Writings

The First Step Towards Awareness

By Theresa Martin

What do we mean when we say that we want to be aware or to be enlightened? Does this conjure up a picture of a serene guru sitting on the top of a mountain with seekers trekking up to visit? There are six billion humans on the planet. We all have the potential to be enlightened but the world will not function well if we are all sitting in serenity on the top of a mountain. We are here to express, create and experience life and we have six billion different ways to do that. We are creating our lives with or without awareness.

Awareness is about seeing the truth; it is about not believing the lies that you tell yourself. The first step towards awareness is to realize that you really believe yourself. Look at all the opinions that you have. You are certain about how things are and how they should be.

Here is an innocuous example: Jane believes that it is very rude for a house guest to come to stay without brining a gift. She invites her friend, Sally, to stay with her. Sally shows up empty-handed. Jane is so certain that Sally has chosen to be rude that she gets really angry. However, Jane also believes that it is not okay to express her anger so she does not say anything directly to Sally. Instead, she is grumpy and short. Sally has no idea what is going on with Jane but it is not enjoyable. When Sally leaves, Jane calls her friends who she knows will agree with her to tell them how rude Sally was. Instead of having a pleasant visit together, Sally and Jane's relationship is strained. This is all because Jane had an opinion about how things should be. She is reacting without awareness.

There are so many ways that we react without awareness. This happens with little things and with big things. When we react to circumstances because we are sure that we are right about our interpretations, we are not free. We have the opportunity to see life differently by using skepticism, particularly with ourselves. Take the first step towards awareness by listening to the opinions that you express and the urgency with which you try to convince others that your opinion is correct. There is no need to judge yourself for what you do, just watch and listen. If you have an argument and you have forgotten to watch yourself, see what happened after you calm down. Replay the argument in your head and watch yourself. See how attached you are to your position. Can you separate from it at all? Take the first step towards not believing yourself and therefore towards freedom by detaching from your opinions.