Awareness Itself is Medicinal By Paul Linn, MA, LMHC, LMT AsisMassage.com It is sometimes easy to overlook the fact that awareness, simple awareness maybe the most extraordinary characteristic of human beings. It’s the context within which our lives unfold and it is here in any conscious moment, yet mysteriously without fixed local. It’s impossible to specifically locate to a particular spot and yet it illuminates everything, including the sun of our solar system. Awareness is by nature non-judgmental, non comparative and non preferential. So it is open and actually without boundaries. It also has no center. The human sense organs can only do what they do with awareness behind them, like an energy terminal. Nothing can be known for what it is without awareness. When our eyes rest on some visual object, its actually awareness that sits “inside” the organs function and lets the whole experience register. There is sometimes an idea that there is no awareness in deep dreamless sleep and yet how would we know on waking that we had somehow been so deeply resting and without any problems or issues without awareness to somehow give us this impression through the memory trace of the deep sleep state. In all kinds of therapies and meditations practices it can be discovered that awareness itself is curative, awareness itself heals. The mysterious way that awareness actually pulls this off remains open to question. However, one certain contribution is that awareness by nature is accepting and loving. Its love is sublime and without excitation. It simply allows everything in its field to be as it is. It is fundamentally silent and tranquil. Human perception and cognition suggests to us that we live in a world of duality. A world of opposites and contrasts and that the fundamental dualism is that the human being is the subject and all that is perceived or cognized are the objects of the world we live in. Discovering yourself as the silent field of open spaciousness Awareness invites a different possibility. Not only can it be discovered that in fact awareness cannot actually be separated from any objects of experiences, but that the wonder so easily appreciated in the eyes of a child and the fragrance emanating from a budding rose are only two of the countless invitations that are ever present, communicating a simple timeless message. The abundant, fulfilled life does not require possessions, status or power but rather a unveiled clear view that happiness and love are birthrights securely realized when the medicinal power of Awareness transcends the domain of possibilities and awakens as a living Realization. Meditation includes practices, which emphasize awareness and "mindfulness." Such activities seek to develop and nourish present moment awareness. They encourage paying attention in a way so as to be more aware in the present moment of all that is here, and of the constantly changing nature of what is here. These "mindfulness" practices are often described as "being, not doing," because mindfulness itself is the innate quality of human beings. Mindfulness can be defined as careful, open-hearted, choiceless, present moment awareness. Awareness benefits from the ability to concentrate attention, but is not the same as concentration. It is non-judgmental and open-hearted. It is cultivated by paying attention on purpose, deeply, and without judgment to whatever arises in the present moment. Thich Nhat Hanh sums it up in a talk he gave at the 2002 Peace Walk: “The first function of mindfulness is to recognize what is there, positive or negative. The second function of mindfulness is to embrace it and to get deeply in touch with it. If it is a positive thing like a blue sky or the beautiful face of a child, that becomes something very nourishing, very healing for us. And if it is something negative, like hatred or fear, we should be able to embrace it and bring relief to it”. Paul Linn, MA, LMHC, LMT has been teaching massage therapies, awareness practices and pscyhospiritual approaches to growth for 30 years throughout the U.S. He maintains a private practice in Gainesville, Florida and leads intensive insight meditation retreats. The evolving synthesis of touch, psychology, and meditation that his work offers sets the stage for a delightful inquiry in healing, openness and new possibilites of freedom. For more information on Paul Linn and awareness based workshops, contact ASIS at 928-639-3455 or see this page. Or, directly view information on his November 5-6 workshop at Transpersonal Somatic Therapy. The workshop will take place in our beautiful retreat-like atmosphere in Clarkdale, AZ, over-looking the Verde River, Tuzigoot National Monument and the Sedona red rocks. RETURN TO OMPLACE HOME