The Knowing That Cannot Stop
El Conocer Que No Puede Detenerse
A reflection on the nature of awareness, how it is never truly separate from what appears within it, and the subtle mental maps that create a false distinction between thought and consciousness.
The Knowing That Cannot Stop
A reflection on the nature of awareness, how it is never truly separate from what appears within it, and the subtle mental maps that create a false distinction between thought and consciousness.
Through all of experience, there is a knowing of what is happening. Whatever is occurring, even if you are totally immersed in thought, there is a knowing of thought. That knowing cannot stop. Even through all the shifts of the mind, the shifts of expansion and contraction, through darkness, through the visual field, whatever is present, the knowing of it is there as well. That is what I would call awareness or consciousness.
The subtle separation between awareness and its contents
When it is said that thoughts appear in awareness or in consciousness, that framing can lead the mind to create an interpretation. It becomes something like water in a glass: there is a thing called awareness, and then there are things that appear inside of awareness. They are said to be not separate, yet they are treated as two different things. So there is a subtle separation there, a subtle distinction. Sure, they are in the same thing, so they are not separate, but they are actually treated as two different entities. You can say, "This laptop is in the same room, in the same space as the table, but they are two separate things." That is a subtle mental map around what awareness is.
You cannot move toward what you already are
If you know consciousness, you cannot move away from it or toward it. It is what you are. So when thoughts are appearing, the movement away from thoughts toward awareness is a fiction. It is a valid practice up until a point, but eventually you start hitting this fictional distinction between thought and awareness, even if thought is understood to be appearing in awareness.
Being with thoughts without a problem
When the direction is given to not do anything, to not try to allow or manage experience, something shifts. It becomes possible to taste a different relationship with thinking: thoughts are here, and you can simply be with thoughts, and there is no problem.