Really appreicate how this doesn't turn into another "become spiritual" pitch. The distinction between actuality and interpretation is crucial, most self-help stuff just gives you a shinier interpretation to swap in. I tried that 10 second exercise and its interesting how the mind immediately wants to label what it finds. The fact that strain lives in the story layer not the raw data is lowkey the whole thing.
When I do as you suggest, none of it is real. The only "thing" I seem to have is the awareness that I have or do not have which means no-thing. I am only my awareness or my consciousness sitting in the in between my thoughts. That's the real me, the one back there.
When you look closely, the usual sense of a solid world can drop away a bit, and what’s left can feel like “just awareness”. That’s a very common experience.
The only thing I’d suggest is: treat that the same way you treated everything else. Don’t turn it into a new conclusion.
A couple of gentle checks:
1. When you say “in between thoughts”, what’s actually present there?
Often it isn’t “nothing”. It’s sound, sensation, visual presence, mood. It’s just not being named.
2. When you say “back there”, what exactly are you referring to in direct terms?
Is it a sensation behind the eyes, a bit of tension in the head, an image of a watcher, a sense of distance? If you stay with the raw data, does an actual observer show up, or only experiences that suggest one?
3. And with “I am awareness”: can you find awareness as a thing you are, or is it simply a word for the fact that experience is present?
No need to force an answer. Just keep it as looking. The same honesty that loosened “the world” can also loosen “the one who’s aware”.
Really appreicate how this doesn't turn into another "become spiritual" pitch. The distinction between actuality and interpretation is crucial, most self-help stuff just gives you a shinier interpretation to swap in. I tried that 10 second exercise and its interesting how the mind immediately wants to label what it finds. The fact that strain lives in the story layer not the raw data is lowkey the whole thing.
When I do as you suggest, none of it is real. The only "thing" I seem to have is the awareness that I have or do not have which means no-thing. I am only my awareness or my consciousness sitting in the in between my thoughts. That's the real me, the one back there.
Yes, that makes sense.
When you look closely, the usual sense of a solid world can drop away a bit, and what’s left can feel like “just awareness”. That’s a very common experience.
The only thing I’d suggest is: treat that the same way you treated everything else. Don’t turn it into a new conclusion.
A couple of gentle checks:
1. When you say “in between thoughts”, what’s actually present there?
Often it isn’t “nothing”. It’s sound, sensation, visual presence, mood. It’s just not being named.
2. When you say “back there”, what exactly are you referring to in direct terms?
Is it a sensation behind the eyes, a bit of tension in the head, an image of a watcher, a sense of distance? If you stay with the raw data, does an actual observer show up, or only experiences that suggest one?
3. And with “I am awareness”: can you find awareness as a thing you are, or is it simply a word for the fact that experience is present?
No need to force an answer. Just keep it as looking. The same honesty that loosened “the world” can also loosen “the one who’s aware”.
It is an awareness that has no conscious thought just an observation without judgement.