F I V E

AWARENESS

I found my ‘-ness’ when I heard Tim Ferris recommend Awareness by Anthony De Mello. This section is the most crucial section to understand and practice. Doing so will bring you the peace and joy so many people are searching for. I can’t do Anthony De Mello justice by summarizing his book into this short space, so do yourself a favor and read Awareness. The whole book is quotable. Being aware is the glue I hinted at on the opening page. This is the topic that I believe is grossly underrated, and no one discusses nearly enough. 

What is awareness? 

Awareness is when you open your eyes. I’m not talking about the way you open your eyes when your alarm goes off for work; I’m talking about really opening your eyes. We miss so much beauty day in and day out because our eyes aren’t really open. Anthony De Mello describes awareness as “waking up” because so many people are asleep. He says, “Most people, even though they don’t know it, are asleep. They never understand the loveliness and the beauty of this thing that we call human existence.”

When you start recognizing minor occurrences, then you are on your way to waking up. You can see all the tiny intricacies throughout a day that add up to create a magical moment, or as my dad says, divine intervention–such as taking an unusual route home and running into an old friend.

Unfortunately, there are thousands of things that we miss out on daily because we have programmed our brains to miss them. In the book, Molecule of More, the authors summarize the state of being asleep by saying, “Instead of enjoying the beauty of a flower, we imagine only how it would look in a vase on our kitchen table. Instead of smelling the morning air and looking at the sky, we consult the weather app on our smartphone, neck bent, oblivious to the world around us.” 

Awareness can only happen in the present. It relies on the here and now molecules, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins. 

Let’s see if you are awake or asleep. What do you see when you look at a tree during the summer? Do you only see the leaves, the branches, and the tree trunk? Only see the colors green and brown? This is the sleep state. 

The awakened state is when you are able to see that each leaf is unique and different, each branch is not the same length, size, or shape and extends from the tree trunk with no particular pattern. The tree trunk has different variations from the bottom to the top. The tree colors have multiple shades of green and brown depending on the light of the day. With each passing minute, that tree can look different. Do you notice the insects, birds, and butterflies in your view of that tree? 

See the difference between being asleep and being awake? That’s only the visual aspect and didn’t incorporate other sensory inputs like the auditory system, which would include the rustling of the leaves when the wind picks up–allowing you the ability to visualize wind, the chirps of the birds nearby, the buzzing sound of a bee approaching you with curiosity. 

Once you really see the tree when you’re awake, you will become curious and baffled about the tree. How old is it? How big are the roots? How is it even possible for a tree to grow that big? How did trees even start to grow on Earth in the very beginning? 

This is the awakened state. 

Awareness & Curiosity

If you want to see real awareness in action, then turn to children. They are full of awareness because their brains haven’t hit the programming stage that society and cultures install. Kids are always asking questions. They want to know what everything is, how everything works. They show zeal with the smallest things, like my nephew when he sees a bug, things that adult programmed brains have seen thousands of times, and hit the snooze button, resulting in laughter at the kid’s excitement and naivety. 

Kids live in the present moment. Everyone has an inner child within them, but that child has been buried and beaten up by constant criticism and input from society and cultures. Society is constantly telling us to grow up, become more mature, be this and that, day by day, suppressing our inner child. Why would we do that when it’s the inner child that creates the most awakened state? Take the curiosity and zest for life from children and implement it into your life, becoming a very sophisticated adult child. Let your inner child start shining more light into your life, and you will experience the miraculous existence of being a human being again. 

Self-Awareness

Think of self-awareness as constantly observing yourself, your thoughts, actions, emotions, desires, etc. It’s a reality tv show starring your brain, and you are the co-star. We should know who we are as a person from every aspect; the good, the bad, and the ugly. We take the time to learn the ins and outs of our jobs and hobbies but don’t take the time to learn about ourselves. 

Who am I? Am I aware of my actions? Am I aware of my thoughts and words? What are my natural strengths? What are my weaknesses? Am I easily stressed out? What do I think about the most throughout my day? Do I judge people? What scenarios do I naturally thrive in that others don’t? Am I aware of my reactions? Anthony De Mello says, “cut out all the judgments and simply observe, watch. You’ll make great discoveries. These discoveries will change you.”

You’re not going to change the bad and the ugly habits overnight. It will take a long time, but it doesn’t take a long time to acknowledge the bad and the ugly and become aware of them. 

The quickest way to self-awareness is through solitary. Don’t have any distractions while you are alone; no television, no cell phones, nothing to read. Humans are scared to be alone because that’s when we have to deal with our thoughts. You’re scared because you haven’t become friends with the brain; it’s the enemy to most people.

In reality, your brain wants you to be alone with your thoughts. The brain wants you to know what’s going on inside yourself. It wants to become one with the rest of your body. Your brain wants you to understand what scares it, what worries it, what excites it, what causes your unique emotions.

Many people confuse being alone with loneliness, but you will know the drastic difference once you have become self-aware. You will choose to be alone because you will see just how many people are still asleep. 

Read: 

Awareness by Anthony De Mello — this is one of two books that I recommend the most. Reading this has brought me the most peace. Once you are able to truly understand the concepts Anthony De Mello talks about, this will be the only self-help book that 100% works. 

S I X

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