Are You Awake?
October 10th 2006 11:01
'Awake, arise, or be forever fall'n' - John Milton, Paradise Lost
How many of us are truly awake? Or more relevant to this post, how many of us are still asleep?
I ask this question because I have been pondering it for some time & have come to the conclusion that it is possible to live an entire lifetime without ever being truly conscious of oneself.
In order to clarify this I feel it is necessary to explain a little about my own state of mind. About five or six years ago I feel that I had some form of awakening experience (not one particular event but rather a slow, gentle awakening caused by a gradual change of perspective). Nevertheless it is easy for me to draw a very distinct line between different stages of my life & to see that my view of virtually everything before this point was entirely different in comparison to the present. Before this stage, my memory of events seems somewhat hazy, not that I have a bad memory, more that I was just not really paying attention. It seems so different, in fact, that I could describe that era as a past life or a dream.
My explanation of this is very simple & something that Im sure we have all, without exception, had experience of. For example, we have all had that experience when we are lying in bed & cannot remember wether or not we have locked the doors, turned the oven off etc. The more you think of it the more you start to worry as you realise you have absolutely no recollection of doing it. So, eventually you get out of bed and reluctantly take the walk downstairs only to find the doors locked, the oven turned off etc. Once you are satisfied that youre nightly ritual has been performed you can go to bed, sleep & rest in peace. The reason we have no conscious recollection of these acts is simply because they are not performed consciously.
I learned from studying Kung Fu that in order for an action to be performed instantly & without thought it needs to be implanted in the unconscious mind, and can then be utilized with a minimum of effort & deliberation (deliberation being the martial artists greatest enemy). The method used by martial artists to gain this ability is simply repetition of the relevant action. Through repetition & ritualistic behaviour we achieve a state of mind where everyday actions no longer demand our thought or attention. This a highly effective & necessary method of doing things, imagine if you had to make the effort to consciously breathe in and out all day, every day & even in your sleep. Life without this function is virtually impossible. If, however, we allow this ability to go unchecked, it can have very negative consequences for our mental & spiritual evolution.
It is my proposal that it was this state of mind, this unconscious behaviour that dominated my past life & is responsible for not only the sense of detachment I have in relation to that era but also for my previous failure to question anything. It is easy to see how this can happen when your entire life is governed by ritual. For example, getting up at the same time every day, taking the same route to the same job to do the same thing all day, every day, only to leave work, go home, watch Friends & go to bed. None of which really demands any kind of conscious participation, just an ability to carry on. In fact, now I am thinking of it, breaking this cycle of mundane repetition was quite possibly both the most traumatic & liberating experience of my life. I can only imagine how much this must apply to those who are actively encouraged & even forced into this kind of existence, such as a soldier. A life where this ritualism is enforced to such a degree that even the rythm of your footsteps is dictated in exactly the same manner day in & day out until the person becomes little more than a zombie and any sign of breaking this cycle (e.g. marching out of time) is punished in the harshest manner both physically & mentally.
How many of us are truly awake? Or more relevant to this post, how many of us are still asleep?
I ask this question because I have been pondering it for some time & have come to the conclusion that it is possible to live an entire lifetime without ever being truly conscious of oneself.
In order to clarify this I feel it is necessary to explain a little about my own state of mind. About five or six years ago I feel that I had some form of awakening experience (not one particular event but rather a slow, gentle awakening caused by a gradual change of perspective). Nevertheless it is easy for me to draw a very distinct line between different stages of my life & to see that my view of virtually everything before this point was entirely different in comparison to the present. Before this stage, my memory of events seems somewhat hazy, not that I have a bad memory, more that I was just not really paying attention. It seems so different, in fact, that I could describe that era as a past life or a dream.
My explanation of this is very simple & something that Im sure we have all, without exception, had experience of. For example, we have all had that experience when we are lying in bed & cannot remember wether or not we have locked the doors, turned the oven off etc. The more you think of it the more you start to worry as you realise you have absolutely no recollection of doing it. So, eventually you get out of bed and reluctantly take the walk downstairs only to find the doors locked, the oven turned off etc. Once you are satisfied that youre nightly ritual has been performed you can go to bed, sleep & rest in peace. The reason we have no conscious recollection of these acts is simply because they are not performed consciously.
It is my proposal that it was this state of mind, this unconscious behaviour that dominated my past life & is responsible for not only the sense of detachment I have in relation to that era but also for my previous failure to question anything. It is easy to see how this can happen when your entire life is governed by ritual. For example, getting up at the same time every day, taking the same route to the same job to do the same thing all day, every day, only to leave work, go home, watch Friends & go to bed. None of which really demands any kind of conscious participation, just an ability to carry on. In fact, now I am thinking of it, breaking this cycle of mundane repetition was quite possibly both the most traumatic & liberating experience of my life. I can only imagine how much this must apply to those who are actively encouraged & even forced into this kind of existence, such as a soldier. A life where this ritualism is enforced to such a degree that even the rythm of your footsteps is dictated in exactly the same manner day in & day out until the person becomes little more than a zombie and any sign of breaking this cycle (e.g. marching out of time) is punished in the harshest manner both physically & mentally.
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Comment by Anonymous
I guess my thing is to surf the stream of consciousness in whatever form it takes.
Interesting thoughts.
Comment by Gareth
Comment by amy louise
Comment by Gareth
Yeah, it makes perfect sense. thats exactly how i feel. When you think of it in that context it makes sense that enlightenment is often reffered to as an 'awakening' or conversely how those who fail to question things are reffered to as being 'asleep'. think of 'The Matrix', the time since you have felt this way (the last three years) is the time since you have taken the red pill.
Thanks for the comment
Comment by JakeDanger
The Matrix
I would like to point out, though, that many geniuses are extremely absent-minded. I think that's because they put the little things on autopilot in order to free up their minds to concentrate on what matters most to them.
Comment by Gareth
I dont know wether your familiar with Zen philosophy but Zen masters say that most of our problems woth percieving the world are due to our preconceptions and our need to label thngs. I once read a book about Merlin called 'They Way of The Wizard' and the reason merlin is so absent minded is because he has no labels for things, he doesn't know that a deer is a deer, or a tree is a tree. This can be very confusing with regards to communication but from a personal point of view it enables him to see things as they reallyt are without any preconcieved ideas about how they should be.
Comment by Gareth
I dont know wether your familiar with Zen philosophy but Zen masters say that most of our problems woth percieving the world are due to our preconceptions and our need to label thngs. I once read a book about Merlin called 'They Way of The Wizard' and the reason merlin is so absent minded is because he has no labels for things, he doesn't know that a deer is a deer, or a tree is a tree. This can be very confusing with regards to communication but from a personal point of view it enables him to see things as they reallyt are without any preconcieved ideas about how they should be.
Comment by Anonymous