I’d like to look here at my own love of the awareness path.
My twin flame, Annastara, said:
“One of the things that you do and which you will be doing is looking in the nooks and crannies, into the corners of your being because as you do that you also allow others to.
“There is a curiosity inside of you to examine those quarters that have really gone unexplored, not really because of fear but simply because it wasn’t time.” (1)
She hit the nail on the head.
Since 1975, when I went on a three-month resident fellowship at Cold Mountain Institute, I’ve followed the awareness path – “looking in the nooks and crannies.”
The nearest Hindu equivalent would be Jnana Yoga. While both aim at Self-Realization, the awareness path tends to be more experientially-based.
This path emphasizes maintaining awareness of one’s self at all times. But not just awareness of our thoughts; awareness of our feelings as well.
It sees as the panacea for all emotional troubles simple, bare awareness.
One of the tenets of the awareness path is that, as Jesus said, the truth will set us free. Knowing the full truth of who we are – as we all will – will cause us to ascend to the next dimension.
That is, the truth of who we are will set us free from the round of birth and death that transpires in the Third/Fourth Dimension (“physical” and astral planes).
By the same token, the truth of an upset will set us free of the upset. That circumstance is what spurs us on in listening.
We listen until the truth is spoken. We know the truth when we hear it because it sets the person free from the upset. (2)
The litmus test of whether we’re going in the right direction is whether we’re experiencing increasing release. If not, we need to back up and go another route.
The awareness path is about the truth and about freedom from issues and upsets.
Followers of this path tend to enjoy communicating above most other things. They share what’s happening with themselves. They compare notes with others.
If you listen to their conversations, they have an easy intimacy to them, deep sincerity, and love of inquiry about them. I never enjoyed myself as much as when I was in them. My ear pricks up when I hear someone say “I feel….” (3)
Everyone’s share is born equal. Your feeling has no more nor no less weight than my feeling. “I feel….” = “I feel….”
I practiced Zen for two years and Zen is also an awareness path. The Zen way of life is very sparing so as not to cloud or distract the awareness. I love stillness. I love a meditative walk.
But it has consequences. I’m lost to procedures. I have no interest in rituals or adornments or affirmations or anything extra.
I’m simply interested in who I am in the moment. When I’m in awareness, I love each breath, each view of nature, each vivid color.
What SaLuSa called “soul love” flows freely when I’m in the moment, barely and simply aware. (4)
When love flows, I care for nothing the world has to offer.
I think all paths aim to deepen our experience of love, do they not? Devotion (Bhakti)? Service (Karma)? Meditation?
All paths lead to love. All we need to decide is how we want to travel to that sole/soul destination.
I’m returning by constantly and regularly burrowing as deeply into myself in the moment – in awareness – as I can. What am I aware of in this moment? This moment?
That to me is what a three-mile hike is to some people. Or water-skiing. Or deep-sea diving.
Footnotes
(1) Annastara, my twin flame, in a personal reading with Steve Beckow through Linda Dillon, Dec. 9, 2010.
(2) Which provides a useful tool for us. If the speaker is moving in the direction of increasing release, we are going in the right direction. If they are feeling more bound, we’re going in the wrong direction.
(3) What am I saying? I’m fortunate to have these kinds of conversations whenever I want them with my friend Len.
(4) “With your upliftment, what you are discovering is that there is a distinct difference between physical love and soul love. One is for the satisfaction of the physical senses, whilst the other is Universal Love for all life everywhere. On Earth you tend to be led by physical attraction and often take up partnerships without really knowing the person.” (SaLuSa, Nov. 14, 2012, at https://www.treeofthegoldenlight.com/First_Contact/Channeled_Messages_by_Mike_Quinsey.htm.)