I've been away from
blogging for a while working on some writing and other projects, also
I ran out of things I wanted to rant about, but they've started to
build up again so I'm back!
Let's re-kick off with
this Conscious TV interview from 2010 with philosopher Timothy Freke. Tim is discussing the exploration of consciousness through the
practice of meditation and for me it's one of the most enlightening
discourses I've comes across on the subject.
Tim describes
meditation as the act of becoming 'conscious that you are conscious',
turning awareness away from the world and back in on itself to become
aware of the thing that is aware. He then compares this to entering
the relaxed and peaceful state of deep sleep, but doing so
consciously. And this is what the whole thing about watching the
breath is for, by keeping some of our attention anchored in the world
we don't fall off the cliff entirely into unconscious sleep.
The relationship
between the meditative state and the sleep state is one that I feel
there's great value in expanding upon. Everyone is already an expert
at falling asleep and therefore it's a great starting point to
explain meditation. There is also a paradox that I wrestled with for
years regarding meditation, in that it seemed to me to be inherently
contradictory that by sitting and doing something I could enter a
state of non-doing. But I encounter this same contradiction every
night when I say 'I am going to sleep'. Who is going to do this? The 'me' that is carrying this task out disappears at some point into
the darkness of unconsciousness. And yet, this is a contradiction
that I and everybody else is completely comfortable with! It's only
when we encounter the same contradiction in meditation that we trip
ourselves up.
What I do now in my own
practice is sit and spend a minute or so 'anchoring' myself in my
breath or bodily sensations, essentially moving my awareness out into
the world. I then just allow myself to fall asleep, allow my
awareness to sink back into that deep conscious place that feels like
it exists in the back of my head. When I feel myself sinking into
that, I start to moment by moment alternate my awareness between
extending forwards into the world and falling backwards into deep
consciousness. Between the dream and the dreamer. I quite often do
this by extending outwards on the in breath and falling backwards on
the out breath. It really does feel quite amazing, like being deep
asleep and wide awake at the same time, having that relaxation but
also an alertness.
This is distinct from
the 'self enquiry' practices where one contemplates a question such
as 'who am I?' in order to peel back the layers and reveal our still
conscious centre. I'm not against this practice, I think it really
does shake up our concepts of self as being identified with
thought, I find that I am not that! But I find that by doing this I
become aware of a deeper field of consciousness without really
sinking into it, I still experience myself in the centre of my head
look into this deep field. What I'm talking about is letting go of
the sense of self and falling into the deep conscious field where by
identification with it rather than the cognitive mind automatically arises. That could sound rather esoteric and difficult but not if I think of
it as being just the same as falling asleep!
Note - I'm aware that this is probably not the clearest piece of blogging I've ever done, you'll probably need to know something of the subject matter already to have a clue what I'm going on about. I'm hoping to write more in the future in a way that makes these kind of concepts more accessible.
You can find out more about Tim Freke, his books and seminars at -
Many more such excellent interviews are available at the Conscious TV homepage -
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Hi! I've just come to your site via a link from Tim to watch the 'meditation' video. I read your blog first so havent watched it yet. I totally resonate with you - but(!!!)(there always seems to be one, but dont panic, it's tiny) when trying to Express in 'words' what 'IT' is or how 'it' should be labelled the AAhhhrrr! sets in. Let me explain. I too am seeking a way to Express these ideas about that part of us which unites us all, that aspect which is whole and not separate, within which we can all join if we re.cognise 'IT'. It's about LANGUAGE for me the biggest paradox & divine conundrum. You see my problem is how I refer to 'IT'. I use the word 'Self' in its largest, most infinite sense, because at the core we ARE at one with 'it' - the EXPERIENCE OF ONENESS is within this experience of being alive so it must be a part of the larger 'Self'. - In my website (which should be a blog really!) I attempt to talk about this aspect of our whole selves & my passion is to encourage folk to feel this 'connection' more & more in their daily lives (through listening actually, so I'm off on a tangent - I think you understand this dilema!)' - So my point is, when I (for example) use the word 'self' I am not necessarily including the ego or personality which makes us unique, but the larger part which unites.
ReplyDeletehey ho! http://selfexpress-ur-unique.weebly.com/self-dis-covery.html - Do let me know your thoughts - we all need reflection I think. in appreciation - now for the video!
I enjoyed this blog post. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteMeditation for Sleep