Engaging the Self

I encountered a rare being recently, within myself, part of myself actually.  I encountered my Self.  You know, we all have one.  Even you, kind reader.  Your Self is quite precious.  Your Self is your consciousness, your essence.  One might say, it is your true essence.

Let’s see if you find it within yourself, let’s both go there for a moment and check in: you and me.  Let’s step back from our thoughts and emotions and even our bodies for a moment.  Let’s settle back and into our true essence.  It should be familiar to you, as it is to me.  Your true self, familiar and unique; different from any other self.

I am here now, my eyes partially closed, resting in the pauses between typing these words.  My consciousness fits me perfectly, as does yours.  Do you feel its energy?  Do you feel your life force? It is quite pleasant to connect with your consciousness, if even for a mere instant.  Nothing else feels like this.

I just googled the definition of self.  It came back with,” a person’s essential being that distinguishes them from others.”  Vietnamese Zen monk Thich Nhat Hanh says, “In silence I become aware of my true self.”

We all know our Selfs so well.  We just don’t spend much time engaging with our Selfs.  None of us do.  Some of us never do so.  Others, however, like me and perhaps you, are drawn to our Selfs.  And why shouldn’t we, for it is our essence.  As soon as you become aware of your Self, your consciousness becomes engaged.  And that engagement, will show itself to be higher and deeper than any other connection you might have.

The Root of Self

A wise man, Michael Singer, in The Untethered Soul, writes about the root of Self and equates it to your sense of awareness.

“As you go deeper into yourself, you will naturally come to realize that there is an aspect of your being that is always there and never changes.  This is your sense of awareness, your consciousness.  It is this awareness that is aware of your thoughts, experiences the ebb and flow of your emotions, and receives your physical senses.  This is the root of Self.”

Singer continues.

“You are not your thoughts; you are aware of your thoughts.  You are not your body; you look at it in the mirror and experience this world through its eyes and ears.  You are the conscious being who is aware that you are aware of all these inner and outer things.”

Your consciousness IS you.  It sits behind you, so to speak and watches you interact with the world.  It is more than the human body you occupy, more than the thoughts, some of them brilliant, that arise in your mind.  Your consciousness is aware of all of this, your thoughts, your emotions, and your physical sensations as they occur.  Another wise man, Eckhart Tolle, refers to consciousness as inner spaciousness and equates it to your essence.

“Inner space consciousness and who you are in your essence, are one and the same. To be aware of things, however, you need to be quiet inside.  A high degree of alertness is required. Be still, look, listen, be present.”

“So, when you appreciate something simple, a sound, a sight touch, when you see beauty, when you feel loving kindness toward another, sense the inner spaciousness that is the source and background to that experience.”

So, if you can, try to spend a bit of time every day or every few days or even once a week or month, checking in with your Self.  Settle in and observe the human interacting with the universe. Observe and become delighted at what you find.

Then, when you become still and notice something simple, try to sense the spaciousness behind the experience.  That awareness you sense is your consciousness, your essence.  You will know it as soon as you feel it.  For it has been with you since birth.

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