Much of our lives is spent in giving attention to objects on the outer plane and to pleasures derived from the five senses. There is much to see in this world, to hear and touch, taste and smell. All day, every day, the attention is held by the allure of sense objects, by thoughts, lofty or otherwise, and by feelings. Day in and day out, from the cradle to the grave attention is drawn to the movements in mind, to desires, and to instinctual demands. Perhaps we would do well to reflect more deeply just what it is that gives the attention.
If we stop for a moment and reflect on the power of attention as it flows effortlessly outward from within – the effortless outflowing of awareness which embraces all in its line of trajectory: the thought-forms of mind, the feelings of the heart, and the forms of the outer world, we may ask ourselves: Where is the source of this outflowing? We call it ‘I’ and recognise it as the Observing Consciousness. When the body is still, feelings are at rest, and the mind is free of thought there it is – the Witnessing Consciousness, distinct from all that is perceived.
In the course of daily living the outward flow of attention is caught in some form of identification. Arrested by some thought or feeling, it is used to manipulate and so covet the desired object which is then claimed as a personal possession. The tendency to identify with perceived objects results in complete forgetfulness of the witnessing consciousness. This state of captured attention is considered a normal state of being; the world becomes a stage and all are merely players in a vast field of illusion; we become the stuff as dreams are made on and the inner life is swaddled in a sleep.
As we begin to recognise the mistake of identification with sense objects and the world of mind and feelings, attempts are made to identify with the power of observation itself; the focus of attention shifts away from the objects of sense and towards the Observing Consciousness. As if directed by a greater force, the attention is gradually drawn inwards toward a more subtle appreciation of what truly IS. In this shift of attention there is a growing sensitivity to That Which lies beyond the three worlds and a deepening experience of all that engages the attention in the needed direction. The love of stillness and the quiet joy it brings become the preferred goal.
As the Observing Consciousness takes control of the mind and body it becomes steadier in relation to the three worlds, bestowing the powers of discrimination between the real and the unreal. Truth is glimpsed. In the deepening stillness there is certainty of the Soul’s existence, and a perceived knowledge of the Kingdom of Souls of which the individual Soul is a part. One glimpses the true destiny of Man which is to enter this Kingdom and to merge in full wakefulness with Those Who have gone beyond the limited human condition.
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