Scott, Quick question. With awareness watching awareness are objects of perception “in” awareness or “same as” awareness?
Christi, Can you really say awareness is an object? This is not just a nit-picky point, IMO. But fundamental.
I mention this because why most people start with mantra is because of thoughts and distractions. Thoughts are attachments. Distractions are fixations/identifications.
When we get to awareness as awareness there is this final, subtle tether… awareness.
had another session of AWA today but mine are less than 2 hours; honestly put it was amazing and i agree with Scott this practice is really gooddd and seems to cover a lot of stuff and strengthens pratyahara in precise.
light and love,
Ananda
Christi,
Yes, I practiced AYP for about a year and a half, and it wasn’t for me. At one point, I wasn’t able to sit cross legged for a minute, because I’d become ungrounded. I took a break for a while, then took up AWA for over a year, and it was more of a path for me. Balanced things out energetically…but at the same time it seemed to bypass energetic problems (think of it being more like an inner silence method and not at all an ecstatic method) so there was no actual healing. I stopped after a while, because I didn’t have the time to be meditating for many hours each day. Now I’ve been practicing something else for a year and a half, and am finally actually healing these problems in a way that fits me. In my book, I’m still not ripe. In my opinion, ripe would mean that you go see a guru, and with one glance, you’re enlightened…or something close to that. Contrary to that, I’m very aware that I have quite a bit to heal.
I disagree that someone has to be at a certain level before practicing this.
Konchok Osel Dorje,
The two are inseparable…but that’s not really relevant to the actual practice of this.
You’re already abiding. Anything else added won’t last.
I don’t say that as a cliche neo-advaita statement, or something that will help with this practice. It’s just that the spiritual path is not something the ego can take advantage of, and get something from.
Linking this to the enquiry on another thread by truthseeker about his kundalini difficulties, I would say that AWA is, like all effective forms of jnana yoga, uniquely direct and powerful. It is particularly so, because it cuts through the common blockages of getting stuck in subtle materialist conceptions of self or of what is ‘not-this, not-this’.
I echo Christi’s reserve. AWA is a practice to be used with caution by all but those who naturally find themselves spending much time focused on and in awareness. I’d say a good rule of thumb is that it’s fine if someone has come across this practice spontaneously as a result of their own inner work, as a committed jnani will. I find myself nervous about someone promoting it to others who have not discovered it for themselves.
‘Who am I?’ is more self-limiting, in that the effect will depend on your level of realisation/subtlety. AWA is like putting the jump leads together.
I articulated to myself ‘awareness focused on awareness’ as what I was doing at some point in jnana yoga, quite spontanously. I never taught this practice to others, but always started with more traditional jnana practices. I figured that, when they were ready, they would find themselves in this too. And so it has proved.
Perhaps I am too cautious, but I don’t think so, at least in the path of jnana yoga alone. Perhaps it is different if you have a sound basis in the AYP practices at the same time.
chinna
Hi Osel,
Yes… it becomes the point where object and subject merge into one. Language fails us (once again!). This is the transition from being merged with the witness, to the direct experience of Oneness… also called, abiding in the non-dual state. What is it like? Paradise on Earth… even as the Earth is dissolving all around us.
Christi
hi Scott, just wondering what are you practicing now 
The two are inseparable…but that’s not really relevant to the actual practice of this.
So is awareness of awareness the complete path?
Here’s a hint about AWA that makes it safe:
If you think you’re aware of awareness, then what is aware of it?
In other words - drop whatever you think is awareness.
[quote=“Christi”]
Hi Osel,
This passage reminds me of the meaning of the Dharma: “give it up.” Don’t cling to ego; for that clinging the Buddha teaches the wisdom of not finding ego anywhere. For those clinging to non-ego, the Buddha teaches the wisdom of purified ego.
Not this or that. Give it up. The mind in its natural state. The inevitability of enlightenment by staying out of our own way. The blessings pouring down by remaining open. The attainment of effortlessness.
“Freedom” is freedom from all fixation and ideation.
Here’s a hint about AWA that makes it safe:
If you think you’re aware of awareness, then what is aware of it?
In other words - drop whatever you think is awareness.
This is a very subtle level of mental discrimination. My concern is for those who may not have developed such a capacity (and its attendant kundalini resolution) and may be tempted to adopt the practice of AWA because it is promoted as a very direct method of realisation. For one who has this level of discrimination, there is no problem. There is no way of storming heaven before one's time. Attempts to do so just lengthen the journey. chinna
It’s not subtle and doesn’t require any capacity. If you think you are incapable of dropping whatever is in your awareness, then that is a blockage in your belief only. Spending 20 minutes actually trying should change your mind.
Not saying that someone should try a practice that feels wrong to them (or that they believe is potentially harmful). That will set you up for failure.
What I am saying is that those who haven’t practiced this, shouldn’t be commenting on it.
i scd hand Scott on this, the practice is very simple and direct let’s just let people practice and see for themselves if it works for them or not.
some are born with inner silence present as we all know…
and concerning kundalini problems, we know how to handle that stuff now.
so let’s not make people scared of a practice that might be beneficial for them.
light and love,
Ananda
hi all,
after reading the book on the practice more carefully and experience with the practice more i’ve come to realize that this is not an enquiry practice it’s just a form of meditation and “an effective one to say the least.”
and it can be practiced by people at any level, the results are progressive.
and this topic should be transferred to the other systems of spiritual practices forum.
namaste
Moderator note: Topic moved for better placement
Hi Ananda and all,
It is true that in some cases people are born with inner silence present. They are already ripe. But we don’t need to worry about those people… they are already beyond the stage of concern. It is also true that some people know how to manage Kundalini excesses, but not everyone. At this point in time, I would say, not the vast majority of the population, or even the vast majority of those undertaking spiritual practices.
Once someone has naturally abiding inner silence present, and at least some of the major purification work is out of the way, then I would say this is a great practice to be undertaking. The question for any AYP practitioner though would be, does it add anything on top of Deep Meditation? If it doesn’t, then it may not be so usefull for someone with a limited amount of time available twice a day and the whole of humanity to serve in between.
For someone with plenty of time on their hands, then this practice could easily be incorporated into the AYP routine, watching out for the energetic impact of doubling up on practices. If someone is not following the AYP programme, but instead are putting together a routine of spiritual practices taken from various places, I would advise them to employ the system of self-pacing used in the AYP approach when adding any powerful meditation practices to their routine. That way, the worse cases of energetic overload can be avoided.
Christi
hi Christy, as i said before i do this practice at night time and i think most people can arrange that for an hour or so. (and it’s good to have a practice like this one during retreats)
concerning the energetic aspect, this practice seems to quiet things down not the opposite but i still have to give it more experimenting to see where it would lead…
and it does create a habit like samyama does, plus my deep meditation seems to be more deep now…
i should point out that i’ve been having burning bhakti fever like hell for almost three weeks or so and when i go through such phases i usually stumble upon a spiritual person or a new practice and this time i stumbled on both the AWA and a resident from Amma’s ashram who is visiting his home country for a while…
I bought Michael Langford’s book way back in the day.
It was good stuff except you do NOT need to do seated meditation, as Michael Langford demanded in that book. In fact it was way better to employ his techniques in the mall or other public place, which is essentially what I prescribed in the Rainbow Body thread on page 12.
Maybe Michael Langford changed his thinking since the book, but back then he DEMANDED seated meditation, where I am adamant that seated meditation is a hindrance.
Now I do trance meditation as part of other practices, but that has nothing to do with finding the unspeakable essential quality of life.
hi alwayson,
Michael still demands seated meditation, there’s no change in anything.
what i am doing during the day is a personal practice, it’s a slight change in the habit of awareness and enquiry i used to have…
btw i think that this book is a good read for people who are on the spiritual path it’s pretty interesting and brings forth some new insights concerning the ego.
namaste
If thats the case my instructions are better, considering I have indeed practiced Michael Langford’s book.
I even used to do the sitting practice and everything. I will give you his same insight in a fraction of the time, or your money back:)
Walk around and focus intensely on mundane visual and audio details in the present moment. Examples are wrinkles in people’s clothes or a baby crying in the mall. Or the color of the toothbrush handle and the sound of the water faucet. Even the cracks in the sidewalk, or the sounds of a passing airplane. Internal body sensations also count.
Now the second part is to freely use the mind, as long as all thoughts have absolute relevence to the present moment.
Keep this up strictly for all waking hours for two days.
During this time, you will realize that “I” is literally a thought ala Michael Langford. You can even practice it right now. Repeat in your mind “I am looking at a computer screen”, which you are. See how “I” is LITERALLY a thought.
On the later half of the second day, bring to mind various friends and family, and recognize how they exist in your mind as a flawed packet of memories and future projections.