Bay Area, California
CONSCIOUS LIVING
The same way the dreamer believes every scene as it unfolds in the dream, we sometimes sleepwalk throughout the day, unaware that we are trapped in old, dysfunctional thinking that has been dictating our every move. We end up recreating the same nightmarish reality.
Lucid dreaming allows the dreamer to use another level of consciousness. To be awake, to a degree. Shouldn't we all strive to be awake while we're actually living?
What is this page?
In a sense, life is fundamentally about the responsibility ( and freedom) to make choices - what to wear in the morning, what jobs and hobbies to pursue, how to react in traffic, whether we wait in line at the grocery store patiently or impatiently.
My goal is to share with you all the knowledge and philosophy that has guided me in coming to a deeper understanding of who I Am, how I Am, and why I Am. Together we will explore authenticity, practice mindful separation of mind from self, and cultivate an awareness that allows you to live more peacefully and consciously.
Who Am I: A Starting Guide
From Descartes’s Error to Sartre’s Insight
"I think, therefore I am."
Descartes immortalized these words in response to the question, 'Is there anything I can know with absolute certainty?' His bold statement basically equates our identities to the mind.
When you are aware that you are thinking, though, who is it that recognizes the action of thinking?
Sartre, some three hundred years later, stated, "The consciousness that says 'I am' is not the consciousness that thinks." No pun intended, but think about it - if we were nothing but thought, we wouldn't even know we were thinking in the first place. The awareness that you recognize is separate from the thinking brain. It is a different dimension of consciousness.
Conscious Awareness
The Basics
What is conscious awareness?
An awareness of experiencing existence in the present moment, varying levels of awareness
What is the Ego?
The fleeting and bottomless mental entity that attaches, identifies and uses thoughts, roles, and behaviors to create our identity; foundations of personality; "the voice in my head"
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Two part:
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Content - The content you identify with is conditioned by your environment, your upbringing, culture, race, socioeconomic status, etc
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what we identify with
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Structure - The unconscious compulsion to enhance one's identity through association with an object
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why we identify with content
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You are never really attached to a ‘thing’ — but to a thought of I and that thing
Why the Ego?
A coping mechanism we use to make sense of an inherently meaningless human existence to cover a deep-seated sense of dissatisfaction & incompleteness
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The ego wants to want more than it wants to have — and so the shallow satisfaction of having is always replaced by more wanting (more things to identify with)
What is authenticity?
An experience of alignment between your identity and the reality of your unique existence; when thoughts, roles, and behavior are in harmony with the present moment
Identifying + Overcoming The Ego
Uncovering the Ego: Why is Ownership an illusion?
We tend to unconsciously assume that by identifying with an object/person.thought that our sense of self will solidify and stabilize. The Ego equates having with
Being and lives through only comparison and judgement.
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Content may change, the structure (of ownership) does not
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Owning less/more things is irrelevant if you’re identified with a mental position/superiority
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It’s impossible to completely let go of attachment to things — attachment drops away when you no longer seek to find yourself in them
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Clues to identifying the Ego: emotional + somatic responses (victimized, anxious, embarrassment, upset stomach, tense body, increased heart rate, etc)
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Recognizing your Egoic and physical reactions to the mental structure you've attached to help conscious awareness arise
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The Present vs. Presence
The Present Moment
The Now; An acknowledgment and acceptance of existing right now in this moment without judgment. Practicing Being in the present moment is a skill that leads to Presence.
Presence
The essence of who and what we are; the awareness of existence and likeness to all other life manifestations. It is the source of inner peace, love, and a deep sense of joy.
Our Presence is our Soul coming to the forefront, witnessing our lives and all that surrounds us. It has access to all wisdom, understanding and true power.