The Awareness Watching Awareness Practice Instructions

 

The Preliminary Instructions

Set aside as much time each day to practice the Awareness Watching Awareness Method as you are willing to set aside.

Drop as many unnecessary activities as you are willing to drop, to free up more time for awareness watching awareness practice.

It is better if you can be undisturbed during your practice.

If you practice at home you can ask those whom you live with not to disturb you when you are meditating, unless there is an emergency. Or you can find some other place to practice where you will be undisturbed. If you can't do that, well of course, go ahead and practice anyway.

Bodily posture is not important in the Awareness Watching Awareness Method. However, since one wishes to turn the attention away from the body, it is important that the body be comfortable and relaxed and not causing any pain or strain.

You can do the practice sitting crossed legged or sitting on a chair or sitting on a sofa or couch or even lying down on your bed if you are able to do so without falling asleep. Whatever is comfortable and does not cause any pain, strain or discomfort. Whatever posture helps you to ignore the body and turn the attention away from the body.

For the purposes of this practice the following definitions for the words awareness and thought must be used.

Thought: Thoughts are the words of your native language in the mind. If your native language is English, and the language you think in is English, then thoughts are those English words in your mind. If you think in two languages, then thoughts are the words of those two languages in your mind.

Awareness: When you wake up in the morning, awareness is that consciousness that woke up in the morning. Thoughts come and thoughts go, but the background of awareness remains continuous during all the waking hours until you go to sleep at night. Awareness is you, your awareness, just your awareness that is looking through your eyes right now.

The words Awareness, consciousness, attention, observation, watching, looking, seeing and concentrating all have the same meaning.

Try an experiment:

Just look at an object in the room.
Notice the awareness that is looking through your eyes.
Now shut your eyes and notice that you are still aware.
It is the same awareness that was a moment ago looking at the room.
Now, with your eyes still closed, observe your awareness.

The following practice instructions are the Awareness Watching Awareness Method described, using carefully chosen slightly different wording.

It is important to use as few words as possible to describe the practice. Use only one description per meditation session. If you are going to be practicing for one or two or three hours today, then for that entire time you should be using only one set of instructions.

Try Description A first. If A is easy for you to understand and practice, there is no reason to go to B or C or D. A is enough. However if you do not understand the instruction then the next day you could try B.

Some versions might for a moment have you start with your eyes open, but once you are instructed to close them, then keep them closed. In other words, the Awareness Watching Awareness Method is always to be done with the eyes closed.

When you are observing your awareness, just remain with that.
No need to do anything else.
Awareness is empty, so there is no object you are trying to observe.
It is just awareness being aware of itself.
Also it is no special kind of awareness, it is just your ordinary every day awareness that you normally go through the day with, looking at itself.

You can record the instructions below on an audiocassette or CD for personal use if you wish. The best way to do this is to only record one description, description A for example. It is important to listen to only one description during a meditation session. Otherwise you would be bringing in too many words and too many concepts. You do not wish to interrupt your practice session by having to turn a tape recorder off either. That is why it is best to record only one description, if you decide to record it. Repeat the instructions on the recording every 30 minutes.

top of page

 

The Practice Instructions

Description A

Shut your eyes.
Notice your awareness. Observe that awareness.
Turn your attention away from the world, body and thought, and towards awareness watching awareness.

If you notice you are thinking, turn your attention away from thought and back towards awareness watching awareness.

Description B

Look out at the room, notice your awareness looking out through your eyes.
Now shut your eyes and notice that same awareness is still there, that a moment ago was looking outward at the room.
Observe that awareness.

If you are not having many thoughts, just ignore them and continue with awareness observing awareness.

If you seem to be having a lot of thoughts, then just turn your attention away from the thoughts and towards awareness observing awareness.

Description C

Shut your eyes. Notice that you are conscious. Watch that consciousness.

If you notice thoughts, just ignore them and continue watching your consciousness.
Do not watch your thoughts, watch your consciousness.

Consciousness watching consciousness.
Consciousness conscious of consciousness.

Description D

Shut your eyes.
Turn your attention away from thought and watch the watcher, see the seer.

Description E

Shut your eyes.
Notice your awareness.
Be aware of your awareness.

If you notice you are thinking, turn your attention away from thought and towards awareness of awareness.

Description F

Shut your eyes.
Just remain in awareness aware of itself.

If there are not many thoughts, just ignore them.
If there are many thoughts, then bring your attention back to awareness aware of itself.

Description G

Shut your eyes.
Observe your awareness.

If there are thoughts, turn your attention away from them and continue to observe your awareness.

Description H

Shut your eyes
Turn your attention towards awareness and concentrate on awareness.

Concentrate in a relaxed manner without strain.
If thoughts are noticed, turn your attention away from them and back towards concentrating on awareness.

Description I

Shut your eyes.
Be aware of being aware.
Now remain in that awareness of awareness.

If there are thoughts turn your attention away from them and continue being aware of being aware.

Description J

Shut your eyes.
Notice you are aware. Look at that awareness.
Remain in awareness looking at awareness.

If thoughts arise, look away from them and go back to looking at awareness, then just remain in that awareness looking at awareness.

Awareness being aware of awareness.
Awareness being aware of itself.
Remain in that.
Don't move from that.

Description K

Shut your eyes.
Your present awareness watching your present awareness, while ignoring all else.

Description L

Look at the room. Notice your awareness looking through your eyes.
Shut your eyes and turn your attention around to look at itself.
Attention attending to attention. Just remain with that.
Don't move from that. Don't attend to anything else, don't attend to thought.
Attend only to attention.

Description M

Look at the room. Notice your awareness looking through your eyes.
Now shut your eyes.
Notice that same awareness that was just looking through your eyes a moment ago.
Now turn that awareness around 180 degrees away from the world, the body and thought and towards itself, towards awareness watching awareness.

Description N

Look at the room. You are the seer. Your awareness is that which sees.
Shut your eyes.
See the seer. Remain with that.
Turn your attention away from thought and towards the seer.


top of page

 

Further Clarification

Further clarification on how to practice the Awareness Watching Awareness meditation can be read here:

Further Clarification


Other Methods

There are two primary direct and rapid means to Infinite-Eternal-Life-Awareness-Love-Bliss.

The Path of Surrender

The Abandon Release Method is the most direct and rapid means to Infinite-Eternal-Life-Awareness-Love-Bliss on the path of Surrender.

The Abandon Release Method is a whole and complete practice, and as long as you are satisfied with the new life the Abandon Release Method gives you, you need no other practice.

You can read the Abandon Release Method practice instructions here: Abandon Release Method

The Path of Awareness

The Awareness Watching Awareness Method is the most Direct and Rapid Means to Infinite-Eternal-Life-Awareness-Love-Bliss on the Path of Awareness.

The Awareness Watching Awareness Method is a whole and complete practice, and as long as you are satisfied with the new life the Awareness Watching Awareness Method gives you, you need no other practice.

The Abandon Release Method is Passive.

The Awareness Watching Awareness Method can be done actively with effort or passively with little or no effort.

Which method you choose to practice, the Abandon Release Method or the Awareness Watching Awareness Method is up to you.

The Abandon Release Method is the most restful of the two methods.

The suggested order is to try the Abandon Release Method first.

Whichever method you choose, it is important to give the method a fair chance by practicing the method for at least two hours every day for six months.

 

top of page

 

 

Michael Langford