Reclaiming Consciousness from the Mind - by Todd Schaefer

I'm sure you've heard of the saying, "We are spiritual beings having a physical experience," right? I'm sure when you have needed answers you have often heard the response, "Go within," not having a clue as to where you were supposed to go. An appropriate answer to the question might be, "What part of you is going within?"

Your Consciousness

Consciousness is awareness. It's not an energy, but a Presence. Its nature changes as we change. We grow and our awareness grows. In fact, everything we've ever known has been filtered through our conscious awareness.

We have the ability to direct consciousness also. We can direct it into our minds. We can direct it outside of ourselves. We can direct it into our bodies.

As we direct our consciousness into our minds, we often end up with mental stuff. This is usually done unconsciously by default. As we direct our consciousness outside of our minds, we end up with an ‘out of body' experience, or a focus on past or future. If we direct our consciousness inward, we have the ability to most easily connect with Source. But how?

A Portal to Source

The human body is a portal to Source and the Unmanifested because within it lays the Inner Body. The Inner Body is indestructible and inseparable from Source. At an infinite, quantum level, our Inner Bodies are a part of the Source, or God. Science is beginning to discover this quantum connection in metaphysical studies in recent years.

When we recognize that the Inner Body is a portal to Source, the infinite potential of all things, we can choose to direct our consciousness inward, or "go within" for spiritual nourishment.

Going Within

Let's sit with our eyes open and simply direct our attention (our consciousness) into our body. We can see the body sitting with us as we read. Without thinking, just notice the body's presence. Now feel the body's presence. Pay attention to certain parts of the body, then the whole body. How does each part feel?

You will eventually begin to feel the energy of your body, perhaps as a slight tingling here and there, or perhaps a ‘good fuzzy feeling' all over. This is an example of directing consciousness into the Inner Body.

More practice of directing consciousness inward will reveal deeper feelings; perhaps visions or some physical discomfort that you could not feel while in your mind. Eventually, the feelings will become more positive, as if you are tapping into a spring well or a river. You can always draw energy and strength from this inner river because it always flows.

This is an example of withdrawing consciousness from the mind and directing it into the Inner Body. Getting out of the mind like this is often the biggest hurdle for any spiritual grower. But it can be done.

Being

The feeling that we experience by connecting with the Inner Body is called Being. Being can only be felt. It feels like being centered in self because that is what you are doing. You are placing your consciousness in the most real and central part of yourself. Your breathing slows and deepens and your mind slows down. You feel more peaceful. This form of surrender is the cornerstone to cultivating a Spiritual Relationship with yourself. No doctrines, no beliefs - just you feeling You.

One of the most practical definitions of a Human Being is one where the human is focused on Being with anything he/she does. When consciousness is focused on the Inner Body, there is more Presence, more of our real nature, in anything that we do. Our efforts are more ‘full' somehow. This is why meditation, yoga, walking in nature and exercise are such healthy practices. They connect us with Being.

When we are in touch with our passion, which is an example of Being, we are feeling joy, presence, and fullness in what we are doing. The quality of our work improves dramatically with this connection to Being. We feel better, we look younger, we eat healthier, and we smile more often.

What's Spiritual?

Anything we do that connects us with feeling, or Being, is spiritual by nature. If it is a function of our feelings, we are feeling our core nature - our Inner Body, or Spirit Essence. Using the presence we feel through this conscious attention connection within evolves any of our actions into a higher level of energy, love and compassion. An emotion (or disturbance), on the other hand, will always be a product of the mind.

Beyond Mind Consciousness

Essentially, growing consciously is the recognition of truth within and the returning to Source. Returning to Source does not involve doing something with our mind, unless the mind is influenced by our Inner Body connection, otherwise known as Presence.

We are not our minds, but when we believe that we are our minds, we direct our consciousness into the mind more often. Sometimes we operate from mind and only pay brief visits to our feelings when they can sneak by our mental filters. However, with more attention directed inward, more focus given to the body and inner body, our feelings, our presence, increases. These enhanced Inner Body consciousness connections are often given names like intuition, psychic, or ‘tuned in.' Nevertheless, these developments are natural for us but uncommon in the world because of its mind dominated consciousness.

Spiritual Awakening - Consciousness of Being

Spiritual awakening occurs when one realizes the option to feel instead of think; to become aware that there is a connection to self (Source) beyond the thinking of the mind; that the mind is not the sole identity of the individual, and that we do exist beyond it. Awakening exists where the mind cannot go. The truth is, beyond the thinking mind IS a larger identity called Source, and it can only be known through Being.

True Spiritualism isn't a function of the mind - it is more accurately a state of Being; the practice of "going inward" to feel connection with Source. There's no wrong way to do it, and we can derive this feeling of connection from virtually any activity.



c2008 Todd Schaefer


http://soulsolutionshealing.com/learnabouttodd.html



Additional Reading on this topic: The Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle



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