I just got back from my walk after listening to this. While walking, I saw a flock of birds feeding in a lawn and thought "what a pretty pattern they make". Immediately thought "thats a thought" and another thought followed: "of course. Thats what you need to put it into memory".
Dear Angelo, Thanks for all the videos you have been sharing lately. They really help. I just got back from a 5-day silent self retreat in the woods. Armed with your book and some mosquitos, I deepened my practice and the veil was pushed aside a bit. The spell is slowly being broken. The mirage is fading. It's all good. with gratitude, Caryn
🙏❤️🌈 For me, i was "practicing for a long time, resting in this space you seem to mention here (i call it the (location less) "heart")... So...it was just a sense of "knowing"...resting/knowing (non dualistically and effortlessly, on the personal i-sense...which was there too, in the"heart"... without latching on an "external" object... It felt like staying "at home", in peace, bliss, feeling of, unconditional self love and togetherness ,... So staying "home", instead of going "out", to the forehead, and projecting attention from there, which created a dualistic knowing... Then...after a long long time of practicing this way,, while walking about, an inquiry arose, regarding the current experience of the subject-sense... Nothing new...but it was spontaneous...not brought about by conscious will... And then and there, the "first shift" you mention, happen (that was 3 years ago)... So my guess/speculation, is, that developing some degree of habit, or momentum, of "self inquiry", is something you CAN do, to perhaps "increase the chance" (😂) of spontaneous inquiry arising, there, in the "heart", and zapping that poor un suspecting i - sense...😂❤️🙏🌈
(over the years, whenever i had small temporary non dual shifts, (on retreats), they always "caught me by surprise"... walking about, ...never while meditating...so i see a pattern here... speculating that self conscious will, is more gross, than spontaneous, sub conscious will... Or, perhaps... it's about conscious will, being dualistic based...meaning, it operates when "knowing", comes outside of the heart...
Thank you Angelo. I find your videos helpful. I find, whether through choice or happenstance, I am often in that state / space you call unbound consciousness. And can remain within it, for quite long periods of time, untroubled. What interested me here was you said, once you can do that, you've done all you can. There doesn't seem to be a centre, a me, an identity, seeing and hearing, or watching thoughts arise and subside, and there seems to be no satisfactory word for it. 'Being' - as a verb, perhaps. There seems to be no understanding possible, of this. - 'Life' is another word for it, but it doesn't seem to matter, word or no word. "I" have been exploring/experimenting now for 8 decades, and seem free from my persona with its history, etc. You know, I don't really care if I'm awake or not! 🙏
I'm extremely thankful for this. Gratitude to the high linguistic intelligence that manifests through you. I know this is chasing a concept, but your making this video so succinctly and timely is itself part of a synchronicity...I realized a few days ago that I had fallen into a sense of distrusting life and feeling disconnected, as though I didn't know who to trust -- or like the sensation of alienation was painted into the lens -- so I practiced letting go of this fear and leaning into the faith that the next moment will unfold however it's meant to unfold, that there are hidden friends all around me. This video popped up from literally the first time I practiced that and posted something in the group about where I'm sincerely at in my journey. It very much feels like a sense of 'see, you're not alone' -- though this phrasing is just pointing towards a sense of connection. There's also this underlying feeling of profound loneliness, like I'm alone in the universe. I look at you and see myself. It's always interesting to reflect: there are so many paradoxes every time I try to explain anything, like the sense of being alone in the universe but then also connected. This has all become very, very heart-chakra-areaish lately for me. It feels experientially like there is one heart, one life, one friend looking through every eye; I feel everyone's heart in mine, but I know this is also a conceptual projection -- a sensation and a story about that sensation.
Yes it becomes quite paradoxical. I agree that really leaning into that trust in life, in reality is a profound act. It becomes more and more important as realization clarifies. Also yes the synchronicity is striking! The loneliness usually subsides as non-dual clarifies more and more “just this.”
Hey, thanks for all the guidance you share with all of us, I am currently reading your book and I got through most of it already and I must say with some previous investigation and interest in this matter I find your content - explanations, practices and investigations specifically helpful and really "solid" for the actual practice. And this video in particular did really put yet another sort of unique perspective on approaching the thoughtless awareness even, as I was watching the video, so THANKS a LOT! I now have yet something else to take away from your teachings! Love.
14:53 It’s interesting how 99.99% of meditation teachers will tell you that eliminating thoughts shouldn’t be a goal (Ajahn Brahm being a notable exception), but I believe that being able to observe my sensory experiences without being so distracted by thoughts played a large part in my initial shift (that and applying Douglas Harding’s Headless Way method during my walks in nature). Not to mention that the thoughtless gaps are really pleasant.
your tramissions are fire, they really exude Consciousness,i'm glad i found your channel,it's a beacon of light and very pratical,it trascends philosophies and beliefs and guides directly to the experience,thank you for your work brother,i hope you know that it's very helpful .
One day, the ego/self simply & effotlessly DISSOLVED leaving a completely indescribable "me" or boundless consciousness/awareness. I/this sat here in amazement, wondering what to call this. The word "emptiness" appeared in consciousness! This all happened in seconds. It became obvious that there is only automatic happenings, that no one or thing is doing...just happening or flow. There was a sudden, thrilling sense of joy, freedom & a desire to get up, go outside & EXPERINCE this vast, boundlessness out in the world. Everywhere i/this went, there was effortless, thrilling happenings...by no one nor thing...just automatic ACTION! This story is long & complicated but after the little me/ self dissolved or disappeared, all of life & the world became easy, lovely, FUN & THRILLING!!! By the next day, BOUNDLESSNESS was gone & ordinary, limited, disappointing life came back! Oh well...😮
Funny that your videos pops up like that! Had that experience a few days ago and my mind went: Ohhhh how did I get there?? and I "lost it" and came back to duality . There was a strong emotion of fear but this, I let go. Nice video!
How do you deal with internal music ? I do thought practice and there will be gaps and I try to stay in it. I feel like I have another stream of music. I try to say that’s a thought but it does t come and go as easily as a regular thought. It will sometimes just be clips repeating or sometimes it will be almost the entire song
Generally speaking I’d say don’t worry about it. Do notice the subtle thought that says that shouldn’t be there however. Often when we release the resistance toward the music then we naturally “move closer” to the thought experience and almost merge with it. “What is that made out of?”
I've been wondering this too... a year later, how funny... when I got Covid I somehow to a weird "walk" in a dreamstate going through all the minds activity, including the repeating googoo dolls song! The complexities of consciousness astound me. I have no question, and endless questions... thank you Angelo.. 😊
Thank you Angelo. The “Gap” term you use has helped me. I’m working on staying there longer, with practice, as you say, it’ll come naturally. I get emotional when trying. I do feel release.
Beautiful description - even better than the book in a sense. Very simple and succinct and clearly and immediately experienceable. I suspect I'll return to this vid in those times when I feel I've become lost in thought again and struggle to break the loop.
Wow, this video created some deep shifts for me. It was like I saw me coming out from the other side of thought. The sense of I that stretched out in every direction inside my head and was sort of hiding behind the thoughts.
In regards to having this thoughtless gap, this sounds similar to having a decent amount of concentration and mindfulness like access concentration or jhanic states in Buddhism. Investigating the gap/staying alert in the gap is a useful instruction. It's also really helpful to realize that there's nothing more I can do because when I get to that spot I either try to push, frying myself out with anticipation or I get bored and stop being alert. Thank you!
Indeed. And can be very helpful to recognize in these moments “should I push?” And “I’m bored” are subtle thoughts arising , then find out what’s here when those perceptions are also set aside :)
For me, thoughts plus feelings/emotions appear simultaneously. Sometimes just thoughts & sometimes just feelings/emotions. The FEELINGS have the most impact on "me"...especially painful or shaming feelings. Its strange how so many teachers/speakers just focus on THOUGHTS & THINKING in their lectures. 😮
Thanks so much for your effort and this video Angelo 💪! You are very helpful to me. Im here with you in the contentless state, the focus relaxes and there’s a more vivid / wide angle experience of the surrounding world . Then there’s the realization that there is no / zero distance between the object I’m looking at and me. Then The feeling of ‘me’ becomes very small or sometimes very big and after that The experiencing can often disappear all together for a short moment (with some interesting 3D visual like structures ) and than I come back and go on with my business . What’s next Angelo ? Keep doing this? No fear but also no longing anymore Thanks again 😃
If you mean that it’s obvious if the scope of consciousness moves in this way then yes , that’s natural to me. Some dissolving left to go for then, Thanks so much 🙏🏻 ☺️
Another thought: Can you do a meditation to help stay in this unbound consciousness? This video was super helpful and relatable btw. I’ve spoken to spiritual teachers before who were like ‘you are already enlightened’ which was not helpful at all but you described what I’m experiencing perfectly. Reality revealing itself to itself through these videos :)
:))) Especially after awakening, it is quite possible to meditate as that pure sense of consciousness. But it won't be constant and endlessly stable. For that further insights are required :)
Fantastic instructions! Question: When practicing unbound consciousness with eyes open, sometimes a very clear openness arises. It sort of stops feeling like meditation. The sense of samadhi falls off and it's just being in the room. When this occurs there can be the sense that the thought flow glides along without the content landing. It sort of feels right, and very nice because it doesn't draw attention away. But then it sometimes feels like cheating. But maybe not!? The watching feels less like from behind and more just back in the body. Too good to be true?
Sounds like good practice. You may want to start non-dual exploration of presence when doing this with eyes open. I have many pointings to this in non-duality playlist. When the subject - object illusion starts to dissolve you are in good territory ;)
Definitely helped. Are visual and auditory hallucinations thoughts? Like music that plays in your head that you’ve never heard before. I have a weak inner eye and imagination, and get hypnagogic hallucinations (visual and auditory) before sleep (that are now eliminated by Zoloft). Interestingly, after clearing normal thoughts and closing my eyes, I’ll get those same hallucinations except I’m able to witness them more clearly because I’m not falling asleep. They aren’t perfectly vivid, but they are distinctly more colorful and brighter compared to the normal gray and formless shadowy nothingness I usually see. Thanks again!
What a powerful talk. Thanks for the clear and direct instructions. Is this natural meditation? When I do meditate nowadays I’m easily and fairly fast in this thoughtless space/ gap. I’m not sure how to stay alert over there! Actually, I tried to pay attention if I’m alert to body sensations and surroundings or not, and I can say I’m fairly alert, but it’s so thoughtless kind of alertness. No fear, and nothing else happens there for me except for deep relaxation that feels almost like a power nap!!! Am I doing something wrong here?
Sounds fine although with pure consciousness in approach to awakening we actually orient specifically to consciousness/ the stuff thoughts are made of /the pure sense of I Am, or object less knowing. Whereas natural meditation is completely undirected .
Thanks for talking about the fear response! I get a strong tension in my stomach / nausea when the mind gets really desperate to explain things and is unable to. The first time it happened I labelled it as feeling disgust and took a break. The second time it happened I thought of the labeling as a thought and just stayed with the body sense but it didn't really go away... I felt exhausted after a while. I've gone to that place a few more times but the body hasn't yet relaxed.
Yes it’s unpredictable how many times that fear response comes. However at sone point it usually just drops, or you approach the same way you had several tones before.. and suddenly it’s just not there . But one thing we can always count on, things will always change. You’re in good territory. Just keep cultivating that curiosity, “WHAT is beyond this??”
I loved this. It was helpful. So even the humming vibration is a thought? The pulsating is a thought? I say it is and it gets louder. It’s like I fall deep in to it.
In the first method (starting at 5:47), you seem to be saying that I - the true I - am the thinker of the thoughts. But I thought I was just the observer of the thoughts, which are thought by the ego. If I say there’s no distinction between me and my thoughts, doesn’t that work against my dis-identifying from them? What am I missing?
This is very helpful. When I found a gap between thoughts strong sensations came up in the chest, almost a small gasp--(-Fear barrier I guess). It felt like I 'lost' the gap.... start over? Rinse and repeat?
Thank you so much for this video! It hits me right where I am in my practice now: Cultivating the gaps between thoughts. Currently, the mind stays in the gaps for seconds, sometimes minutes (though now and then there are very brief wispy thoughts that disappear in a split second). When in these gaps, attention is naturally drawn to either a body sensation (throbbing in the back of the head, tingling in the face) or an internally generated sound (high pitched notes). It is as if it is easier to stay in the gap, easier to stay alert to upcoming thoughts, if attention rests on an object. In other words: I am not completely shutting of the five sense doors, I am doing a form of spontaneous samatha (alert, not spaced out). Is that okay? Or should I make an effort to gently pull attention back from sensations or sounds, cultivating a kind of samatha without an object?
Either way is fine. It really depends on your instinct and what you are going for in the immediate. If you’ve had an awakening then just do what you are doing. If you don’t feel you’ve had an undeniable shift in identity, then you can, if it feels relevant, shift attention back toward thoughtless, consciousness. One way of doing that is notice when the question comes up during that experience as a subtle thought “should I do shamatha or return to consciousnessand close the sense gates” then see oh THAT is also a thought. It’s a subtle orienting thought that keeps a sense of “you” subtly apart from the practice, choice, experience etc. When there’s truly unconditioned consciousness there is no sense of meditator or meditation experience really, it’s like everything disappears into pure awakeness or knowingness without any object, structure, subject. :)
@@SimplyAlwaysAwake How does one shift attention to consciousness, something that is not an object? Seems somewhat impossible if it's the place I'm aware from. Seems like there's nothing to do at all to get 'there', just things to let go of or release and open to what's always/already here. Thanks for the invaluable content!
for example, if there is attention being shifted to something else (thoughtless consciousness), then it seems like there is a duality being constructed by the practice, like something standing apart from consciousness and trying to witness it and locate it -- which is impossible in my view of it atm.
Hi, what is the title of your book ? And your name, please. I find your video so useful. Very good pointers. Are helping me a lot to give a sense of my experiences. Thank you I found the Amazon link and I purchased it already . Thanks
If you want to know who you are,you have to know what you're not.Even conciousness has to be trancended,but ;you;can't do that.That's why Nisargadatta Maharaj said;abide in the feeling ;I AM;.Love your videos .
@@SimplyAlwaysAwake In one of your videos from 2020 some one talks about falling into absolute nothingness.Well ,that happend to me a few years ago and it was the most horrifying experience i've ever had .This was in a periode when i was meditating a lot .I went to sleep and 3 seconds after i was like a sort of sucked into this nothingness.The first thing i was thinking about was suicide but there was not even some one to commit suicide.I never spoke to some one about it ,but what is your vision about this?
@@hermansohier7643 when one touches deep into formlessness it can definitely trigger that existential fear/terror. As strange as it may sound, at some point what we feared most becomes a source of endless freedom. The simplest way of saying this is that when touched into with no experiential insight the only way the ego/mind/self can interpret “that” is a sort of absolute death. With realization it’s seen/experienced quite differently. It’s very hard if not impossible to put into words but it’s something like this. Death stops being a problem when it’s seen to be wholly illusory, you are no more going to die than you were ever born in the first place. A zen master Bankei has a fun way of saying this, “Everything is perfectly managed in the unborn.” Everything really does turn out ok in the end. More than ok :)
While resting in I am, for extended periods where it become the normal day to day experience, or state rather, and the mind then becomes quiet, I have found it becomes more difficult to catch thoughts, whereas during the initial I am realisation things were crystal in clarity, thoughts have become much.. sneakier, and tend to drift by relatively unnoticed much of the time. Is this the way it should unfold, or is more vigilance required to “catch” the thoughts? Or should I just allow thoughts to appear in this space? Another thing, because thoughts are now only arising spontaneously, it has become a little more difficult to “rationalise” out of difficult situations, such as very intense physiological bodily sensations or emotions. How should I relate to strong emotion from this space of I am Ness? Wonderful video BTW, a beautiful affirmation
You sound like you are at the stage where you can start to move beyond I Am. Not that there is a beyond per say but your practice can shift. Things get very ephemeral once you have made the initial transition an start to experience absorption spontaneously. I would recommend begging some work with the senses, non-dual inquiry. Look at my non-dual section. These are subtler pointing but very important to move into deep state realization insights. “When hearing there is only hearing, no hearer, no sound.” “When moving there is only moving, no one doing that” in this way :)
Dear Angelo, in 11:31 when you were talking about the gap between thoughts, you also said ''remember, the gap is also a thought''. What do you mean by that? Do you mean some visual image that can be created of a gap? Thank you.
@@SimplyAlwaysAwake Angelo, it is very discouraging when we hear stories like that of Frank Yang... with fireworks and virtual reality and all wonders upon awakening, and then us being told 'this is all there is' or 'there is no awakening' and stuff like that. I'm like.. I might as well give up on this journey, because I am pretty present all the time, but I am still me and ojects are still objects. Maybe it's not in my destiny to aweken in that way. I guess my version of awakening is the lame boring one, be happy, conform, this is all there is, forget everything, it's all worthless....why bother. And I have been on this path since 1999, with many glimpses, but so what.. 😩
Why worry about Frank or anyone else? Stories are stories. You have to go where no story has ever touched including your own... AND you know how to go there :) @@bolivarabreu9011
First and foremost I want to thank you, and your process which was inspired by the 3 pillars of zen, is there a video series of a step by step we can work on ourselves or is the book the only way to understand this? Thankyou Adamson
A general question, something I have observed today. There are moments in which the thinking process seems unstoppable, like if going into inquiry is an act of violence. I know that I'm probably deceiving myself, but maybe you have something to suggest...
yes, orient to the next thought, then the next. It's like if someone is chasing you and you stop running and turn toward them the dynamic essentially stops. There is a way to do this with thought as well
I am here now, and some things that hold me back. My leg/ toe pain, suffering from a severe spinal stenosis condition as the mind. It holds on for dear life for the last decade. The pain is brutal, steroid injections, opioids, distractions, thoughts, nothing seems to clear it. I will keep sitting with it. Maybe I'm close, maybe I'm not. Idk what I am anymore, but pain is part of the flow for now. No longer seeking, just staying, I point at my face and its a black nothingness vortex, it gets so confused when I point at my "face". Wtf is "this" doing lol.
Hi Angelo, I have a question. When you're talking about "thought", you're not just talking about verbal thoughts, but you also seem to include judgments, opinions, beliefs, confusion, hesitation, etc. I don't have a constant stream of verbal narration the way many people do. For the most part, my thoughts are quiet. Yet of course, my mind produces just as many unquestioned judgments and filters as everyone else's. I guess my question is, how do you tell thought from not-thought / what, exactly, is a thought? It seems to me like, since anything not of the 5 regular senses is bound to have arisen from the mind sense, there's no space left in experience for a "gap between thoughts". I'll be honest, I am deeply confused.
@@SimplyAlwaysAwake First of all, thanks for answering! I honestly don't know! Is confusion a thought? Is confusion confusion before the mind attaches that label? My perception of it is at least 90% thought, but is there something preconceptual there before the mind co-opts it? Sometimes it seems like there is, and sometimes it seems like there isn't. I can't tell the difference. Like I said, I have an extremely hard time telling where thought/mind begins and ends, and where mind-sense and body-sense cross over. It's all mushed together. I'm used to grokking things within a short amount of time, but this has been eluding me for years, and I don't even know if I'm getting any closer. I'm frustrated, impatient and desperate for progress. Not that you could magically remedy that, but it feels good to type it out.
@@Millhouse013 I understand. I think for you a key might be to question where the perceptions and conclusions are rooted. Ie if you can write it out it’s a thought/belief, even if a hidden or subconscious one. This kind of inquiry into belief is where the magic is
yes I would say so, though there are nuances in how some people use those terms. Think the key there is whether one has really had that first shift in identity such that that is not only readily available but clear to be the basis of the experience of being.
@@SimplyAlwaysAwake thank you. Yes, i am aiming towards that first shift, and i am trying to remain in unbound consciousness during my practice, then eventually be able to carry it with me all day. I have noticed if i practice before i go to sleep, my dreams are more lucid. Would that be a sign i am on the right track or completely unrelated to it
@@johntayor9511 it’s a good sign. Though I’d make a small adjustment that rather than trying to just remain in unbound consciousness (which will come with a background belief/identity of the one who is trying to maintain that), I would recommend lead yourself there then continue to inquire deeply “who am I” “what am I” or even waiting for the next thought such that you can contribute to disrupt the identity structure. Perhaps a bit more toward active investigation than passive abiding. You want it to catch fire in a certain way where the inquiry / investigation seems to have a life of its own.
@@SimplyAlwaysAwake thank you. I can definitely see how the “I” could be a blind side and will be incorporating this. Now that you bring up “disrupting the identity structure” the dreams last night, the “me” in it was being attacked and was trying to run away, but it couldn’t escape. Fascinating how the subconscious may interpret things in a dream, whether relevant or just coincidence is of course up for question. Not 100% sure what you mean by “you want it to catch a life of its own” but once i get to the inquiry while being there it’ll maybe become clear what you mean. Thanks again
"There's nothing more you can do".
Thats what I need just now. Thanks.
Brilliantly transmitted brother.
Thanks my man
I just got back from my walk after listening to this. While walking, I saw a flock of birds feeding in a lawn and thought "what a pretty pattern they make". Immediately thought "thats a thought" and another thought followed: "of course. Thats what you need to put it into memory".
Thank you for all the content recently. It has helped me in ways that are hard to communicate.
You’re Welcome
Absolutely agree. Thank you so much
@@anthonysheehanjr1 welcome!
Time 2:17
That was the most clear practice video Thank you!
Dear Angelo,
Thanks for all the videos you have been sharing lately. They really help.
I just got back from a 5-day silent self retreat in the woods. Armed with your book and some mosquitos, I deepened my practice and the veil was pushed aside a bit. The spell is slowly being broken. The mirage is fading. It's all good.
with gratitude,
Caryn
Great to hear it
Thank you so much. Will report back later. 😊❤
This is so insane….awesome experience! Thank you!
I return to the videos several times catching more each time I return without really analyzing it. Thank you for your posts.
Glad to hear it! Thanks for your comment :)
🙏❤️🌈
For me, i was "practicing for a long time, resting in this space you seem to mention here (i call it the (location less) "heart")...
So...it was just a sense of "knowing"...resting/knowing (non dualistically and effortlessly, on the personal i-sense...which was there too, in the"heart"... without latching on an "external" object...
It felt like staying "at home", in peace, bliss, feeling of, unconditional self love and togetherness ,...
So staying "home", instead of going "out", to the forehead, and projecting attention from there, which created a dualistic knowing...
Then...after a long long time of practicing this way,, while walking about, an inquiry arose, regarding the current experience of the subject-sense...
Nothing new...but it was spontaneous...not brought about by conscious will...
And then and there, the "first shift" you mention, happen (that was 3 years ago)...
So my guess/speculation, is, that developing some degree of habit, or momentum, of "self inquiry", is something you CAN do, to perhaps "increase the chance" (😂) of spontaneous inquiry arising, there, in the "heart", and zapping that poor un suspecting i - sense...😂❤️🙏🌈
(over the years, whenever i had small temporary non dual shifts, (on retreats), they always "caught me by surprise"... walking about, ...never while meditating...so i see a pattern here... speculating that self conscious will, is more gross, than spontaneous, sub conscious will...
Or, perhaps... it's about conscious will, being dualistic based...meaning, it operates when "knowing", comes outside of the heart...
You! Angelo, are freaking amazing! Thankyou so much for everything !
Very well expressed thank you, reassuring
Thank you Angelo. I find your videos helpful. I find, whether through choice or happenstance, I am often in that state / space you call unbound consciousness. And can remain within it, for quite long periods of time, untroubled. What interested me here was you said, once you can do that, you've done all you can. There doesn't seem to be a centre, a me, an identity, seeing and hearing, or watching thoughts arise and subside, and there seems to be no satisfactory word for it. 'Being' - as a verb, perhaps. There seems to be no understanding possible, of this. - 'Life' is another word for it, but it doesn't seem to matter, word or no word. "I" have been exploring/experimenting now for 8 decades, and seem free from my persona with its history, etc. You know, I don't really care if I'm awake or not! 🙏
love it, sounds like 8 decades well spent!
I'm extremely thankful for this. Gratitude to the high linguistic intelligence that manifests through you.
I know this is chasing a concept, but your making this video so succinctly and timely is itself part of a synchronicity...I realized a few days ago that I had fallen into a sense of distrusting life and feeling disconnected, as though I didn't know who to trust -- or like the sensation of alienation was painted into the lens -- so I practiced letting go of this fear and leaning into the faith that the next moment will unfold however it's meant to unfold, that there are hidden friends all around me. This video popped up from literally the first time I practiced that and posted something in the group about where I'm sincerely at in my journey. It very much feels like a sense of 'see, you're not alone' -- though this phrasing is just pointing towards a sense of connection. There's also this underlying feeling of profound loneliness, like I'm alone in the universe. I look at you and see myself. It's always interesting to reflect: there are so many paradoxes every time I try to explain anything, like the sense of being alone in the universe but then also connected. This has all become very, very heart-chakra-areaish lately for me. It feels experientially like there is one heart, one life, one friend looking through every eye; I feel everyone's heart in mine, but I know this is also a conceptual projection -- a sensation and a story about that sensation.
Yes it becomes quite paradoxical. I agree that really leaning into that trust in life, in reality is a profound act. It becomes more and more important as realization clarifies. Also yes the synchronicity is striking! The loneliness usually subsides as non-dual clarifies more and more “just this.”
Hey, thanks for all the guidance you share with all of us, I am currently reading your book and I got through most of it already and I must say with some previous investigation and interest in this matter I find your content - explanations, practices and investigations specifically helpful and really "solid" for the actual practice. And this video in particular did really put yet another sort of unique perspective on approaching the thoughtless awareness even, as I was watching the video, so THANKS a LOT! I now have yet something else to take away from your teachings! Love.
Awesome! Nice to hear from you 😊
14:53 It’s interesting how 99.99% of meditation teachers will tell you that eliminating thoughts shouldn’t be a goal (Ajahn Brahm being a notable exception), but I believe that being able to observe my sensory experiences without being so distracted by thoughts played a large part in my initial shift (that and applying Douglas Harding’s Headless Way method during my walks in nature). Not to mention that the thoughtless gaps are really pleasant.
Great video explanation. You are offering a wonderful service to life 🙏🏻
your tramissions are fire, they really exude Consciousness,i'm glad i found your channel,it's a beacon of light and very pratical,it trascends philosophies and beliefs and guides directly to the experience,thank you for your work brother,i hope you know that it's very helpful .
Unbound Consciousness = Experiencing Awaremess of Being Aware = Pure Being - Describes I Am.
Just another thought ....... simple and profound.
Gratitude 🙏🙏🙏
🙏🏼
Genious - practical, succinct, comprehensive
Thanks for watching
damn this one was very very good,you're a real master or if you don't like this term,you're a real teacher .
This was the best! THANK YOU!
You're welcome
One day, the ego/self simply & effotlessly DISSOLVED leaving a completely indescribable "me" or boundless consciousness/awareness. I/this sat here in amazement, wondering what to call this. The word "emptiness" appeared in consciousness! This all happened in seconds. It became obvious that there is only automatic happenings, that no one or thing is doing...just happening or flow. There was a sudden, thrilling sense of joy, freedom & a desire to get up, go outside & EXPERINCE this vast, boundlessness out in the world. Everywhere i/this went, there was effortless, thrilling happenings...by no one nor thing...just automatic ACTION! This story is long & complicated but after the little me/ self dissolved or disappeared, all of life & the world became easy, lovely, FUN & THRILLING!!! By the next day, BOUNDLESSNESS was gone & ordinary, limited, disappointing life came back! Oh well...😮
I will keep doing this meditation. It really resonates.. Thanks so much! Blessings 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Welcome
I am truly speechless other than thank you.
Funny that your videos pops up like that! Had that experience a few days ago and my mind went: Ohhhh how did I get there?? and I "lost it" and came back to duality . There was a strong emotion of fear but this, I let go. Nice video!
Thank you Angelo 🙏🏼
For anybody in this space struggling with addiction Scott Kiloby is very helpful, imho! Love to all ❤️
This is brilliant seems to describe what I didn’t manage to describe to u on retreat 👌❤️
Insanely powerful pointing!
How do you deal with internal music ? I do thought practice and there will be gaps and I try to stay in it. I feel like I have another stream of music. I try to say that’s a thought but it does t come and go as easily as a regular thought. It will sometimes just be clips repeating or sometimes it will be almost the entire song
Generally speaking I’d say don’t worry about it. Do notice the subtle thought that says that shouldn’t be there however. Often when we release the resistance toward the music then we naturally “move closer” to the thought experience and almost merge with it. “What is that made out of?”
I've been wondering this too... a year later, how funny... when I got Covid I somehow to a weird "walk" in a dreamstate going through all the minds activity, including the repeating googoo dolls song! The complexities of consciousness astound me. I have no question, and endless questions... thank you Angelo.. 😊
Thank you Angelo. The “Gap” term you use has helped me. I’m working on staying there longer, with practice, as you say, it’ll come naturally. I get emotional when trying. I do feel release.
Awesome! Glad it’s helpful. Surf the waves of unfiltered reality 🌊
Beautiful description - even better than the book in a sense. Very simple and succinct and clearly and immediately experienceable. I suspect I'll return to this vid in those times when I feel I've become lost in thought again and struggle to break the loop.
Wow, this video created some deep shifts for me. It was like I saw me coming out from the other side of thought. The sense of I that stretched out in every direction inside my head and was sort of hiding behind the thoughts.
Yes! The thoughts are the illusions and YOU Are all of experience whether there is thought or not
Thank you! 🙏🏻😊
Love your videos and thank you for all the reminders 🎉
In regards to having this thoughtless gap, this sounds similar to having a decent amount of concentration and mindfulness like access concentration or jhanic states in Buddhism. Investigating the gap/staying alert in the gap is a useful instruction. It's also really helpful to realize that there's nothing more I can do because when I get to that spot I either try to push, frying myself out with anticipation or I get bored and stop being alert. Thank you!
Indeed. And can be very helpful to recognize in these moments “should I push?” And “I’m bored” are subtle thoughts arising , then find out what’s here when those perceptions are also set aside :)
@@SimplyAlwaysAwake I really appreciate the simplicity. The simplicity makes no room for excuses as to whether I wake up or not. It's all in my hands.
@@VeritableVagabond YES!
For me, thoughts plus feelings/emotions appear simultaneously. Sometimes just thoughts & sometimes just feelings/emotions. The FEELINGS have the most impact on "me"...especially painful or shaming feelings. Its strange how so many teachers/speakers just focus on THOUGHTS & THINKING in their lectures. 😮
Thanks so much for your effort and this video Angelo 💪!
You are very helpful to me.
Im here with you in the contentless state, the focus relaxes and there’s a more vivid / wide angle experience of the surrounding world . Then there’s the realization that there is no / zero distance between the object I’m looking at and me. Then The feeling of ‘me’ becomes very small or sometimes very big and after that The experiencing can often disappear all together for a short moment (with some interesting 3D visual like structures ) and than I come back and go on with my business .
What’s next Angelo ? Keep doing this?
No fear but also no longing anymore
Thanks again 😃
Is that experience continuous ? Like it’s just obviously always this way ?
If so then dissolving any remaining subtle self sense and reactivity is all that’s left.
If you mean that it’s obvious if the scope of consciousness moves in this way then yes , that’s natural to me. Some dissolving left to go for then,
Thanks so much 🙏🏻 ☺️
Another thought: Can you do a meditation to help stay in this unbound consciousness?
This video was super helpful and relatable btw. I’ve spoken to spiritual teachers before who were like ‘you are already enlightened’ which was not helpful at all but you described what I’m experiencing perfectly. Reality revealing itself to itself through these videos :)
:))) Especially after awakening, it is quite possible to meditate as that pure sense of consciousness. But it won't be constant and endlessly stable. For that further insights are required :)
Fantastic instructions! Question: When practicing unbound consciousness with eyes open, sometimes a very clear openness arises. It sort of stops feeling like meditation. The sense of samadhi falls off and it's just being in the room. When this occurs there can be the sense that the thought flow glides along without the content landing. It sort of feels right, and very nice because it doesn't draw attention away. But then it sometimes feels like cheating. But maybe not!? The watching feels less like from behind and more just back in the body. Too good to be true?
Sounds like good practice. You may want to start non-dual exploration of presence when doing this with eyes open. I have many pointings to this in non-duality playlist. When the subject - object illusion starts to dissolve you are in good territory ;)
Super helpful!!
Glad it was helpful!
Don't DO anything. Relax and settle into just being aware. Expand, relax, settle, repeat.
Indeed!
This is good.
Definitely helped. Are visual and auditory hallucinations thoughts? Like music that plays in your head that you’ve never heard before. I have a weak inner eye and imagination, and get hypnagogic hallucinations (visual and auditory) before sleep (that are now eliminated by Zoloft). Interestingly, after clearing normal thoughts and closing my eyes, I’ll get those same hallucinations except I’m able to witness them more clearly because I’m not falling asleep. They aren’t perfectly vivid, but they are distinctly more colorful and brighter compared to the normal gray and formless shadowy nothingness I usually see.
Thanks again!
What a powerful talk. Thanks for the clear and direct instructions. Is this natural meditation? When I do meditate nowadays I’m easily and fairly fast in this thoughtless space/ gap. I’m not sure how to stay alert over there! Actually, I tried to pay attention if I’m alert to body sensations and surroundings or not, and I can say I’m fairly alert, but it’s so thoughtless kind of alertness. No fear, and nothing else happens there for me except for deep relaxation that feels almost like a power nap!!! Am I doing something wrong here?
Sounds fine although with pure consciousness in approach to awakening we actually orient specifically to consciousness/ the stuff thoughts are made of /the pure sense of I Am, or object less knowing. Whereas natural meditation is completely undirected .
Also generally speaking we “shut the sense gates” with this kind of practice, preferentially keeping attention in consciousness
@@SimplyAlwaysAwake thank you for the clarification.
@@SimplyAlwaysAwake got it now, thanks
Thanks for talking about the fear response! I get a strong tension in my stomach / nausea when the mind gets really desperate to explain things and is unable to. The first time it happened I labelled it as feeling disgust and took a break. The second time it happened I thought of the labeling as a thought and just stayed with the body sense but it didn't really go away... I felt exhausted after a while. I've gone to that place a few more times but the body hasn't yet relaxed.
Yes it’s unpredictable how many times that fear response comes. However at sone point it usually just drops, or you approach the same way you had several tones before.. and suddenly it’s just not there . But one thing we can always count on, things will always change. You’re in good territory. Just keep cultivating that curiosity, “WHAT is beyond this??”
I loved this.
It was helpful.
So even the humming vibration is a thought?
The pulsating is a thought?
I say it is and it gets louder. It’s like I fall deep in to it.
I get there but can’t seem to remain there. I dont think its fear and i try not to get excited. But anywho thank you for confirming things are good!
In the first method (starting at 5:47), you seem to be saying that I - the true I - am the thinker of the thoughts. But I thought I was just the observer of the thoughts, which are thought by the ego. If I say there’s no distinction between me and my thoughts, doesn’t that work against my dis-identifying from them? What am I missing?
This is very helpful. When I found a gap between thoughts strong sensations came up in the chest, almost a small gasp--(-Fear barrier I guess). It felt like I 'lost' the gap.... start over? Rinse and repeat?
Thank you so much for this video! It hits me right where I am in my practice now: Cultivating the gaps between thoughts. Currently, the mind stays in the gaps for seconds, sometimes minutes (though now and then there are very brief wispy thoughts that disappear in a split second). When in these gaps, attention is naturally drawn to either a body sensation (throbbing in the back of the head, tingling in the face) or an internally generated sound (high pitched notes). It is as if it is easier to stay in the gap, easier to stay alert to upcoming thoughts, if attention rests on an object. In other words: I am not completely shutting of the five sense doors, I am doing a form of spontaneous samatha (alert, not spaced out). Is that okay? Or should I make an effort to gently pull attention back from sensations or sounds, cultivating a kind of samatha without an object?
Either way is fine. It really depends on your instinct and what you are going for in the immediate. If you’ve had an awakening then just do what you are doing. If you don’t feel you’ve had an undeniable shift in identity, then you can, if it feels relevant, shift attention back toward thoughtless, consciousness. One way of doing that is notice when the question comes up during that experience as a subtle thought “should I do shamatha or return to consciousnessand close the sense gates” then see oh THAT is also a thought. It’s a subtle orienting thought that keeps a sense of “you” subtly apart from the practice, choice, experience etc. When there’s truly unconditioned consciousness there is no sense of meditator or meditation experience really, it’s like everything disappears into pure awakeness or knowingness without any object, structure, subject. :)
@@SimplyAlwaysAwake Awesome! Thanks!
@@stemmejernet welcome
@@SimplyAlwaysAwake How does one shift attention to consciousness, something that is not an object? Seems somewhat impossible if it's the place I'm aware from. Seems like there's nothing to do at all to get 'there', just things to let go of or release and open to what's always/already here.
Thanks for the invaluable content!
for example, if there is attention being shifted to something else (thoughtless consciousness), then it seems like there is a duality being constructed by the practice, like something standing apart from consciousness and trying to witness it and locate it -- which is impossible in my view of it atm.
Hi, what is the title of your book ? And your name, please.
I find your video so useful. Very good pointers. Are helping me a lot to give a sense of my experiences. Thank you
I found the Amazon link and I purchased it already . Thanks
Perfect
If you want to know who you are,you have to know what you're not.Even conciousness has to be trancended,but ;you;can't do that.That's why Nisargadatta Maharaj said;abide in the feeling ;I AM;.Love your videos .
Thanks for your comment. He also said somewhere “If you regress properly the I Am thought will disappear.” Love me some Nisargadatta.
@@SimplyAlwaysAwake In one of your videos from 2020 some one talks about falling into absolute nothingness.Well ,that happend to me a few years ago and it was the most horrifying experience i've ever had .This was in a periode when i was meditating a lot .I went to sleep and 3 seconds after i was like a sort of sucked into this nothingness.The first thing i was thinking about was suicide but there was not even some one to commit suicide.I never spoke to some one about it ,but what is your vision about this?
@@hermansohier7643 when one touches deep into formlessness it can definitely trigger that existential fear/terror. As strange as it may sound, at some point what we feared most becomes a source of endless freedom. The simplest way of saying this is that when touched into with no experiential insight the only way the ego/mind/self can interpret “that” is a sort of absolute death. With realization it’s seen/experienced quite differently. It’s very hard if not impossible to put into words but it’s something like this. Death stops being a problem when it’s seen to be wholly illusory, you are no more going to die than you were ever born in the first place. A zen master Bankei has a fun way of saying this, “Everything is perfectly managed in the unborn.” Everything really does turn out ok in the end. More than ok :)
@@SimplyAlwaysAwake Thanks.
While resting in I am, for extended periods where it become the normal day to day experience, or state rather, and the mind then becomes quiet, I have found it becomes more difficult to catch thoughts, whereas during the initial I am realisation things were crystal in clarity, thoughts have become much.. sneakier, and tend to drift by relatively unnoticed much of the time. Is this the way it should unfold, or is more vigilance required to “catch” the thoughts? Or should I just allow thoughts to appear in this space?
Another thing, because thoughts are now only arising spontaneously, it has become a little more difficult to “rationalise” out of difficult situations, such as very intense physiological bodily sensations or emotions. How should I relate to strong emotion from this space of I am Ness?
Wonderful video BTW, a beautiful affirmation
You sound like you are at the stage where you can start to move beyond I Am. Not that there is a beyond per say but your practice can shift. Things get very ephemeral once you have made the initial transition an start to experience absorption spontaneously. I would recommend begging some work with the senses, non-dual inquiry. Look at my non-dual section. These are subtler pointing but very important to move into deep state realization insights. “When hearing there is only hearing, no hearer, no sound.” “When moving there is only moving, no one doing that” in this way :)
Dear Angelo, in 11:31 when you were talking about the gap between thoughts, you also said ''remember, the gap is also a thought''. What do you mean by that? Do you mean some visual image that can be created of a gap? Thank you.
Thank you
Welcome!
@@SimplyAlwaysAwake Angelo, it is very discouraging when we hear stories like that of Frank Yang... with fireworks and virtual reality and all wonders upon awakening, and then us being told 'this is all there is' or 'there is no awakening' and stuff like that. I'm like.. I might as well give up on this journey, because I am pretty present all the time, but I am still me and ojects are still objects. Maybe it's not in my destiny to aweken in that way. I guess my version of awakening is the lame boring one, be happy, conform, this is all there is, forget everything, it's all worthless....why bother. And I have been on this path since 1999, with many glimpses, but so what.. 😩
Why worry about Frank or anyone else? Stories are stories. You have to go where no story has ever touched including your own... AND you know how to go there :) @@bolivarabreu9011
Wow. Stories are stories. So true!!! Thank you. @@SimplyAlwaysAwake
First and foremost I want to thank you, and your process which was inspired by the 3 pillars of zen, is there a video series of a step by step we can work on ourselves or is the book the only way to understand this?
Thankyou
Adamson
The book is the go to
Also start with the playlist basics of awakening then move on to awakening approaches
@@SimplyAlwaysAwake ok thankyou
NNNOOOO!! Nothing more you can do when here!! 🤦🏻♂️ Are you serious? I’m working on this like it’s a full time job!
The thoughts say “I’m working on this” but what is actually happening??
A general question, something I have observed today. There are moments in which the thinking process seems unstoppable, like if going into inquiry is an act of violence. I know that I'm probably deceiving myself, but maybe you have something to suggest...
yes, orient to the next thought, then the next. It's like if someone is chasing you and you stop running and turn toward them the dynamic essentially stops. There is a way to do this with thought as well
Anyone know why some videos don't give the option to save to a playlist?
I am here now, and some things that hold me back. My leg/ toe pain, suffering from a severe spinal stenosis condition as the mind. It holds on for dear life for the last decade. The pain is brutal, steroid injections, opioids, distractions, thoughts, nothing seems to clear it. I will keep sitting with it. Maybe I'm close, maybe I'm not. Idk what I am anymore, but pain is part of the flow for now. No longer seeking, just staying, I point at my face and its a black nothingness vortex, it gets so confused when I point at my "face". Wtf is "this" doing lol.
Hi Angelo,
I have a question. When you're talking about "thought", you're not just talking about verbal thoughts, but you also seem to include judgments, opinions, beliefs, confusion, hesitation, etc.
I don't have a constant stream of verbal narration the way many people do. For the most part, my thoughts are quiet. Yet of course, my mind produces just as many unquestioned judgments and filters as everyone else's. I guess my question is, how do you tell thought from not-thought / what, exactly, is a thought?
It seems to me like, since anything not of the 5 regular senses is bound to have arisen from the mind sense, there's no space left in experience for a "gap between thoughts". I'll be honest, I am deeply confused.
I mean this question in all seriousness, how do you know you’re confused?
@@SimplyAlwaysAwake First of all, thanks for answering!
I honestly don't know! Is confusion a thought? Is confusion confusion before the mind attaches that label? My perception of it is at least 90% thought, but is there something preconceptual there before the mind co-opts it? Sometimes it seems like there is, and sometimes it seems like there isn't. I can't tell the difference. Like I said, I have an extremely hard time telling where thought/mind begins and ends, and where mind-sense and body-sense cross over. It's all mushed together.
I'm used to grokking things within a short amount of time, but this has been eluding me for years, and I don't even know if I'm getting any closer. I'm frustrated, impatient and desperate for progress. Not that you could magically remedy that, but it feels good to type it out.
@@Millhouse013 I understand. I think for you a key might be to question where the perceptions and conclusions are rooted. Ie if you can write it out it’s a thought/belief, even if a hidden or subconscious one. This kind of inquiry into belief is where the magic is
Hey Angelo, would something similar to unbound consciousness be abiding as awareness? Or is that not accurate
yes I would say so, though there are nuances in how some people use those terms. Think the key there is whether one has really had that first shift in identity such that that is not only readily available but clear to be the basis of the experience of being.
@@SimplyAlwaysAwake thank you. Yes, i am aiming towards that first shift, and i am trying to remain in unbound consciousness during my practice, then eventually be able to carry it with me all day. I have noticed if i practice before i go to sleep, my dreams are more lucid. Would that be a sign i am on the right track or completely unrelated to it
@@johntayor9511 it’s a good sign. Though I’d make a small adjustment that rather than trying to just remain in unbound consciousness (which will come with a background belief/identity of the one who is trying to maintain that), I would recommend lead yourself there then continue to inquire deeply “who am I” “what am I” or even waiting for the next thought such that you can contribute to disrupt the identity structure. Perhaps a bit more toward active investigation than passive abiding. You want it to catch fire in a certain way where the inquiry / investigation seems to have a life of its own.
@@SimplyAlwaysAwake thank you. I can definitely see how the “I” could be a blind side and will be incorporating this. Now that you bring up “disrupting the identity structure” the dreams last night, the “me” in it was being attacked and was trying to run away, but it couldn’t escape. Fascinating how the subconscious may interpret things in a dream, whether relevant or just coincidence is of course up for question. Not 100% sure what you mean by “you want it to catch a life of its own” but once i get to the inquiry while being there it’ll maybe become clear what you mean. Thanks again
🙏🙏🙏
Holy shhhhhhiiit
David Lynch did an awesome short video (less than two minutes) on unbound consciousness: ua-cam.com/video/IaV4K4ceKW4/v-deo.html
Awesome thank you 😊
Consciousness without an object is. Franklin Merrill Wolfe
Interesting! I just looked him up. Apparently he was influenced by Shankara (Advaita Vedanta), which is powerful pointing
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Very helpful, until you stop guiding 😳