People who are busy hoping to gain some predetermined results using mental techniques and methods get embroiled in chasing ego-satisfying outcomes and so are not interested in understanding themselves. This is like trying to find a solution without knowing what the actual problem is. The fundamental problem is the mind itself and not the problems it projects! Unfortunately, this seems to escape the notice of the vast majority of people. If you are reading an article of this kind with some attention, then you would be one who has crossed that point already or, at least, would be drawn to explore further along that line. In any case, what fallows would be of interest to you.The quiet self-awareness has no self-interest. That is, it is not generated by the ego. It takes place when the interest in understanding oneself is detected as the fundamental movement towards bringing in stable harmony. At the initial stages of this inwardly turned attention, reflection into some of the habitual ways of the mind is helpful. Here we see three of those ways. These pointers are expected to function as catalysts, triggering the curiosity of the reader.
The first pointer is related to the way the ego functions. It operates through forming images about people, things and ideas. Emotional attachment to these images is at the back of all mental problems. Purely practical problems have solutions and we all handle them fairly well. However, lingering mental problems associated with fear, anger, regret etc are the ones that destroy the inner harmony. This is where self-awareness through reflection on our mental proclivities can help understand ourselves.
The second pointer: During our daily life, it is easy to see how the mind is constantly chattering. It is a kind of energy wastage. This is an important issue whose poisonous nature can be brought to light by self-awareness. Sensing the poison, the mind falls quiet naturally. No control is involved. The inwardly directed awareness cannot be brought into action through any method or technique because they are all rooted in the past while awareness is a matter of pure action in the ‘Now’.
The third pointer: On our waking up in the morning, we can observe how the thought-ridden mind crowds in quickly and keeps us under its thumb till we go to bed at night. However, there is a short period of a few seconds in the transition period between sleep and wakefulness when we can sense the pure consciousness, untouched by the mind’s habitual functioning. This can say something about our true being.
People who feel drawn to these avenues of reflection will soon see their center of attention moving from the habitual mind to pure consciousness. They will free themselves from being influenced by any group psychologically because they see that group-psychology is different from mob-psychology only in degree and not in kind. Their daily life will be guided by the purity of aloneness and not by any clannishness or group-fanaticism. Interested readers may visit the website http://spirituality.yolasite.com