THOUGHTLESSNESS (THROUGH THE GRACE OF AWARENESS)

Let’s view Thoughtless ness in steps… its a process that unravels within…At first we are wholly involved with our thoughts: we know no difference between our thoughts and us. We experience their many highs and lows as life, reality and the natural way of being....

Then as we journey from self to Self and move into forgiveness, non judgment, acceptance… a gamut of thoughts are spontaneously reduced…

Then at some point, the grace of awareness makes us aware that we are not our thoughts, it triggers the ‘ah’ frisson of possibility, but yes at this point there is still a struggle, between being our thoughts… and being able to witness them. It takes time & effort to move into witnessing, which usually happens after the event/thoughts/reactions have come & gone. There is a time lapse…what I refer to as: “The gap exists”.....

With time, practice & indeed the grace of deepening awareness we begin to move into witnessing quicker, abide their longer & firmer ‘The gaps are still present…but they are decreasing / shortening”....

At some point we straddle both, we are able to witness even while the thoughts are happening, witnessing is becoming more natural… thoughtlessness is beginning

Initially thoughtlessness is this witnessing, it’s not ‘no thoughts’, but the experience of not being our thoughts or their ups and downs- we can call this moving beyond duality, equanimity, bliss … (or the many ways people describe this state)...

As we abide here, in this thoughtlessness of not being our thoughts even as they are happening, as we abide in this awareness that ‘our’ seeming thoughts are just the happenings of the cosmic play… dis-identification begins to happen, we engage not in them, and without the life force of our focus they recede into the 'background’ so to say. Without their static, without the mind (thoughts)… awareness turns within… we get immersed in true Self… no outer cosmos….bliss… Authentic beingness…pure thoughtlessness… no words to describe

Once we have experienced this thoughtlessness... it comes to us faster... and easier... till we will abide here ....and willfully move out only as and when required to play out our roles in any Now... !

The paradox: When awareness is focused externally: I am awareness and not that which I am aware of. When awareness is focused within: I am not awareness but ‘That’ which I am aware of. 

Of course at a deeper level, awareness and That are always present together, if either is missing neither is! When focused externally and we abide as awareness and not that which we are of… the that… life, maya, events, thoughts exist for awareness to have something to be aware of! And when awareness turns within and we are not the awareness but That (Absolute) which we are aware of… awareness exists or how could we be aware of unawareness- That!

Beloved friends, this can be expressed in many many ways, simply sharing one simple imagery:

One can practice this meditatively: very briefly put:  As you sit in meditation allow yourself to be engaged with/distracted by your thoughts…; then introduce the awareness that you are not these thoughts….; view the struggle between getting entangled in thoughts and witnessing them….but as you keep coming back to witnessing, the gaps decrease....; at some point you are aware thoughts are present but they are not you…yes you keep slipping back into being the thoughts as you are still present (however reduced ) so insert a chant here… the chant becomes the thought…! The chant works in its own ways - both energetically… and due to repetition  the mind  subsides as it needs variety /input to keep it alive and kicking)… and as the minds dissolve…there is no you… thoughtlessness/meditation happens! Hark: ‘you’ cannot try to move into deeper thoughtlessness as then you are present… just witness… allows it all to happen…

Divyaa Kummar