Return to the One

 I and the Father are One.

John 10:30

Michael A. Singer, in the below linked podcast, tells us that consciousness is the most important part of our being and real meditation is all about getting back to that Seat we technically never left...the Seat of Consciousness, true awareness, the place from which you notice those objects you are focusing on is where you belong.

You are consciousness...consciounsess is your soul...the essence of your being. Singer

Why are we having the experience that we have left that Seat?

Singer puts it simply using three terms: consciousness- distraction- and identifying.

Consciousness

We are pure consciousness. We are Sat Chit Ananda...we are One with the Father but we do not "experience" that Oneness because we focus elsewhere.  We get distracted by the world going on around us.  In our attempt to cope with all the distracting noise and drama, we stuff and store those distractions that are powerful and impactful, be they  be so called negative or positive. Now we have samskara knots of distractions hidden within us.  Then we must go out into the world to find external distractions  that will distract us from these internal ones we stored. 

Distraction

You try to distract yourself from your distractions that you built up through the course of your life. Singer

We all got our stuff and that stuff often gets in the way of connection at the deepest level. It takes us away from Self and into a focus on self.  The idea that we are seperate little bodied beings with our own little problems, needs, and wants become the focus.  We begin to see ourselves as simply an accumulation of this stuff.  It becomes our identity. This  distraction...this identity is not who we are. Infact, it takes us farther away from who we are.

Everytime we particularise an object, we differentiate it from the Self. Vivekananda

Identifying

We see ourselves as that which we are focusing on and that which we are focusing on is often "negative". We may be, as these seperate person concepts, focusing on very low energy emotions .  This not only keeps us from awareness of our Source...but then we begin to identify with those low energy emotions by saying "I am depressed", for example.

This distraction and identification from consciousness/Self leads to constant reactivity and suffering. Singer

So with everything; as soon as you are attached to anything in the universe, detaching form the universe as a whole, from the Atman, there comes a reaction. Vivekananda

We are, Singer reminds us, Sat Chit Ananda ( Eternal, Conscious Bliss). We are not what Consciousness is staring at, we are the consciousness that is staring. We are not a seperate little "self" we are a part of the One Self. This One Self is called Atman in Yogic terms. 

We get the idea that we have all come just like sparks from Him, and when you know Him, then you go back and become one with Him again. We are the universal. ...

...in and through every spark of the individuality is shining that Infinite. Everything is a manifestation of the Atman. Vivekananda

We  do not need to suffer. We just need to remove our attachment and sense of identity from that which we are distacted by. We just need to trace our way back to Self.

With everything that we love outside the Self, grief and misery will be the result. If we enjoy everything in the Self, and as the Self, no misery or reaction will come.  This is perfect bliss. 

How do we get back to this "perfect bliss"...sat chit ananda, the Seat of Consciousness. Both Singer and Vivekananda remind us we must first know that consciousness exists..." This Atman is first to be heard of." 

Singer in his podcast lists the  three spiritual truths: consciousness is first, then comes distraction and identity.  We must trace our way back to consciousness. 

We can  bring our focus back to Self through pratyahara (disconnecting from our attention on sensual imput), dharana ( single pointed conscentration), and Dhyana (meditation...a practice that takes us back to Self). This is a true yoga practice but it doesn't have to be that eloborate. There are simple things we can do day to day with our thinking and our speaking that can be very helpful.

Language and Consciousness

What I always found  helpful, was watching and restructuring the language I use. We need to, I believe, start removing words of personal identification from the things and experiences we are observing that are not life enhancing.  

As someone who loves language and the power it has in the mind (there I am identifying again lol) I see how erroneous  the use of the words "I am " is.  We are not depression or any other low energy  experience...we are the One experiencing it. We are having an experience of depression possibly but we are not depressed! We are the Consciousness, the awareness, the Soul ( if you will) observing this human experience depression. Yet, we get so caught up in the distraction of depression we begin to identify as a "depressed person". That gets cemented as belief when we repeatedly say to ourselves or others, "I am depressed."

We need to change our wording!

Removing "My" from lower energy focus

We can start with saying "the" car instead of "my" car. We can move onto  "this body" rather than "my body", and we can remove that "my" from problems or low energy experiences we may be encountering. There really is nothing "personal" going on here. Our sense of suffering is derived from this personal identification with Life.

Removing "I am" from lower energy focus

 We can say  "I am experiencing depression" rather than "I am depressed"; " I have an illness right now" instead of saying, "I am sick";   "I am dealing with some anger" instead of "I am angry." 

Remember you are Sat Chit Ananda...you are eternal consciousness bliss... not some petty "personal problem", or the body and whatever it is doing...or the emotions. You are simply experiencing these things.

"I am pure ecstacy distracted by low energy."

Removing the personal from it all

Depersonalize  the life events that unfold in front of you. They are not happening "to you". They are just happening and you get to experience them.

Removing the "I" and the "me" as much as posisble.

I try  unsuccessfully lol) to use "I" only when I am talking about consciousness and high energy experiences. I try to eliminate "me" altogether from my vocabulary but that is difficult.  I try to use "this human I call 'me' "instead.  It is a totally different experience when I think and speak like that. It pulls me right back to the seat of consciousness when I do...reminding me of Who I Am and from where I am observing "This human I call 'me' ". Try it.  ( Others might think you are a few bricks short of a load but it is very helpful in depersonalizing Life and getting back to the Seat.) 

We are One with the Source. We are One with the Father.  We just wandered off too far with our focus and simply need to bring ourselves back.

To realize this unity is the end and aim of all meditation...Vivekananda.

All is well in my world.

Michael A. Singer/ Temple of the Universe/ Sounds True (January, 2024 ) Unravelling the Ego: Returning to Pure Awareness. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHOj-RUuZVs&list=PLyOuAoSmZkKoESr2acNWwhznusbBkKXsT&index=1

Vivekananda (n.d.) 2.6 Practical Vedanta and other Lectures. Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda. Kindle Edition