Hello and welcome,
Dear listeners.
My name is Alia Faith Rogers,
And I am so grateful to share with you all what has been one of the most supportive practices in my life,
A way to tap into our innate ease and empowerment amidst all circumstances.
I have spent much of my adult life traveling the world,
Exploring different wisdom traditions,
Teachers and practices,
And if there is only one thing I could pass on,
This is it.
So thank you for being here,
And may you receive benefit from this offering.
I'm going to share in a relaxed and fluid way,
Weaving in the actual practice as I go.
You can listen to this in any way or setting that is comfortable for you,
Lying down,
Sitting,
Walking in nature.
I imagine that many of you may have heard of awareness practices,
Cultivating awareness,
Deepening awareness,
Maybe through using the breath or focusing on a specific task or technique.
What I want to share with you is my direct experience of simply noticing awareness,
Recognizing this broader field of consciousness that is already present.
There is nothing to cultivate here,
No special state to get into.
Because it is your own awareness,
It absolutely is accessible.
In fact,
You can't turn it off if you tried.
We've missed it because we didn't know about it,
And we've been conditioned to identify as our thoughts and emotions,
Which are ever-changing.
It's no wonder we felt thrown about,
Taken on a ride,
Living at the whim of our experience.
We have habitually collapsed our focus into a near constant describing and labeling of our experience.
In this,
We haven't seen or allowed our broader intelligence to inform and support us as it could.
With recognizing awareness,
We're familiarizing ourself with this vital aspect of who we are.
We are noticing this wider field of presence that gives space and a sense of relief to our experiences.
We're tapping into the openness that is actually our natural wiring and our deepest sense of well-being.
This is really huge and quite radical,
Actually.
We were never taught or had role-modeled to us that this exists,
That this is possible,
That we already are whole and complete,
That we do have access to this peace,
That we don't need to effort and strive for our well-being.
We are getting clear about the nature of reality and seeing that it's not as complicated as we've made it.
The absolute key here is that you not take my word for any of this and that you have your own direct experience.
In your willingness to do the actual practice,
To briefly pause and recognize awareness whenever you remember,
This will continue to open up for you.
The habits of trying to find and maintain our well-being through figuring everything out,
Labeling,
Seeking pleasure and avoiding pain,
All have a certain momentum that can take time to slow down.
So please be gentle with yourselves and know that you absolutely can recognize awareness and as you choose to do so ongoingly,
The benefits will unfold in the perfect pace for you.
In this moment,
Let's actually identify awareness together.
If this is new to you,
It's best if you can give this your full attention.
Once you've identified it,
You can tap into it in any situation.
Now stop thinking for a moment and notice what still remains.
There is a presence,
An alertness,
A sense of perceiving that is not your thoughts.
It is that which is seeing,
Hearing,
Sensing without the descriptive overlays.
It may be helpful to think of our visual eyesight and how we can relax our vision from a point of focus to seeing the periphery and taking in a larger sphere.
I sometimes imagine almost a falling backwards with my mind,
Expanding beyond my limited focus.
So this is the simple practice,
Taking a brief pause to relax body and mind and notice the already present openness of awareness.
We are touching in to the dynamic spaciousness and inclusivity that is life intelligence,
Our own intelligence,
An actual living field that all is arising in and as.
This pause can literally be for a few seconds.
It may extend longer.
It may come upon you without your intent.
It can be so subtle that many folks question if they're actually doing it correctly.
Know that your willingness is enough.
Your willingness to pause the thinking and notice the closeness of your own inherent awareness will bear fruit.
In my own experience of taking maybe three to five of these pauses a day initially,
I noticed right away a quality of ease and relaxation that I hadn't before.
It was subtle but clearly present.
As mentioned,
One of the most wonderful and important elements of this practice is that it can be done anywhere at any time.
It doesn't require removing yourself from your life in any way.
There are no special props or poses needed.
This is not to minimize other practices in any way.
I love and deeply appreciate yoga and Qigong,
Dance,
Time in nature and meditating among other things.
Realizing awareness helps us know the immediacy and accessibility of our innate well-being regardless of circumstance,
Thoughts or emotions.
You'll want to take these many pauses in a wide range of situations and moods so that you can see for yourself how awareness is the same steady soothing presence no matter what's going on.
Your confidence will grow that this is always here for you.
In the midst of everything that is constantly changing,
This can become like a lighthouse and ground of unfathomable support and stability.
It doesn't mean that challenges don't arise.
It means that in the midst of challenges and internal triggers,
There is spaciousness and a new capacity to respond that emerges.
It is quite profound to feel a sense of ease and well-being amidst very uncomfortable thoughts or emotions.
This was a new experience for me and one that is ever deepening.
As mentioned,
This is allowing things to be as they are.
We are allowing our thoughts and emotions to arise.
We're not avoiding them or suppressing them and we're also not getting caught in them.
We're keeping a little window open,
A little space of relaxation and trust that this too shall pass.
We're allowing the energy to flow.
We're taking a moment to just let it be.
This is a massive shift for most of us because we've thought we have to buckle down when something doesn't feel right,
When just the opposite is true.
When we relax and tap into the soothing presence of awareness,
The steady big picture wisdom,
The deep loving kindness,
We actually can see our situation more clearly and take whatever action may be needed.
We realize we have the capacity to actually feel and be with whatever's coming up.
Allowing things to be as they are is not a passive state.
It is a direct reconnection to a larger field of intelligence,
Clarity and love that are your birthright that includes whatever you're experiencing.
There is tremendous energy,
Empowerment,
Love and embodiment here.
You begin to know that you can face anything,
Meet anything and of course you then offer this transmission in all of your relating.
As you know yourself to be fundamentally okay,
Whole and complete regardless of your experience,
You help ignite that knowing in others.
We are all in this together and what an honor it is to support each other along the way.
Please know I have utmost faith in your capacity to recognize awareness and allow the tremendous benefits to unfold and deepen in your life.
I want to acknowledge the Tibetan Dzogchen lineage and the Balanced View teachings for their profound contribution to my direct experience of awareness.
May all beings know their inherent freedom.
