Awareness, Grace and Faith

There is an absolute relationship between the body and mind wherein there is a reflection of the one in the other, but each in their own language. A thought has some outlet in the body; a sensation in the body has a reflection in the mind. But understanding that relationship you need to interpret the language between the two.

The quality awareness must be very highly developed. It is the ability to be absolutely still and reflect without any interference whatever it observes. Apart from presence and discrimination, awareness is also highly intelligent in a way the intellect cannot be. While the intellect is active this intelligence remains unknown, unseen and unheard. Perfect awareness indicates a silent intellect. Therefore what it observes is seen very clearly and accurately, so clearly in fact that nature redresses the balance automatically and what we experience as release takes place.

Part 3: So What Does the Observer Observe?

As we have seen before, the Observer is the observer of both Experience and the Experiencer. In outer life, experience usually arises from interaction with the world through the senses. In the inner life, which is the particular focus of meditation, experience arises from stored impressions, what we call samsakaras. And the experiencer interacts with experience whether coming from outside, or as in meditation from those stored impressions.

Taking as usual our focus on the inner life, and therefore in meditation, and accepting that the experiencer is likely to react to any impression that arises, let us look more closely at the nature of experience. In instruction in meditation we do not usually find the instruction 'observe, be aware of, your experience'. Usually instruction is, 'become aware of your thoughts'. And it must have occurred to everyone at some stage, well what is thought then. And you might even have found yourself thinking when something outside of what you take to be thought arises, I should be being aware of my thoughts, not this.

Part 2: The Observer Itself

So who is this Observer who is such an essential part of meditation? 

The Observer is the identity of the one who is aware. Awareness as we know is the one guaranteed constant in meditation practice. Of course at first it seems that the awareness is just a part of the mind trying to observe itself. And of course this sounds absurd, as absurd as the example often given for this:

Imagine that there is a thief. And it is necessary to identify and catch the thief. Who is assigned to catch the thief? It's the policeman. Naturally the policeman will catch the thief. But in this scenario - which is the mind being aware of itself, also the mind - the policeman is the same person as the thief. He's trying to catch himself! Now the thief is a thief. He has all the natural deception of a thief. But the policeman is also still a policeman, he believes in justice and upholds the law. So you can see the natural dilemma if the policeman is assigned to catch the thief who is himself. And the mind watching the mind also reflects the different aspects of any individual which leads to a divided personality.