Here’s a Holiday from the 2026 India Intensive. When you see this <<<<>>>> stop and rest in the recognition of what is shared.
A Paradigm Shift
Today, let’s just be fully blown, wide open and notice some things.
Obviously attention is quite often going to thoughts. And thoughts feel like a very intimate experience. It feels like they’re us and we’re convinced that that is who we are. So thoughts feel very intimate and very compelling, and that’s completely fine, no problem about that at all.
But when we notice attention going there, just come out into the sun. The sun, which is pure knowing, pure being untouched by anything. Just like now.
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Just to consciously be this, blown wide open. Not inside of anything or contracted around anything at all, but completely open, completely free. Just be there for a moment.
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No words are needed, but one word that comes to mind would be aware.
I don’t prefer to use the word awareness because that has a subtle potential of being turned into an object, but simply aware. Can’t deny it.
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And notice, is aware located someplace, inside the head or something like that? Isn’t aware blown wide, open, ubiquitous, not limited, somewhere not located anywhere?
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With eyes open, we can easily recognize all of the visual objects and without labeling any of them, the myriad objects perceived with the visual sense all appear here within aware.
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That includes any of the visual objects associated with your body, your hands. Maybe they’re in the periphery of your aware, knowing, the legs, maybe part of the nose. All of these objects called ‘my body’ are here in aware.
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Any sounds that may be occurring in your environment are also here within aware.
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Any sensations happening within the body. And the body is really only a mass of different sensations, both gross and subtle moving, changing, vibrating, constantly. Notice all of those sensations appear within aware.
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Even thoughts passing through the scenery of experience, notice, those happen within aware as well.
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Is this aware something that you are doing? Is it a verb, an action? Or perhaps is it much more intimate than that?
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Aware is the nature of what I am. It is what I am - aware.
I’m not doing aware. I’m not even being aware. I am aware.
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So within me, aware, all of the objects of perception, all of the objects of the body and the mind and emotions and thoughts have their momentary display.
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So the way to be free is quite simple once it’s recognized. It’s not esoteric, it’s not philosophical, it’s not complicated. It doesn’t require practice. It just requires being free, aware.
Know yourself, instead of as this body mind, know yourself as aware. And be that consistently.
🙏