Thread: The awareness journal

Awareness in my life or you may call it lucidity in my waking life is somehting I stride for as well. Its really hard at times, but I am trying to do it. I find I tend to zone out and that certain things seem to contribute to it. TV and stuff like that but also while I drive, I tend to zone or go into what I call the waking dream world. I just seem to go through the motions and when I catch myself, it feels like I just woke up from a dream.

I haven't read much of being aware, but I feel I can be quite concious and aware in waking life - though, I'm not sure that I what I am doing is considered right.

I mainly focus on sounds. I listen to each sound around me - car tires driving on the road, chatter between people, shoes walking on the pavement, laughs, birds, wind in trees, traffic signs (whatever is in my surroundings) - I listen to them as though each and every sound is like some sort of musical piece that is playing for me, all around me, sound after sound. I can switch myself on to hear these sounds when I remember to but I don't always do this cause I have other things to focus on like work or school work. Should I be alert to noises in my surroundings all the time? We always so often block out a lot of external sounds in our daily life, but to achieve this awareness technique, have I got to practise my awareness all waking hours of the day?
So I understand how to focus my listening into being aware, but are other elements of awareness like sight (-seeing those things around us to be realistic and make sense)?

I think I'll post here on my awareness progression with you too. ^^,

Being aware is being in the present moment and realizing that the future and past are not real. Its mainly being in the now. Hearing sounds, seeing everything around you without being clouded. Some people go through the day unaware of anything going on around them. Its almost as if they are in auto- pilot. Everyone really should download or get the power of now. Its really an amazing series.

Day 4: I am having a lot of trouble with my ex and its really putting me in my head. It makes the breakup so much easier to understand the emotions but not react to them. It brings me into the moment. When I have periods of awareness and am free from thoughts its like one big reality check. When you do a reality check you put yourself into the now and stop thinking. I realized that being aware is simply one big reality check.

Day 5: Got drunk, hooked up with ex. Nothing good came from this and I have been so in my head. Every time I progress further into the power of now I get more aware. I listened to the tape for an hour and am back on track. I had trouble sleeping day 4 because of what happened and every time I brought myself back into the now, all my trouble vanished and I would almost fall asleep instantly. five minutes later I find myself back in my head and become completely awake.

The weekend for me is always filled with drama and parties so its the hardest for me to attempt lucid dreaming and awareness. I know this week will be filled with some incredible times.. morning and night.

Day 6: Had a great session today where I was fully aware at the gym and a couple hours later. I just reminded myself that there was nothing but now and it really put me in the moment. When I came home I drew a little door on my wall and meditated that I will walk through that door I my dreams tonight. More issues with my ex put me in my head for a while and now I am going to attempt to listen to the power of now and intend to have lucid dreams in the night. I set my alarm to wake me at 5 am so I can attempt a wild.

My update: Hm, well today I zoned out quite some bit and really just focused on small things like conversations and writing and people and such. I never really stopped today and listened and saw my enviroment as a whole present moment. Though today on the way home from school I stopped walking to look at these funny little birds in a group eating, and chasing each other and stretching their wings. Then I looked up at the clouds in the sky and the power lines that look like cracks in the sky when I walk and stare upwards. I felt kinda high on the life and nature around me. But on the weekend I bought sound reducing headphones, so whenever I wear these I only really hear my breaths and footsteps and see the path in front of me.

You mentioned your head being full of issues and problems and such in your life. Does the Power of Now teach you to focus on the present life and not these issues at all? Is it best for you to write about the things filling your head in a journal at the end of the day? btw, I totally agree with you about awareness being like one big reality check

I've talked to Kraid on IRC about this a bit a go, and I've also been giving awareness a go. I haven't gotten very far, but I would like to accompany you on your maiden voyage. I reccommend discussing this with Kraid, he has worked on awareness a lot.

-CV

The power of now tells you that there are no problems. If you let go of time (past and future) and live in the immediate now, what problems are there? None In the book the Tibetan yoga's of dream and sleep they talk about letting go of your past and future to achieve true lucid dreams that are free of karmic traces (past and future problems) I have been having that feeling of being high on life a lot lately

I will have to message kraid and have a talk with him about it

Day 7: In the night I had a dream of the door I created in my room. Everything was so vivid I thought I was in waking life. When I pressed my hands against the door on the wall it opened. For over a month I have been trying to go to my island. There are massive palm trees, furry creatures, and colorful plants everywhere. When I went to the otherside of this door I finally entered the island. What I saw was so breathtaking that I instantly woke up.

I woke up this morning with a clear head, feeling fully rested. Normally the morning is where my mind catches me off guard and fills me with thoughts of the day, what I have to do, my problems, etc. (My ex is really making it hard for me) Today was different. I notice that everything around me is more clear. I spent a lot of time making breakfast today and enjoyed it. I keep reminding myself that nothing is real except the present. I am trying so hard to live in the moment. I feel my thoughts getting weaker and my inner awareness getting stronger every day.

I downloaded the Power of Now and am going to start listening to it before bed and stuff. I might just listen to only chapter one tonight - do you think I should listen to a chapter a day? That last sentance you wrote is brilliant:

Originally Posted by allensig3654

I feel my thoughts getting weaker and my inner awareness getting stronger every day.

Very inspiring for a person like me who wants to get more into awareness too! I was talking to my sister today about my new earphones and she says that they will totally fuck up my hearing so I'm going to use them less frequently .. ..I don't know what thats got to do with awareness but ANYWAY...

Yeah so as for todays progression, really I am not changing anyway you seem to be allensig.. But I'm sure this audio book will help me a lot more! Though I do remember today I walked around the classroom where one of my dreams took place last night and looked at the seats where dream characters sat (the classroom was empty in reality, save for two of my friends) and pushed my fingers on the wall where another room had been built in my dream and looked through the window in the door where I watched for strangers lurking in my dream. Then when my teacher sent my to another building to drop a notice off I looked at the life in the trees and the void of the quiet and empty oval, sitting there totally green with grass and free of any kids whatsoever. So that moment of awareness I thought was pretty good.

That's really great that you downloaded the series. I usually do one chapter a night or sometimes half. Out of everything I have listened to, the power of now is the most simple and amazing. They really talk about everything you could possibly want to know about the subject.

Day 8: Another morning waking up with a smile on my face. I am forgetting about my ex and she is begining to understand that I have my own path to follow. My whole day was torn awareness and unawareness. The minds whispers come and go, but never as strong as they used to be. In my episodes of clarity, I feel my whole body's energy flowing. I had a girl come over to listen to the tape, but we ended up drinking and hooking up. This brought me out of the moment and I realized that I really am not ready to have relations with the other sex at the moment. All that it seems to do is influence my dreams and bring me out of the moment. Later in the night I brought another friend over to listen to the audio and we ended up talking about it until the late hours of the night.

In the night I had very odd dreams. They were not lucid, but they were not normal. These dreams were just as real and waking life. I remember almost every detail in them. Sounds were loud, color was intense, people were real. There were a couple times in the dreams where I would almost snap out of a coma and really look around. This brought me very close to lucidity.

Progress...

^^, well done on all your progression! I've started listening to listen to the series and its the first time I'm listening to an audio book so it all sounds quite strange to me. I don't know for sure if I am ready to go ahead with fully engrossing myself in this enlightment he is talking about. I mean, I think the author said once about how thinking can be used for logical purposes, and not for judgemental thoughts and such (?). Though I'm not completely sure if this is what he meant? Being at school and having to focus on so many different subjects and things I don't know if I really want to clear my head of all these thoughts. They may be essential to me???? I don't know.. I may sound like I have misunderstood what he is on about.
BUT I am going to do the first thing he reccomended, in the opening chapter I think it was. He said to observe your thoughts, and they will subside, and you will sometimes feel being one and above all these thoughts.. Or just stopping and opening all your senses to the task you are doing, by listening, seeing, feeling etc. Being aware. I am pretty good sometimes at the second one so I am going to try and practise that technique more frequently.

What hes saying is to eliminate the same repetitive thoughts that are on repeat in your head. For example, if you have homework that you wanted to do later in the day, acknowledge that you have to do it and stop thinking about it. Basically he talks about making the thoughts that come out of your mind weaker. This will actually increase your ability to do well in school. It has really helped me with my homework at school lately. Just keep listening to the audio. He has people ask questions like yours throughout the tape and he answers them.

Day 9: I have been distracted lately. Of course its a new woman that constantly brings me into my head. I am over my ex completely now so there is no more distraction from her ( young people ) Yesterday I went out and slept over at her place intending to do a WBTB around 5 in the morning. I got home around 5:30 trying to stay aware the whole ride, but was too tired and filled with things that happened throughout the night. I fell asleep and remembered none of my dreams... 0 Today is another day

I personally believe that The Power of Now is one of the most important books ever published.

It has radically changed my life.

I think once I've finished the audio book I'd like to buy the book (if its made an impression on me - and go through and highlight points I like).. Though, lately I have not been listening to it. I need to find where I left off in the audio book and start listening again. I have been down in my awareness and not giving an effort to minimise my thoughts or become aware of all my surroundings. I would like to listen to the Powe of Now again tonight and do some meditation.

A lot of things have been going on recently that have brought me out of the moment. My friend is really into this and constantly helps bring me back. I am in the part of power of now that talks about constantly being in your body. If you stop thinking and concentrate on the feeling your body has it becomes much easier to be in the moment.

Day 10: So this girl in now my gf... oops It makes it harder for me to be out of my head. I have had a pretty rough weekend partying. I took E on Saturday and realized a lot of things. The teacher in the power of now talks about how people love taking drugs because it puts them into the now and takes away all their problems. I realized when I took E that I stopped thinking and was firmly in the now. One of the reasons it was so fun to take E was because I was completely present and had no thoughts. That night I did not sleep and was excited for me rem rebound the next day. I ended up meditating on the door I created last week.

Day 11: I was a little E tarded today so it was pretty easy to be in the now. I pretty much poisoned the mind and that made it easier to be present. Later that night before I passed out I meditated more on the door in my room. I had some really great lucids today. I woke up to the door shooting electric out of it and I instantly knew that I was dreaming. I got up, really excited and blacked out. I woke up again with the fake door still there and instantly knew I was dreaming again. This time I rubbed my hands for a little while and got up slowly. I went through this door and ended up falling really fast through darkness. I had a sick feeling in my stomach and woke up. When I woke up the door was still there, but this time it was a stable door. When I went through it I ended up on the island. This lasted a while, but the lesson of all this was that meditating on the door and visualizing that it was there really seeped into my unconscious and was a really good dream sign to create. The fact that I have been so present lately made me really clear headed in the dream and I could recognize it instantly.

I really want to try and stay more conscious and and going to try focusing on my body more often.

You've mentioned twice now about mediating about the door. Where did you read about this technique? I understand it and why someone would do it, but who'd you hear/read this technique from? Aaandd are there other items you can meditate on? Did you actually draw a door and stick in on your bedroom wall? Seems like a pretty good idea.

I just visualized the door being there in my head. I also drew the door with my hand imagined it there. Before I go to bed I visualize it in my head almost every night. I just made it up one day. I was meditating in my room when I suddenly just walked up and kinda imagined it into existence. I have been really busy lately with life so I have not been able to post. Despite all the crazy things happening in my life, I continue to practice living now. The effects this is having on my waking and sleeping life is incredible. I have been having lucids at least once every three days. My dreams have been more realistic and lengthy. I have had several lucid and non lucid dreams about the door and I am continuing to experiment with it. I am going to start posting more day to day activity when finals are over