What Does “Look Within” Mean? Where Is In?

Category Ego, Enlightenment, Surrender

We’ve all heard the famous instruction to “look within.” it comes in many forms.

“The Kingdom of God is within you.”

“All Truth is within.”

What on earth does that mean? Where is in? How do we look at it? How do we find it? Our eyes can only look outside of us. How are we supposed to look within?

Awareness Watching Awareness

When one begins to ask themselves, “What am I?’ the question will ultimately lead to the dissolution of the very person asking the question. The “I” that I’m seeking does not exist. The only aspect of “you” that is always there no matter what is the non-personal awareness. You are awareness.

Now awareness can be focused on what’s part of the illusion including thoughts, ideas, other people, my own body, the world, and so on. When we watch our thoughts, we can use our awareness (what’s real) to simply watch the thoughts (what’s unreal) pass by without identifying with them.

Alternatively, we can point the awareness (what’s real) directly at itself. Let’s try this now.

Notice the aspect of you that is aware of these words, the location you’re in, that’s aware of what’s being seen, heard, and felt. Notice that there is something that is aware of these sensations.

Next, actually become aware of the fact that you are aware.

By doing this, by being awareness watching awareness, you are now TRULY looking at your Self. By doing this, you are not going through the mind or engaging in any ego illusion. The illusion is being pierced straight through. When one loses focus on the awareness itself, the awareness is now focused back on the illusion and has lost touch with Reality.

Spirituality and Self-Realization Is That Simple

There’s so many distractions along the path of Self-realization. All enlightenment comes down to is realization your true nature. Things like crystals, manifestation, chanting, brain wave altering, channeling, and all other sorts of practices may certainly help you experience phenomena, but they will not give you the realization of the Self.

Realizing your true nature involves seeing through the illusions and keeping your attention focused solely and squarely on the Self, the awareness.

By doing this, the mind will begin to grow quieter and quieter as it progressively unravels. It will still kick and scream from time to time and continue to flare up occasionally, but when it does, simply surrender away the juice the mind gets from those experiences and it will lose its grip over you. By seeing yourself as awareness, this will progressively weaken and ultimately dissolve all identification with thoughts and with the mind.

You will then start to have “spiritual experiences” whereby you have glimpses of your true nature, and these experiences will be more real than anything of this world. These experiences will increase in frequency and duration until they become your permanent state.

There ya go. Self-realization.

It’s Awareness Watching Awareness.

All else is to be surrendered to God.

Continued Discussion | Post a Forum Comment

_______________________________________________________________________________________

If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to updates via RSS, Twitter or email to receive fresh content free of charge.

This site is supported by your generous donations. If this site has provided you with value, consider donating as a way of expressing your appreciation. =)

11 Responses to “What Does “Look Within” Mean? Where Is In?”

Jarrod - Warrior Development said:

I have trouble conceptulising awareness watching awareness.

The way I feel it is that awareness has a certain feel to it. When I am aware I feel like I am able to hold(feel) the awareness.

I think it is the same as what you are talking about.

It was a good experience trying to be awareness watching awareness, it helps me push to greater levels. A practice I should do more often.

Jarrod – Warrior Developments last blog post..Fear and the Pizza Man

Ariel Bravy Reply:
August 29th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
One thing that was realized recently was that awareness isn’t something “I” do or attain. It’s the true nature of what we are. It is only the false self which tries to experience something.

What I noticed in meditation was when I tried to “do” awareness, the mind would jump in and try to insert itself behind awareness and grab an identity as awareness, to think about awareness, and so on.

It almost seems like the process should be less forced than I initially realized, like it should arise naturally.
Lance said:

This is a powerful concept for me Ariel. I need to work with it during some quiet time, but initially it looks to be a great way to help me understand who I am. I think we have a lot of noise going on in our head, and this might be a real way to quiet the noise so we can really “hear” who we are.

Lances last blog post..Dreams For Our World

Ariel Bravy Reply:
August 31st, 2008 at 3:41 am
@Lance: I’m really glad to hear that you’re going to actually put this into practice yourself. Words shouldn’t be taken at face value without experiential verification.
Ant said:

It is a state of flow, which comes on it’s own when ‘you’ disappears enough to let it exist within. You cannot ‘obtain’, ‘capture’ or ‘emulate’ the flow. It is always there, ready to slip into your stream of consciousness whenever you are ready. But it’s not a readyness that can be prepared for, it’s something you let be, by being yourself, and honoring each and every moment, amen.

Ants last blog post..Soul Type Quiz – Results

Ariel Bravy Reply:
August 31st, 2008 at 3:43 am
@Ant: Amen.
BINNOY said:

DEAR ARIEL
I would like to know how is the process of focussing awareness on itself and allowing the moment without resistance different in their dynamics

Ariel Bravy Reply:
March 1st, 2009 at 5:25 pm
Find out for yourself. Thy’re two different parts to a larger whole. To find the difference in their dynamics, your own experience will be better than anything I could ever say.
binnoy said:

DEAR ARIEL
may be as i tried to find out the difference between the two was as follows;
1]allowing the moment to be breaks ones habit of hitting the hammer(mind) against the natural flow of life.
2]Foccusing awareness on itself is an act of making detached yourself from external circumstances thus becoming unaffected from results,outcomes,experiences etc.This allows one to know ones true nature.

But then may be to be enlightened only the second exercise is necessary since the first one i.e allowing the now to be without resistance would be nothing but a direct effect of detaching yourself from circumstances and outcomes.
Would love to hear it from you
WITH LOVE aLWaYS
BINNOY
preeti said:

Ariel, If one is aware is there anything left to be surrender. Please reply ,what do you mean by , “All else is to be surrendered to God.”

Ariel Bravy Reply:
March 7th, 2009 at 7:01 am
What you are not, that can be surrendered away.

Comment on the Forums

Blog comments are now closed. You may continue this discussion in the Forums by following the link below.