Most of the time, you probably don't think much about your ability to fully understand what's going on with you and around you at any given moment. In other words, you are not particularly aware of your ability to understand the current situation. However, this ability is very important for almost everything you do. Watching TV, preparing for an exam, warming up food, driving a car, listening to music, or talking to a friend, you know what you're doing, i.e. focusing on what's going on right now.
First of all, what does it mean to be aware of the current situation? Are there situations in your life when you are not quite aware of what is happening to you at the moment? And now say it to yourself: "I am fully aware that... Repeat this exercise over and over again, paying attention to where the full awareness of the current situation leads you.
Which feelings, internal or external, do you realize more? Doesn't your awareness of the current situation focus on one particular object or feeling? Or is awareness comprehensive and universal? Simply note how your awareness moves through the objects. Do not try to correct it in any way.
Does it jump quickly from one object to another or does it move slowly, lingering on each object for a long time, before continuing its journey? Experiment with the acceleration and deceleration of these consciousness movements and notice how they feel. Perhaps your awareness is attracted to some objects and events and does not linger on others. What exactly does your awareness return to again and again? What kind of "meetings" does it seem like it deliberately avoids?
And now experiment with a gentle "pushing your consciousness from one object to another, forcibly re-focusing it. Looking at the sounds: You may notice that for a moment you forget about your hands or unpleasant feelings in your back or knees. Try to focus on one object and hold on to it for as long as possible. How long have you been able to hold on to one object before it switches to another?
Training your awareness and control
The journey to the world of meditation begins with awareness training or attention. Essentially, awareness is a kind of mental muscle that leads you all the way through life, from start to finish. Whichever method you choose to meditate on, the secret to meditation is to train, focus and manage your awareness. By the way, attention is just a slightly focused awareness, and I use these terms in my book almost as synonyms.
To get a clearer idea of how awareness functions, let's look at another metaphor, light. You take light for granted, but unless you develop the special skills and sensitivity of blind people, you are unlikely to live without light. (Have you ever looked for an object in a completely dark room?) The same can be said of awareness. You may not realize that you are aware of what is going on around you, but you can't do without awareness.
Light can be used in many ways. You can create a lighting system that illuminates your room with soft, diffuse light. You can focus the light like a flashlight beam to help you find the right object in a dark room. Or you can focus the light into a laser beam that will cut through a sheet of steel or send a message to distant planets.
And in meditation, awareness can be used in many ways. First, you can develop the ability to be aware of what is happening around you and to concentrate on an object.
Then, by improving your ability to concentrate, you can, through training for receptive awareness, extend this awareness to cover everything you see, like a "streamlined" lighting system.
Next, you can concentrate even more to try to cultivate positive emotions and moods in yourself. Or you can use awareness to explore your inner world and reflect on the nature of being itself.
These four elements concentration, receptive awareness, cultivation and reflection are the main ways to use awareness in all meditation traditions of the world.
Now experiment with a gentle "pushing your consciousness from one object to another by forcefully re-focusing it. Looking at the sounds: you may notice that for a moment you forget about your hands or unpleasant feelings in your back or knees. Try to focus on one object and hold on to it for as long as possible. How long have you been able to hold on to one object before it switches to another?