Awareness is the basis for a life in harmony with the world.
Awareness is the ability to see the world as it is without judgments or attachments.
The progression starts with an event, which triggers your sensory perception.
The more complex the event, sensory perceptions and emotional responses will be involved.
And the intensity of the event will trigger stronger responses.
The second stage is the reaction thought to the event.
Since this is a seamless process, the thought flow is instantaneous and feels like it is part of the event.
But if you look closely, you will see them as distinct and separate.
Once you realize the difference between the event thought and the reaction thought you can also begin to question the reaction thought.
Reaction thought is automatic and often unconscious thought.
It is thought that comes from deep seated beliefs.
Often primal thoughts such as fear will appear.
Any emotion associated with the event will come up as well.
Emotions are thoughts that carry a stronger energy charge than normal thoughts carry.
When you start looking at your beliefs closely, you will start to see that the basis for many of them stem from your survival instincts.
Survival is the primary directive of the ego mind.
The ego fears death most of all because the ego has no life outside of the body existence.
So fear is the strongest emotion the ego can conjure up to meet any challenge to its survival.
Fear is the basis for most of the other negative emotions as well.
Hate, homophobia, racism, sexism and other negative beliefs all stem from the primal fear of death of the ego self.
This is because these beliefs are strongly associated with sense of self and how you define yourself in society.
In other words all your negative emotions have roots in fear and can be resolved by inquiry.
By looking at these reaction thoughts you can see what attachments and judgments are still within you.
The third stage is the witness awareness that sees it all and discerns the event perception thought and the reaction thought without being attached to either one.
Witness awareness allows you to experience all that happens from a view of non-attachment.
Witness awareness allows you to act in clarity and calm response to any event without creating more emotional thoughts that will cloud your judgment.
Witness awareness is a learned experience; it is where the simplicity of life is realized.
You are in harmony with the world and you have no conflict with any of it.
Contentment comes from being free of conflict.
Conflict can only occur inside your mind.
The reaction you have to life is yours and yours alone.
What reaction are you choosing? The evolution of consciousness is the progression from fear of survival to the love of accepting life in all its manifestation.
In your daily activity what are your thoughts about your life situation? Are you anxious and fearful or can you accept and embrace life as it comes to you? Invite life to be your teacher.
Life comes to you every moment of every day.
It is a precious gift for growth of your awareness.
All experiences are welcome as they are your path to self awareness.
Reality unfolds in continual creation in the present moment.
What will it do next? What will your reaction to it be? Awareness is the bridge between the active mind working with creation and the understanding of the unified energy field from which all creation springs.
The ability to slow down your thoughts or at least see them for what they are is one of the ways awareness can come to the front of consciousness.
The ability to see your life as a vehicle for growth requires some recognition of the separation between thought and the awareness of spirit.
Life is what happens to you while your mind is busy trying to control and direct the events in your daily routine.
Once you can discern the difference between directed thought and those thoughts that come to you, this is where awareness functions.
For example you may have plans for a vacation and have made all the travel arrangements.
At the last minute something happens at home or work that requires you to cancel the trip.
The directed thoughts of planning the vacation are now replaced by the thoughts on how to deal with this unexpected emergency.
Can you accept what life has given you? What reactions thoughts do you have? It is the ability to embrace change and see it as your opportunity to examine your beliefs that grows awareness.
Since awareness is formless it can only be experienced as the opposite of form.
Thoughts and experiences create the form life takes.
It is the continual process of energy taking shape and dissolving in a loop of birth and death "You are either busy being born or busy dying" wrote Bob Dylan.
So when you can merge your doing with your being, the totality of life can be experienced.
Being and doing are the one and the same in the sense that you cannot do anything without the life energy that being represents and being without the outward manifestation of expression is nothing at all.
Being, presence, spirit and awareness are all names for that part of you that is the underlying energy of your existence, yet by itself it is only part of the unified energy field that has no definition.
In the midst of activity can you feel the still voice of awareness in the background? Once you have experienced the presence of awareness and felt the depth of peace, love and harmony it represents, nothing else can compare.
You have come home to all that is and ever will be.
The sweetness of living in a state of awareness overrides any other emotional experience.
Bliss is often the word used by enlightened beings that live in awareness.
No words can ever give you the experience of awareness.
They can only point you in the right direction and give you some tools for your own self discovery.
When you can begin to see thoughts and beliefs as being separate from your true being, the journey begins.