Meet the Observer
ARE YOU YOUR MIND?
Have you ever stepped outside of your thinker and watched your mind operate? Has it changed how you see yourself and the world around you? Or, is this an entirely new concept to you? If you are versed in watching your thoughts, or it’s never even occurred to you before, becoming the OBSERVER is an extraordinarily helpful tool on your path to waking up.
Most of us just assume we are our minds. I think, so that must be who I am, just like Descartes said, right? Well, not so fast. If you are able to observe your thinking apparatus, if you are able to watch it very closely, then what is doing the watching? What is behind the thinker? Have you ever heard the famous line, “Who will watch the watchers?” If so, then apply this line of questioning to your own mind. WHO and WHAT is the watcher exactly, sounds much more like it!
Like in today’s world when the fact checkers claim they have fact checked information and then tell you what is accurate, who is watching the fact checkers? Who is looking over the shoulders of the people claiming to be the authority on truth? Is there any oversight? When looking at our own minds, and beginning to look at what we are thinking, how we are thinking, the quantity of thinking, etc., what is fact checking our minds? What is it that is capable of observing everything from the background?
AWARENESS
Simply put, awareness is what you are tapping into. This large field of awareness, often called consciousness, is just present, always available, always there. It appears to hold no emotion, no judgment, no feeling, just an expansiveness that is beyond words. It seems appropriate to call it an intelligence field, more intelligent than our own minds. When we set our lives on permanent cruise control, we often miss this HUGE presence awaiting our recognition. The monotony of daily living leaves many of us stuck on the surface, solving everyday problems that life routinely throws at us. We are so stuck in our habitual patterning, we have no idea that this great intelligence field is just sitting there. Well, it’s time to meet the essence that will help guide you back to your true nature.
If we are able to detach from the surface, even if it’s just for a few moments, and really feel this awareness surrounding all things, it will continue to invite you into a new way of being. Stepping out of your mind’s constant chatter and into the larger field will allow you to see exactly how your thinker works, it will grant you the chance to see how and why your mind does what it does. It will allow you the opportunity to connect with the OBSERVER.
At first, it might seem very strange to step outside of your mind. If you have been attached to your thinking as a symbol of who you are, then just learning to stop and watch may be a difficult task. However, if you commit to a regular practice of observation, it will get easier. Just like riding a bike was difficult as a young child and then became an effortless activity, the same thing applies to becoming the OBSERVER.
THE ACTOR
Picture yourself putting on a new very clear set of prescription eye glasses. This prescription is perfect 20/20 vision, they offer absolute clarity. As you put on these clear glasses in your imagination, begin to watch yourself. Watch yourself as often as you can. That is all you are doing, OBSERVING. Just like the scientific method is based on observation with no bias, this exercise is exactly the same, observing yourself without judgmental commentary. You are merely looking at how you think, what you think, and how you react to your believing the thinking without any opinion. See how hard it is to eliminate an opinion and simply take notes on yourself. It’s not easy, not easy at all!
The further and further you observe and detach from believing you are the thinker, you will begin to see yourself as an actor on the stage of life. Shakespeare said it best in one of his characters famous monologues, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” Can you see how your thinking mind acts out its many roles on the stage of your life? Can you see all the ways in which you act out a perfect scene? This might seem strange and far-fetched at first, however, when you can truly see the mind you will see how masterful it is at acting.
Just think about it, we all are our own central figure in our mental movie we project out into the world. We are the main character of our life, are we not? We may not like admitting that, but each one of us is truly at the center of our own internal universe. We have cast ourselves as the main character, everyone else is a supporting role, and everything is simply happening around us. When we are attached to the thinker, it is impossible to see this, but when we learn to detach a little bit at a time, the door opens further and we can join with the OBSERVER to watch without judgement or intense emotion. We are able to see how quickly we believed this master manipulator.
As you get more comfortable watching yourself, and really seeing what it is you are believing, you will slowly begin to detach from the actor on the stage. You will notice it is simply a personality that is automatically present. It reacts and participates in life, it does its thing all on its own, even while you are capable of watching it. The more you watch, the more you will detach from believing you are your mind.
THE SPONTANEOUS OBSERVER
For some people, the OBSERVER will spontaneously show itself without any warning at all. You may not even be trying to watch your thoughts, you may have no idea that is even a possibility in your life, until one day, out of nowhere a large presence appears. It’s like all of a sudden you are aware there is something else watching you! At first, this may be confusing and often frightening as you are not prepared, nor are you sure what you are experiencing.
Several years after my awakening began, I started feeling an unbelievably large presence everywhere I was. At night time, I would wake up to use the bathroom, and I could sense something in the room, a large field, which scared me to death at the time. I felt something watching me, and I often darted across the carpet as quickly as I could to run from this uncomfortable feeling. It almost felt like a presence was trying to get me and I was dodging it at all costs.
I never saw anything, it was an overwhelmingly strong feeling of knowing something else was present. Talk about a rough first encounter! Not only was this presence making itself known to me at night, it was introducing itself to me in my daily life too. I began feeling something always watching me, watching everything around me, watching myself talk, watching myself think, watching other people’s behaviors, it was ALWAYS there. I couldn’t understand how I could watch myself talk and stay completely disconnected from the personality that was talking. It was like I knew that the personality was just a facade, and the real essence of who I was, was with the OBSERVER.
At first, this was incredibly strange to me. I really didn’t like it, well in fact I despised it. It was like I had a central intelligence agent spying on me 24/7! In the beginning, I was not certain what this was. I just knew something HUGE was with me. It wasn’t harming me, it actually wasn’t doing anything, it was simply there, and I could feel a very strong vibrational field along with it. So, not only was I aware of the awareness, but I could FEEL it, which only intensified the experience, and often left me in a total state of shock and awe!
In time I became more comfortable with this presence. Because it never left me, I relaxed and was able to eventually see myself clearly. I noticed the thought processes that I was attached to, why I was believing my thinking, and how insane the thinker really was. I noticed it myself, and in other people, in my kids, and in everything. It was like a light was shining brightly on the magician that is the mind. It felt like I was on a magic carpet ride inside the world’s largest delusion, our thinking apparatus! And what a wild ride it felt like to my inner world.
DETACHING FROM THE THINKER
Whether the OBSERVER spontaneously appeared in your life, or you are avidly working to watch yourself, either path is leading you to detach from believing you are your mind. Remember, the form in which it takes for you to see this is irrelevant, it is the content that matters. And this content is gifting you the ability to feel the awareness that you are, the true spirit that lies within. Each time you are able to connect with the OBSERVER and watch yourself, is bringing you one step closer to feeling this larger field more regularly, and then if you are able, permanently.
Detaching from yourself and getting comfortable with becoming the watcher, allows you to take a step back and silently witness life on a much deeper level. You begin to connect with the larger source of who you are, and see your experiences and interactions with others from a very different perspective. No matter where you are in the stages of transformation, no matter where you are in your life, learning to join with the OBSERVER through all things, good or bad, will teach you how to flow effortlessly no matter what consequences are in front of you. You won’t get so worked up about every little detail, or needing to control every outcome when you sit back and see it with a much wiser source. You will begin to stay in a peaceful place as you face any decision that the world will present you. Creating this sacred inner kingdom with the OBSERVER is masterful step along your awakening path.