a conversation, a television program, etc. That is how I learned to trust this newfound accessability to information that appeared beyond my personal education and experience, but somehow I had available to me by simply finding a quiet spot to pace and talk it out.
The process is easy. You find a peaceful, quiet, and private spot in which to do your pacing. I often find it works ideally if I imagine there being a student, or in some cases, a classroom in which I am teaching. You pick the topic that you will be addressing, and just begin to empty your mind of all the information it has about it. It is the same idea as emptying the cup so it will fill again.
Once you have talked yourself out, if you have this inherent ability, you should begin to have additional thoughts popping into your head. Speak those freely too, no matter how confusing or seemingly opposed it might be to your present understanding of the topic. Over the period of an hour or so you should find that you not only taught this imaginary student or class about your present understanding, but will likely have added an amazing amount of new information to the collective of your previous awareness. I have never known this to fail for me personally.
Again, always within a day or so the new information would be confirmed somehow in the world around me. It is as if with the new awareness came new eyes and ears, and the expanded senses simply picked up the new information from the environment around me to confirm my wider view. If you should decide to incorporate this discipline into your daily Self awareness routines, a few things should be kept in mind.
First of all, it is not infallible. As you are gaining new insights, always be aware that they may be one way streets you have innocently wandered down. If you are on to something new information-wise, likely the next time you enter into "waking contemplation" there will be a desire to begin where you left off. If the previous day's data was not correctly assertained, then likely the next time you contemplate in this fashion there will be no inner desire to dig deeper into a hole that is not going to help you evolve.
Becoming aware of your internal desires of topic choosing is essential. You will notice early on that there is little sense in placing any new information into concrete, because just when you think you got the big picture in hand, new information will come along to make the old data obsolete. This is when you know that you are on the fast track to Self awareness.
The journey should never become static, or unchanging. If your entire ontological understanding is not changing nearly completely every season or so, then you are likely clinging to egoic fear of change. Always remember that the information was not your's to begin with, and likewise that you really don't know a whole heck of a lot experiencially, and you will be likely to grow.
Another important thing to remember to watch for is the confirmation of new information. Expect that within a certain amount of time that you will be drawn to confirming experiences of any new awareness. This has become an absolute trustworthy process for me as long as I watch for the confirmation, and never cling too tightly to any new information so as to block the next vista along my journey.
I hope that you have the opportunity to try this discipline, and that you will find it as useful as I have. No matter what, a person who is becoming Self aware does need personal time & space from the world in order to truly not be distracted. Time should be set aside daily for some alone space if a person is ever to truly discover the Self.
©2004 DC Vision
When a person begins the inner journey to Self awareness, choosing a discipline for transpersonal experiences is a necessity. The most common of these internal disciplines practiced by explorers is meditation. It comes in many different varieties, and for most Westerners can be a difficult process to become adept at.
I still on occasion will meditate, but as I was not taught to do it a certain way, I generally will lay on my back in bed, get comfy, and begin a process of systematically "feeling" a part of my body with my mind. This allows there to be something to focus on so that the chatterbox syndrome is not an issue. I primarily used meditation several years back as a means to pain managment while suffering from an illness.
Approxiamately 35 miles from my island home here in Maine is an old abandoned strip copper mine that covers over 200 acres. It is not spotted from any main roads, and can only be accessed down a menacing looking dirt driveway. As is my nature, I happened to be in the area one day, and a mysterious dirt road is an open invitation for my spirit to go exploring. Once I discovered this place, it has been my constant daily summer haunt for Self awareness exploration.
While driving into the mines one day I discovered a large concrete slab that at one time was the office building floor. It was off to the side out of view of anyone driving along the dirt roads of the copper mine, so I went to it and got out of my truck to inspect. Once I began to pace on it back and forth I realized a peace came over me. There weren't any humans within 5 miles of the mines, and the only sound was the wind rustling the leaves, and an occasional bird calling out.
An amazing thing happened that day, nearly 6 years ago, that has become my single greatest methodology for causal Self awareness. I refer to it as "waking contemplation". I have no idea if it a common practice, but have not run across much comments on it in writing or in speaking to other seekers. It started simply enough, by me pacing that concrete slab, where I had a mental question that I couldn't resolve over days of turning it over in my mind.
I began pacing the length of the slab floor speaking out loud my questions. As I would make my way back and forth I found that as long as I spoke out loud, I would begin to answer some of the tougher aspects of the topic I was discussing with the air around me. Before I knew it, I had not only figured out the problems regarding the issue, but had additionally given myself much more information than I had bargained for.
Within 24 hours of accessing this new data, somewhere in the world I would receive confirmation by either a magazine article, a conversation, a television program, etc. That is how I learned to trust this newfound accessability to information that appeared beyond my personal education and experience, but somehow I had available to me by simply finding a quiet spot to pace and talk it out.
The process is easy. You find a peaceful, quiet, and private spot in which to do your pacing. I often find it works ideally if I imagine there being a student, or in some cases, a classroom in which I am teaching. You pick the topic that you will be addressing, and just begin to empty your mind of all the information it has about it. It is the same idea as emptying the cup so it will fill again.
Once you have talked yourself out, if you have this inherent ability, you should begin to have additional thoughts popping into your head. Speak those freely too, no matter how confusing or seemingly opposed it might be to your present understanding of the topic. Over the period of an hour or so you should find that you not only taught this imaginary student or class about your present understanding, but will likely have added an amazing amount of new information to the collective of your previous awareness. I have never known this to fail for me personally.
Again, always within a day or so the new information would be confirmed somehow in the world around me. It is as if with the new awareness came new eyes and ears, and the expanded senses simply picked up the new information from the environment around me to confirm my wider view. If you should decide to incorporate this discipline into your daily Self awareness routines, a few things should be kept in mind.
First of all, it is not infallible. As you are gaining new insights, always be aware that they may be one way streets you have innocently wandered down. If you are on to something new information-wise, likely the next time you enter into "waking contemplation" there will be a desire to begin where you left off. If the previous day's data was not correctly assertained, then likely the next time you contemplate in this fashion there will be no inner desire to dig deeper into a hole that is not going to help you evolve.
Becoming aware of your internal desires of topic choosing is essential. You will notice early on that there is little sense in placing any new information into concrete, because just when you think you got the big picture in hand, new information will come along to make the old data obsolete. This is when you know that you are on the fast track to Self awareness.
The journey should never become static, or unchanging. If your entire ontological understanding is not changing nearly completely every season or so, then you are likely clinging to egoic fear of change. Always remember that the information was not your's to begin with, and likewise that you really don't know a whole heck of a lot experiencially, and you will be likely to grow.
Another important thing to remember to watch for is the confirmation of new information. Expect that within a certain amount of time that you will be drawn to confirming experiences of any new awareness. This has become an absolute trustworthy process for me as long as I watch for the confirmation, and never cling too tightly to any new information so as to block the next vista along my journey.
I hope that you have the opportunity to try this discipline, and that you will find it as useful as I have. No matter what, a person who is becoming Self aware does need personal time & space from the world in order to truly not be distracted. Time should be set aside daily for some alone space if a person is ever to truly discover the Self.
©2004 DC Vision