" AWARENESS "

posted on 29 November 2014 | posted in Information

Psychology says that man is one-tenth conscious. What sort of being will he be if he develops the remaining nine-tenth of his consciousness? Every particle of existence is filled with consciousness. Atoms have been discovered to possess consciousness and they therefore move intelligently. Yogis have realised, through deep meditation, that the ultimate stuff of matter is consciousness. In its intrinsic nature, consciousness or awareness is pure, beyond name, form and colour: it is formless. It is the Nirvana of Buddha, the Kingdom of Heaven of Jesus and the Sat-Chit-Ananda of the Upanishads. Man is conscious of himself as a body, rarely as a mind; he is completely ignorant of his essence as consciousness. We think and act, but thought and action have a substratum and that is Pure Consciousness who is a Witness, a Seer of all that happens in our body, mind as well as in the whole existence.

As has been mentioned above, man is nine-tenth in the mud of unconsciousness. Therefore the greatest part of our being is pervaded by darkness. Darkness means death, ignorance, fear and many other negative aspects. All vices take birth and sprout from the deep recesses of the unconscious. Priests, moralists and other religious leaders always say that it is incumbent upon man to do good, to love and practise virtues. All these are followed just like one who is drunk says 'yes" without being aware of what is being said. People follow virtues blindly, without understanding the meaning behind them. Unconscious virtues are carbon copies. Virtue is a by-product of expanded awareness which enlightens the remaining nine-tenth of the unconsciousness which haunts the mind. Awareness is like a guardian which burns all evil and transforms it into virtue. Unconsciousness means that the master within is deeply asleep and the servant is creating disorders.

All evil that exists in the world today, that has existed in the past and that will exist in the future is unconsciousness. People often say, "I did it in a flash of anger, now I regret it, I was not aware." Therefore if one is aware, one will master one's anger. Jesus said to his disciples, when in Gethaway garden, "Remain awake and watch so that ye do not fall into temptation." Here he was referring to awareness, he asked to remain aware, to watch the mind so that the inner darkness does not create fear, doubt, low spirit, discouragement and other weaknesses. The only solution to all problems existing in the world as well as in the mind is awareness. We should cultivate more and more awareness. God is Omniscient because He is Infinite Awareness pervading every particle of all dimensions of existence.

It is so easy to say "Be good and do good", but rarely has anybody shown the way to achieve it. Become more conscious of the mind and its movement, practise stillness of the mind under the guidance of an adept in that art, then by and by, one will know that one's essence is Pure Awareness which is beyond all excitations of jealousy, greed, anger, hatred, lust and other vices. If a watchman is well awake with a gun in his hands, no robber will dare approach the house while the former is keeping watch. However anybody can enter the house when the watchman is fully asleep even though he may be armed with a gun. Man possesses the power to discriminate, but he can use this power only if he is awake, aware.

The whole point of religion is to become more and more aware until one attains cosmic awareness. This may seem impossible, but awareness is formless, thus boundless and the one and the same awareness pervades man, animals, plants and all particles. It is this same awareness which makes a saint a saint, a wise man wise. Man lives because he is aware; though to a small degree, plants, stones, the whole existence are aware. Having acquired expanded awareness, man becomes wise, he knows the source of life, the raison d'être of his being. Only awareness brings understanding and only understanding engenders love and only love will change the present world situation. The only and greatest challenge is Awareness.

by Swami Paramananda