Sitting by the sea in beautiful Aegina Town ( on a beautiful island in Greece ) the other day, I shut my eyes and simply listened to the sounds all around me.
The sound of the waves was the strongest sound, followed by the high pitched shouts of young children.
I had found a spot that had very few people around, but the sounds of children still drifted up from other beaches further away. Near me, and certainly making his presence known was a very vocal, insistent cricket.Wow, could he chirp!.
I just listened.
No thought, or should I say very little thought ?
I felt too.
I felt the light breeze caress and stroke my skin; I felt in tune with the spirit of nature ; the soul of the sea seemed to be touching me with invisible fingers, whispering secrets that I did not comprehend.
Before I had sat on the beach I had been pondering over Ekhart Tolle's claim on how he had become enlightened. It's an interesting story. After many years of anxiety and depression, after finishing University and not knowing what to do next, he woke up in the middle of the night, full of fear of the future.
There was strong mind activity, and he felt cut off from the World; he was very unhappy. Suddenly a thought came to him that he couldn't live with himself any longer. He then asked himself what this could mean as "there must be two of myself here", because," if I can't live with myself, who is the 'I' and who is the self?"
He asked:" Who am I and who is the self?"
"Who am I and who is this person I can't live with?"
This was his last significant thought he had, before he awoke to the truth.
The answer to this question didn't come as a thought, but as a stepping back from thought. He then knew- not through thinking- that the unhappy self he thought he was, was not real. The unhappy self then vanished, because he did not identify with it.
Later, Tolle realized that sense perceptions, thoughts and emotions make up the mix of our experiences .But, behind all these is the fundamental basis of being, without which none of it would happen.Without awareness nothing would be. It is awareness that makes all things possible.
I was contemplating this by the sea, just before I cut off my thoughts and simply listened to the sounds all around. Suddenly I knew that the awareness was me, the real me. Awareness was no longer stuck, in a prison in my thinking machine. Now it was and is.
It was a feeling of absolute certainty; absolute wonder with no sense of time at all, and no sense of'I'.
A feeling of harmony and peace like no other.
Later, when I was thinking again, I knew that the awareness is me, you and everybody.
This awareness is vastly superior to our ego perception. It knows everything, because it is in everything; it makes everything possible. This awareness is you.
It is impossible to let this awareness be whilst we are engaged in our frenzied activities in this fevered dream. It can only be known when we create a space in our consciousness, as I had done on the beach.
There is hope though. We can do this throughout the day.We can practice mini- meditations. It need only take a minute.
Whilst doing any activity, whether it's doing a tax return (ha, ha, ha) or surfing the net, you can look away from what you are doing and either close your eyes, or stare at a a flower or an object. Then, try to stop thinking( so easy, I know!) and just be. Let awareness be. Be aware only. No thought.
Mini- meditations like this can be done throughout the day.
You'll be surprised to find that if you have a problem that you have been unable to solve, after these mini- meditations, you will suddenly find the answer.
The more mini- meditations you do, the more you will find that you feel happier and more peaceful, and that life is no longer such an uphill struggle.
Life becomes a beautiful adventure.
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