Many spiritual practices mimic awakening.
Some mimic noticing what we are, which helps us actually notice.
And some mimic living from noticing what we are.
NOTICING WHAT WE ARE THROUGH POINTERS
Pointers that help us notice what we are tend to mimic what we naturally notice when we notice what we are.
This may sound obvious, but there is more to it.
Some pointers help us notice some of the characteristics of what we are. We may notice that what we are does not have a boundary, it’s timeless, it’s what space and time happen within, it’s what our experiences happen within and as. Looking at each of these, one at a time, we get a sense of what we are. It becomes more familiar, easier to notice, and the center of gravity of what we take ourselves to be can shift more into this. The Big Mind process is an example of these types of pointers.
Some help us relate to the content of our experience a certain way, and through that notice what we are. We find that the content of our experience happens within and as what we are. Some Headless experiments do this, and some of them do the first one.
In awakening, we notice the characteristics of what we are, and that all our experiences happen within and as what we are. And these pointers help us notice this here and now. We find it for ourselves. We notice what’s already here, and notice that we notice.
NOTICING WHAT WE ARE THROUGH BASIC MEDITATION
Basic meditation is to notice and allow what’s here.
Notice and see how it is to allow it. See if you can notice it’s already allowed – by space, mind, life.
See if you can notice that what’s here is already noticed and allowed.
This helps us find ourselves as capacity for our experience as it is, as that which our experience happens within and as.
It softens identification with the content of our experience. We get to see it all lives its own life. And this allows us to more easily find ourselves as what we are.
LIVING FROM NOTICING WHAT WE ARE
When we find ourselves as capacity for the world as it appears to us, we notice that all our experiences happen within and as what we are. Another word for this is oneness.
There are two aspects to living from oneness. One is living from it here and now, to the best of our ability. And that includes inviting the parts of us still operating from separation consciousness to join in with the awakening.
When we notice what we are, several things tend to happen.
We find that the world, to us, is one. We are oneness.
Another word for oneness is pragmatic love. It’s a love not dependent on states or feelings, and it’s the love of the left hand removing a splinter from the right.
We recognize thoughts as thoughts. They have a valuable pragmatic function in helping us orient and function in the world. And they cannot reflect any final or absolute truth.
PRACTICES THAT MIMIC LIVING AS ONENESS
Several practices mimic how it is to live from oneness, and they mimic the characteristics mentioned above.
Heart-centered practices help us shift how we relate to ourselves, others, situations, and existence in general. (Tonglen, ho’oponopno, metta, inner smile.)
Some forms of inquiry help us see through beliefs, identifications, and what creates and upholds separation consciousness patterns in us. (The Work of Byron Katie, Living Inquiries.)
Body-centered practices help us shift how we relate to our body and the sensation-component of beliefs and identifications, and through that life in general. (yoga, tai chi, chigong, Breema.)
Guidelines for living help us avoid distractions and notice what in us is not yet healed or aligned with oneness. (Precepts etc.)
Whether or not we notice what we are, these practices help transform our human self to be more intentionally and consciously aligned with oneness.
PRACTICES MIMICKING AWAKENING
The practices that mimc awakening seem to have a few things in common.
They tend to be more universal, simple, and essential. Variations of them are found in many spiritual traditions. They are not overly complicated. And they focus directly on the essentials of awakening and embodiment.
They also tend to be useful through the awakening process – whether it’s preparation, noticing what we are, living from this noticing, or supporting the unawake parts of us in joining with the awakening.
See below for a couple of drafts where I lost focus and they got overly intricate. I chose to include them to show the process, and since they have relevant pointers not included in the final version.
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