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Awareness Without Borders

Writer's picture: Awareness ExplorersAwareness Explorers

by Brian Tom O'Connor


Imaginary lines


There's a spot in the United States called the four corners. It's where the southwest corner of Colorado, the southeast corner of Utah, the northeast corner of Arizona, and the northwest corner of New Mexico all meet. This is possible because each of these states have at least two adjacent borders that are straight lines, that is, not created by any geographical feature like a river or a seashore. Each pair of straight lines forms a right angle, and four of these right angles touch each other at one spot.


Tourists enjoy standing on the Four Corners monument with one foot in one state and one foot in another state. Maybe even putting one hand down in a third state and the other hand in the fourth state. Are their four limbs actually touching anything that’s different from each other in any real sense? If you step across the border from Colorado, say, to New Mexico, have you stepped over anything real? Is there a physical line in the dirt or a change of soil that tells you you've stepped from one state to another? No. The lines are simply mutually agreed upon imaginary lines that demark political jurisdiction.


  • Imagine awareness is like this. (Just imagine it—it's not necessary to believe it's true.)

  • Imagine that everything you experience, that is, everything that you're aware of, appears simultaneously in the same awareness.

  • Imagine the sounds you hear are Colorado, sights are Utah, smells are New Mexico, and thoughts are Arizona.

  • Notice that they all appear in one field of awareness.

  • Notice that awareness is undivided.

  • Enjoy the U.S.A.—the United States of Awareness


Pixels


A similar analogy: pixels on a TV screen or computer monitor. Imagine a screen with a white background and a red dot that moves across the screen from left to right. Is there something real that exists and moves across the screen? Or is there simply this?: Pixel #1 on the left side turns from white to red, and then, as it turns back to white again, pixel #2 to its immediate right turns red. Then pixel #2 turns white again as pixel #3 turns red, and so on.


We perceive it as a red dot travelling across a white field. But that's an illusion. There is no dot separate from the background; there is just a screen with little areas that change the vibration of light that they emit. There is no border or boundary between the red dot and the white field, since there is no red dot. It's just the screen's light energy fluctuating in a way that our minds perceive as a pattern.


What if the universe and all that you experience was like that? What if what we perceive as separate objects, places, and people are simply small areas of the one field temporarily changing its properties?


Imagining that everything in the world is simply one single field of energy can lead us to envisioning that there is no real distinction between one thing and anything else. We can sense that all the inner borders we picture in our minds and feel in our emotions are simply imaginary.


So let's go even further and play with dissolving these borders.


Meditation: Dissolving Borders

  • First, take a few eaay deep breaths.

  • Dissolve all borders between anything and everything:

    • Look inside at your thoughts, your perceptions, and your sensations, and notice all the borders, barriers, and distinctions between things that your mind entertains.

    • And for each border or distinction that you notice, simply imagine it dissolving into nothing as you breathe.

    • These borders and barriers include any thoughts that people should be different than they are. Notice them and dissolve them.

  • My hand is separate from my arm. That's a border that's only in my mind.

  • My body is separate from the chair. That's a border that's only in my mind.

  • The door is separate from the hall. That's a border that's only in my mind.

  • I am separate from the air that I breath. That's a border that's only in my mind.

  • I am separate from you. That's a border that's only in my mind.

  • Notice and dissolve all borders that pop into awareness.

  • Notice and dissolve any definition of yourself.

  • Notice and dissolve any borders between yourself and the world.

  • Notice and dissolve all compartments that keep certain types of things separate from other types of things.

    • These can be mental compartments that separate thoughts and feelings from each other; that separate body sensations from sounds; that separate all sensations from perceptions.

  • Dissolve all borders between one part of your body and another. Go inside and notice the walls in your mind that separate parts of you from other parts, and imagine them dissolving.

  • Dissolve all borders between you and the air around you. Imagine the border of your skin becoming so porous you can breathe through it, and then eventually dissolving completely.

  • Notice any resistance to the way other people speak and behave, and notice that this resistance is an internal barrier. It's only in your mind, and you can dissolve it.

  • Notice any resistance to events or situations in your life, and notice that this resistance is an internal barrier. It's only in your mind, and you can dissolve it.

  • Simply sit quietly and wait for inner borders, and walls, and barriers, and resistances to rise into awareness, and as they do, simply imagine them dissolving as you breathe.

  • After a while, you don't even have to attach words to the inner borders you notice. You don't even have to envision them clearly and distinctly. Some inner borders are simply felt inside without words or pictures.

  • Just sit and imagine all inner and outer borders dissolving.

Excerpted from the upcoming book, Awareness Adventures: Discovering Your True Nature




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3 Comments


David Smith
David Smith
Sep 19, 2022

My name is David Smith. And I am a student. Today I am searching for a new topic for my work. And I use the Assignment Help service to complete it. And I see in your blog you talk about Awareness Without Borders.Consider. Be aware that consciousness is unbroken. Enjoy the United States of Awareness or the U.S.A. It is a good topic. you wrote very well and described it. It helps many children. thanks for sharing this blog with us

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b.b. Stokes
b.b. Stokes
May 30, 2022

Brian this is SO good! I'm looking forward to reading the whole new book! 🦋

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Replying to

Thank you Barbrara! Glad to hear it hit the spot. Virtual hugs, Brian

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