Name: Being Aware of Being Aware
ISBN: 9781626259966

Rupert Spira

The overlooking of our own being is the root cause of all unhappiness and, therefore, the root cause of our search for happiness. This collection of contemplations, the first volume in the Essence of Meditation series, will lead readers toward their own experiential understanding of that which we all call I, inviting them to relax into awareness and explore their true nature."

Being Aware of Being Aware

Everybody is aware, all seven billion of us. We are aware of thoughts, feelings, sensations, and perceptions. All people share the experience of being aware, but relatively few people are aware that they are aware. Most people’s lives consist of a flow of thoughts, images, ideas, feelings, sensations, sights, sounds, and so on. Very few people ask, 'What is it that knows this flow of thoughts, feelings, and perceptions? With what am I aware of my experience?' The knowing of our being—or rather, awareness’s knowing of its own being in us—is our primary, fundamental and most intimate experience. It is in this experience that the peace, happiness and love for which all people long reside. The happiness we have sought so long outside of ourselves, in situations, objects and relationships, turns out to be always present and available in the simple knowing of our own being as it truly is. The knowing of our own being shines in each of us as the experience ‘I am’ or ‘I am aware’, or simply the knowledge ‘I’. This obvious, familiar and intimate experience has no objective qualities and is, therefore, overlooked or ignored by the majority of people. This overlooking of our own being is the ultimate cause of unhappiness. What is the nature of the experience of being aware or awareness itself? The exploration of this question is the subject matter of this book and the essence of the Direct Path to peace and happiness. * * * The Essence of Meditation Series presents meditations on the essential, non-dual understanding that lies at the heart of all the great religious and spiritual traditions, compiled from contemplations led by Rupert Spira at his meetings and retreats. This simple, contemplative approach, which encourages a clear seeing of one’s experience rather than any kind of effort or discipline, leads the reader to an experiential understanding of their own essential being and the peace and fulfillment that are inherent within it. Being Aware of Being Aware is the first and introductory volume in The Essence of Meditation Series.

Lance Willett

Spira is a bit more compelling in audio form, yet this book expands on his core message of our true nature.

Peace and happiness are not, as such, objective experiences that the mind has from time to time; they are the very nature of the mind itself.

Just as the clouds are the veiling of the blue sky, so unhappiness is the veiling of happiness. ...We cannot know happiness as an objective experience; we can only be it. We cannot be unhappy; we can only know unhappiness as an objective experience.

The book remains practical as much as it is magical:

However, it is important to recognise that the inward-facing path explored in this book is only half the journey. Once the essential, irreducible nature of the mind has been recognised, and its inherent peace and unconditional joy accessed, it is necessary to face ‘outwards’ again towards objective experience, realigning the way we think and feel, and subsequently act, perceive and relate, with our new understanding.

My takeaway: look first to yourself, to know your true nature, then look outward again to live in accordance with that meaning.

Hat tip: Akshay Kapur.

Being Aware of Being Aware

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