Look at “suffering” again, now cleanly starting from, or AS, Pure Awareness Itself. (And this doesn’t take any “work”—It is this very present Awareness here, now, as It is effortlessly simply being—“pre” all would-be feelings and thoughts. Awareness is the complete absence of trying—yet It still is perfectly present.)
If a feeling or thought of suffering tries to come up, just be alert and ask, “Is this feeling the same as Pure Awareness Itself as It is being here, now? No—it is a feeling—maybe a heavy feeling, or a rumbling, uncomfortable feeling. But wait—is that feeling aware? No. Is it permanently being? No—only Awareness is aware, is being. Well, as Awareness is the only One aware, and being, the only One truly present—what is true of IT? What does IT “feel like”?
In other words, what is Pure Awareness to Itself—to Pure Awareness? Awareness is 100% here right now, so the “answer” to this question also has to be 100% right here, now. It is not an answer gotten by thinking—it is an answer gotten by silently, effortlessly “aware-ing.” It is simply a matter of not ignoring what is already right here and fully functioning.
How much does Awareness weigh to Itself? Is Pure Awareness heavy? How much does NOW, the Present weigh? How far away is Awareness from Its very Presence, therefore from the fullness of Itself?
REALLY CHECK THIS OUT, BE THIS! Why? Because THIS is the very, only One presently aware here in the first place.
Can there honestly be, ever, any “experience” more direct than THIS Present Awareness being Its own Pure Present-ness?!
This is TRUE “direct experience”—It is SELF’S “direct experience” and who else is there?
Stay Here—because You ARE Here. As Awareness, how hard, how dense, is this NOW that You now are? Is NOW an emotion, or emotional? Does Pure Awareness ever feel rumbling? How long does it take before Now-Awareness is totally present to Itself?
Does the changeless NOW suffer? From what—there being only NOW? Does Awareness have to make more contact with the Awareness It already is being right here, now? No! And so on…
This is not done with any sense of labor or struggle because It is what already is, effortlessly “speaking as” Itself. In fact, It “feels” wonderful because now there no longer is all the seeming super-imposed intellectual and emotional opposition to It. Actually, there never was!
The point is—stay “busy” as Present Awareness, which is the only “You” there is. Again, Awareness Itself is the only One who is being here, now. This is entirely the Life of Pure Awareness, not a Peter or any other. So to be honest with or AS what really IS, there has to be a functioning as Present Awareness only. All “interest” must be in being Pure Awareness only—because this is what Awareness Itself honestly is “doing.”
To repeat, there is no attempt to deny thoughts, deny feelings, deny sensations—because Awareness Itself is not doing that. It is 100% busy being Pure Awareness only, being Self-Interested. Sometimes this is called “Awareness watching Awareness” or Awareness aware-ing (being) which is not perfectly accurate, but it’s about as close as words can come.
This Allness (or Fullness) of Pure Awareness Itself does not mean what Awareness, Self, the Infinite, is to a “me,” but what Awareness is to, or AS ITSELF ONLY. Notice there is no mention of thinking. There is no mention of sensations—of what is seen or heard, etc. There is no mention of emotions. Not that there is anything wrong with these—they just are not this Present Pure Awareness. Again, if mentioned at all, they would be un-Awareness.
Full Awareness is not some ultimate, esoteric, or eventual state. Full Awareness ALWAYS is present. Full Awareness never becomes more present. What seems to happen is simply that there is a cessation or dissolving of all the thoughts comprising the “personal me” that assumes it is separate, and only partially aware.
As this Full Awareness-NOW is the ONLY ONE that “ever” can be aware—It leaves no other that also has to, or can, be fully aware. Awareness Itself already is “taking up” all the Awareness there is, which leaves no Awareness for another to be. In fact, Awareness leaves no other to even try to be as aware as Awareness Itself.
The notion of a “me” that also has to be as aware as Full Awareness is not really an actual self—it’s just more of those same assumed thoughts—meanwhile, Full Awareness is unstoppably present and functioning.