What Is Conscious Awareness?

If you want to awaken all of humanity, then awaken all of yourself. If you want to eliminate the suffering in the world, then eliminate all that is dark and negative in yourself. Truly, the greatest gift you have to give is that of your own self-transformation. —Wang Fou, Hua Hu Chin

Have you ever uttered the words, "I didn't realize what I was doing," or "I'm not sure where that came from," after doing or saying something you later regretted? If you're an average human being, the answer is probably yes. We all, at times, find ourselves doing and saying things without knowing why, reacting in ways that surprise ourselves, and tripping over invisible obstacles in our own psyches. As human beings, we are blessed with the ability to be conscious of ourselves—to be self-aware—but for most of us, conscious awareness is not an ongoing experience. We have the capacity to observe the movements of our thoughts and feelings and make choices about whether to act on them or not. We are not blindly driven by impulse and instinct—at least, not entirely. But our degree of consciousness can vary dramatically. At times, we all feel like victims of our own unconsciousness, driven to make the same mistakes over and over again by patterns and beliefs we can't even see. To liberate ourselves from this experience, we need to actively cultivate greater conscious awareness.

Conscious awareness is the state of being aware of one's own existence—one's unique thoughts, memories, feelings, sensations, surroundings, and external environment. It is a state of wakefulness of the mind.

Consciousness is an enigma. Science generally considers it to be a complex activity of the brain, but the truth is that no one has yet explained exactly where it comes from. The idea that it arises out of the brain seems implausible—if you dissect the brain, you cannot see consciousness, just as you cannot see thoughts or beliefs. I like to think of the brain as its conduit. We need the brain to process consciousness.

Spiritual teachers and thinkers are less concerned with where consciousness comes from; in fact, many of them believe that everything comes from it. Deepak Chopra, in The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, writes: "The source of all creation is pure consciousness ... pure potentiality seeking expression from the unmanifest to the manifest. And when we realize that our true Self is one of pure potentiality we align with the power that manifests everything in the universe."

Like Chopra, I see consciousness as being both a human faculty and a divine state of being. In the human sense, consciousness is our awareness, cognition, perceptions, beliefs, emotions, and so on; in the divine sense, it is a field of infinite possibilities and potentiality. Divine or higher consciousness is the origin of everything, and therefore, it is also the nature of our true selves.

The premise of this book is that when we align our human consciousness to higher consciousness, we become consciously aware beings, connected to our true selves. We come closer to understanding the relationship between our human nature and our spiritual nature, and we become able to integrate them in a meaningful way. When we are not trapped in the limiting beliefs of the past, we can start pulling any possibility of what we want to become from the field of the unmanifest.

In this book, I have created a process that can clear your thoughts, beliefs, emotions, and patterns to allow you to connect to divine consciousness, the universal light. There are many terms in the spiritual and religious traditions for this ultimate dimension. You can use the term God if you are comfortable with it. Or you may prefer: Supreme Intelligence, Great Spirit, Creator, Higher Power, the One, or any other name that represents that all-encompassing light. I like to use several of these terms interchangeably, but I often choose the Source, as it points to this dimension as the origin of everything.

Conscious awareness is not something that we get. It is something we unearth within ourselves. Within all of us, there is an awareness that is still and conscious at all times. It is that awareness that we need to connect to the Source or higher consciousness. Conscious awareness is a dance with the universe—a dance between self-awareness and a conscious recognition of our union with the Source.

The problem, for most of us, is that we are disconnected from our true selves. We have built up layer upon layer of a false identity, based on our conditioning, our beliefs, and our traumatic experiences. To put it simply, this constructed identity is what spiritual teachers refer to as the ego, although there are many different ways this term is used in academic psychology. For the purposes of this book, I define ego as the constructed identity that obscures the true self. Contemporary author Eckhart Tolle refers to the ego as the illusory self, because it embodies a misperception of who we are. He writes: "Ego is always identification with form, seeking yourself and thereby losing yourself in some form. Forms are not just material objects and physical bodies. More fundamental than the external forms—things and bodies—are the thought forms that continuously arise in the field of consciousness."

Most of our frustrations stem from the fact that we believe something is wrong inside and needs to be fixed; in reality, nothing needs to be fixed, only uncovered. It all begins with self-awareness. My intention for you is that each day, as you complete the chapters and do the work, your awareness will expand and will awaken to the origin of your true nature. Each day, through your readings and the stillness of the moment, you will learn how to connect deeply to your true self. I hope that you will feel joy, passion, and abundant love as you reconnect with your natural state of conscious awareness. Over time, you'll be able to create a magical relationship with yourself and with each person who crosses your path.

Many of the great spiritual teachers and wise men and women throughout the ages have spoken of conscious awareness or self-awareness as the highest form of human attainment. Spiritual seekers have answered the call to "know thyself" by journeying within in search of enlightenment. Psychologists, too, have helped us to shed light on the inner workings of our minds and emotions and bring them into awareness.

I like to think of conscious awareness as a process, not an attainment. It is a journey with no end point, for there is always more to uncover. For the sake of this work, I define conscious awareness as a process by which the subconscious or unconscious becomes intentionally conscious. (For the purposes of this book, I am not distinguishing between the subconscious and the unconscious, although psychologists use these terms in different ways.) Conscious awareness is the process of purposefully observing and distinguishing your patterns at play, their connection with your actions and reactions, and their impact on others and yourself. You become deliberately aware of what operates your life by opening yourself up to yourself, to others, and to the Source with love and compassion.

Conscious awareness can allow you to master your circumstances and drive your life, rather than being influenced by your past or held back by your limiting beliefs. It will help you choose your responses based on the clarity of the facts and become cognizant of what is at play in your life moment by moment.

Jungian psychology uses the term individuation to describe the process of transforming one's psyche by bringing the personal and collective unconscious into conscious. If I were to draw a parallel, I would say that the process of conscious awareness is a process of individuation. It has a comprehensive healing and transformative effect on the person, mentally, physically, and spiritually.

In Sigmund Freud's theory of personality, the conscious mind consists of everything inside of our awareness, but much of what occurs within and between us is subconscious. Freud used the metaphor of the physical makeup of an iceberg to describe these two major aspects of human personality. The tip of the iceberg that extends above the water represents the conscious mind, while the vast mass below the surface is the subconscious. Our subconscious behavior is a result of social and cultural programming that has often taken place decades, centuries, or millennia ago and therefore limits and inhibits us from being more effective.

It is widely accepted by psychologists, from Freud and Jung to more modern scholars, that by the time human beings are around seven years of age, ninety percent of all the learning and habits in our life have been formed and become subconscious. We have formed the habits of walking, talking, and thinking and have developed coping survival mechanisms. We have also established our beliefs around things like success and relationships and have inherited inner programming and thinking patterns that may be either positive or toxic in nature.

Since the twentieth century, much has been written about the conscious and the subconscious or unconscious mind. In modern cognitive psychology, many researchers have emphasized the degree to which cognitive processing happens outside the scope of cognitive awareness.

This book does not specifically address the psychological or neurological aspects of the mind. Rather, it focuses on offering practical ways to find clues as to how to access some of the toxic subconscious patterns we have and to transform and transcend them through a conscious awareness process. The compelling question behind this work is: What if the mental programming that you currently have within you is stopping you from achieving your dreams, goals, and desires? How can you move past the inner voices that have kept you where you are?

To change is never a comfortable act—especially at the level of consciousness. It entails overcoming our natural tendencies, our conditioning, and our hereditary programming in order to adapt to a new reality. Let's be honest here: Who among us likes to change and relinquish the old, when it has become comfortable and easy? We often say, "If it's not broken, why fix it?" Letting go of the old patterns and embracing the new and unknown is not a simple task. That is why most of us will only decide to pick up a book like this when our lives start being uncomfortable, when things get so bad that we can no longer afford not to make a change. Those who are able to be pro-active in these matters, inspired by an inner knowing and a desire to lead the way for others, are few. But whether the challenges in your life have pushed you to transform or you are among those rare proactive individuals, you are one of the pioneers of higher consciousness. Those individuals who choose to become more consciously aware will alter the pathways of their emotional and psychological patterns. And that's not all; some scientists now tell us we may even be able to cause a change on a genetic level.

While still in its infancy, the new science of epigenetics is revealing that our genes are influenced by many more factors than scientists had ever considered before. Developmental biologist Bruce Lipton, in his book The Biology of Belief, writes:

Epigenetics, which literally means "control over genes," has completely upended our conventional understanding of genetic control. Epigenetics is the science of how environmental signals select, modify, and regulate gene activity. This new awareness reveals that the activity of our genes is constantly being modified in response to life experiences. Which again emphasizes that our perceptions of life shape our biology.

What this means for us is that by affecting our beliefs, emotional states, and behavioral patterns and by healing our negative traumas, we may be able to influence our genes. And in so doing, we will transform not just our own lives but also the legacy we pass on to our children, grandchildren, and our evolving species. This, in a nutshell, is the rationale behind the process of conscious awareness described in this book. Self-discovery requires commitment, courage, and perseverance. Furthermore, it requires the inner conviction that it matters, not just for individuals but also for humanity. Imagine being part of a world where most people around you—you included—are well adapted and at peace.

Life is a constantly evolving process. I believe that the purpose of our human experience is to awaken who we truly are and connect back to higher consciousness. Through the process of our own healing, we help heal others and the planet. When we are on the path of conscious awareness, we are contributing to the flow of conscious evolution. To consciously participate in the evolutionary process, you have to keep flowing with it. Imagine that you are a dolphin swimming freely with the currents of life, rather than a rock that obstructs the flow.

This evolutionary process is not linear. As we go through experiences and challenges in our lives, our conscious awareness unfolds in leaps and bounds. We fall, we learn, we get up, we develop our game, and we move forward with the evolutionary process. If we resist, shut down, hold a grudge, engage in violence, or become bitter from our experiences, we become like the hard rock in the middle of the stream. We block ourselves from evolving and do not contribute to the whole.

The process of conscious awareness is not an easy one. It can be confronting and disconcerting at times. But if you continue to stick with it, you will transform your views, and your perceptions may lead you even beyond your intended outcome. On this path, every challenge becomes a teacher and every trauma provides an opening for a leap in consciousness. Every difficult person in our lives becomes an assignment for growth and development and gives us the chance to practice these principles. Every sickness becomes our spiritual master. The lessons that we don't learn will keep showing up in our lives until we learn them. The bigger the challenge, the bigger the opportunity becomes for conscious evolution and healing. When approached in this way, the process of conscious awareness becomes a continuous dance with the movement of life.

Planning Your Journey

A goal without a plan is just a wish. —Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

When you are embarking on an important journey—perhaps the journey of a lifetime—it's important to take time to plan and prepare. You would not set out to travel through an unknown country without considering your route, planning ahead, learning about the places you could visit and the things you could discover, packing what you would need for the journey, and ensuring you are equipped to navigate the terrain ahead. The same rule applies when your journey takes you through the inner landscapes of consciousness. Preparation is essential. Before we dive in, here are some suggestions about how you can prepare yourself to get the most benefit from the process. Following these guidelines will help to ensure that the time and energy you put into the practice will be rewarded with transformation.

Set Your Intention

It is essential to set an intention for your process toward conscious awareness. Although it is a journey and not a destination, it is important to know what you are longing for in life. It is like setting a direction in your GPS. When you set an intention, you create an attractor that can pull you toward it. As spiritual teachers often say, "Where attention goes, energy flows." Setting a clear intention redirects your attention, which opens up a channel for energy to be directed toward achieving that intention. Your actions are direct responses to your beliefs, and your beliefs are patterns of thoughts. Your beliefs direct your feelings, and your feelings are a magnet of focused energy that can create what you want in your life. So if you set an intention and you believe in it, your actions will be aligned with that which brings you closer to your intention.