Stop, Look and Listen

Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. - 1 Kings 19

We live tumultuous times, and with all its drama it is all we can do to take our attention away from the outer conditions even for a moment. It is our addiction to drama that would bar us from the peace that passes understanding. It is so easy for us to get hooked by the appearances of the world, become identified with the stuff in our life, and fall asleep to our spiritual purpose. That purpose, as espoused by Jesus, Buddha and other enlightened teachers, is to become spiritually awake. To be spiritually awake, in a word, means awareness. The more aware we are, without the clouds of assumptions, identifications, labels, and judgments, the more we will be at peace.

Awareness is the central message of Tolle's message in A New Earth. While religions point to peace, only awareness can get us there. Awareness is the larger context of our mind that allows us to observe our thoughts and feelings without getting lost in them. It is pure consciousness that can witness all that arises in our world, or in our mind, and remain undisturbed. It is the part of you that is eternal, infinite, unchanging, imperturbable consciousness. It's the essential you, beyond self image, or any other limited thought forms.

When our goal is to become keenly aware, we are less interested in what is happening outside of us, and able to turn our attention inward as the observer of our internal process. This is the process of being in the world, but not of it. We have the enlightened perspective, when we have, as Jesus said, eyes to see and ears to hear. We can be present and responsible to life events, yet keep enough distance to maintain objectivity in our perception; to not lose ourselves in the scenarios. For example: You have a body, but you are not your body. Your body could be in pain, or diseased or wearing out, but the I am of you has none of these limitations. When you maintain your awareness of your I am self, you can be at peace no matter what crisis is appearing in your world. This is the pièce de résistance of awareness.