Pure Awareness

Beyond the Limitations of Space and Time

To be a living being is not the ultimate state; there is something beyond, much more wonderful, which is neither being nor non-being, neither living nor not-living. It is a state of pure awareness, beyond the limitations of space and time. Once the illusion that the body-mind is the self is abandoned, death loses its terror, it becomes a part of living.

— Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Awareness, that is the key to awakening, is to be found in the body and is the centre of all that radiates from this form of practice. When we are aware of what is in front of us and engage wholeheartedly with that experience we are fulfilling the ‘practice’ of pure awareness. Nothing special, just responding to circumstances....In order to awaken to our ever-present awareness we need to embark upon a journey that takes us into our bodies. There we will find not just the source of our suffering but enlightenment also.

-- David Smith

Pay attention to your consciousness and you have found yourself. Feel your Being. It is easy. You do not have to search for anything. What you are seeking is inside you, no, it is you. It is not the body, feelings or thoughts. It is the feeling of Being, of Awareness....A thought comes to our mind and then another replaces it. It is a very fast process and we are usually not aware of it. When we develop a strong concentration by pursuing a suitable training course, we become more conscious of the thoughts and their coming and going. The mind gradually entertains fewer thoughts per minute. Under these conditions we become aware that there is an interval between one thought and the other. It may be just a second or a split second of quietude. There are no thoughts, there is emptiness, but it is also fullness. At this moment we just exist. We are in pure awareness.

-- Remez Sasson

The experience of Ultimate Truth can be described as "emptiness" because, to the conceptual mind, it has no form; but, to the non-conceptual wisdom mind, the realisation of Truth is like the Truth seeing itself. When there is no identification, no sense of self whatsoever, the mind rests pure and still, simply aware of its own nature - the Dhamma aware of its own nature. There is a realisation that everything is Dhamma; but that realisation is non-verbal, non-conceptual, so the conceptual mind calls it empty. But to itself, its real nature is apparent, it is understood. This is the source of our life, the basis of our reality.....When we see clearly, when we have a realisation of the Unconditioned, what flows forth in terms of conditions is harmonious and beautiful. What is beautiful and harmonious helps to lead the mind back to the Uncreated. Religious acts, teachings, works of art, are designed to be pure and harmonious forms which draw the mind back to the silence, the stillness - that purity which lies behind all things.....

-- Venerable Ajahn Amaro