MINDFULLNESS: The KEY TO HIGHER CONSCIOUSNESS

He hath a heart as sound as a bell,
and his tongue is the clapper;
for what his heart thinks
his tongue speaks. Shakespeare

I'm a dreamer...have been since I was a youth. Like most dreamers I've been overwhelmed with the relentless tide of war, despair, poverty, abuse, and suffering we humans seem to heap upon ourselves. However, I am deeply grateful for a spiritual path that has moved me beyond the heavy awareness and soul burden of the human condition into a vision of hope and understanding. One essential key to this transition to a loving and peaceful condition of heart and soul and mind has been, for me at least, mindfulness. Mindfulness is a simple thing really. It just takes a little guidance and a little practice and one is on their way. So let's begin, shall we?

We humans are fascinating creatures, not only do we have our five senses but we have a sixth sense, or state of awareness. We sense subtle energies we generate ourselves but we also sense energies from other people, places, other living creatures, things, conditions, and situations. Let me share something with you that you already know, but may have never put into words: Everything is energy. Everything. And we can learn to be conscious of all these energies. And just as one can refine and develop consciousness and move from one level to another, so too can one develop exquisite mindfulness.

Mindfulness is a feeling state in the moment, in the Now. Here is a little sample: right now put your attention on your big toe, or if you please, on your elbow. Don't keep reading. Do it, please. Let your mind become aware of the sensations in your toe/elbow.

For those of you who did this little exercise you felt your toe or elbow didn't you? You were not aware of any sensation in your toe until you directed your mind to it. You see, even though we are constantly gathering sensory perceptions our minds limit what they will respond to simply because they are unable to compute all of the energies at once. So you directed the mind to be mindful.

Now I suspect some of you skipped over this little exercise, and I know who you are, and I'm not going to upvote any of your comments! Kidding, just kidding. But you had another energy experience didn't you? What did you feel? Hmnnn? Did you have a very subtle thought of: 'Nah, don't need to. I know what my toe feels like. I'm just going to keep reading.' Did you feel a micro moment of independence from following my instruction? Or are you impatient and don't have much time for such things so you are essentially scanning or speed reading? Is that what you felt? Impatience? My point is you either felt your toe or you had another energy flit across your mind telling you to do something else. What was the energy in your mind? To know that energy, that feeling, is to be mindful. Acting without being aware why you acted is a form of ignorance. Knowing why you do things is greater consciousness, aided by mindfulness.

Our minds can only deal with a certain amount of sense input at any given moment, so even though our bodies, our psyches, our hearts, are gathering all sorts of energy input the mind limits what it recognizes to bare essentials, so as not to be overwhelmed. But we can learn to become masters of mindfulness where nature, life, music, poetry, relationships open up to us on another level entirely. We can learn to rise above the 1st level of consciousness to the 2nd and then the 3rd and ultimately to pure consciousness, pure awareness where the secrets of the very Cosmos open to us. Wow! That last sentence went by fast! Did you get that? The very secrets of the Cosmos are yours if you want them! (For those unfamiliar with the "levels" of consciousness I refer to I suggest you read a post on it.) Here it is:https://steemit.com/psychology/@mistermercury/a-growing-shift-in-consciousness

One can hone their ability to be mindful through meditation, or yoga, or contemplative walks in nature, through music, or poetry. There are many ways, but the first three are the most common. OK here is another mindfulness exercise. Pay attention to what judgement is in your mind as you read the next sentence. I know of many people who use psychedelics to open their minds to energies unavailable in daily 1st level consciousness. Ayahuasca, weed, 'shrooms, even LSD are used by shamans, spiritual questers the world over. OK, what was the energy you felt in your mind? Was there a negative judgmental energy in your mind? Or were you pleased to be validated? Being intimately aware of those energies is mindfulness.

Consciousness is like the voting slider we use to upvote. Using this slider as a gauge of consciousness we would have zero consciousness on the left end, and moving to the right we come eventually to the 1st level of Consciousness or the survival level and then at the extreme right there is pure consciousness ( Or, pure Time, pure Intelligence, pure Light and pure Love, all as One.) Mindfulness is the condition of mind one must develop to move along this slider. One becomes sensitive to the energy of words, thoughts, clothing, jewelry, flowers, cars...everything. The Key to remember is that we already do this, we already gather all these energies! Mindfulness simply opens up our awareness to these energies!

SO WHAT?

Ah yes, this is the nut we've come to crack, the bulls eye we want to hit, the ... OK, you get it. Why is mindfulness so critical to the future of humanity? Frankly, it is my opinion (and I'm not the only one by far. In fact, as is usual for me, I was one of the last ones to find out!!) that we are on the cusp, the threshold of another Age. We are actually in a pivotal moment in human history. We can create a new reality of Cooperative Abundance, of incredible self expression and self-actualization, of peace, and of love. We can create a world where all life is honored, where governments based on force don't exist. We can raise ourselves to another level of consciousness aided by mindfulness. (Remember the Einstein quote: "You can't solve a problem on the same level of consciousness it was created." Or we can destroy each other. Which will it be?

We have been given a wonderful opportunity here on Steemit to practice Cooperative Abundance (look for a description of this in the next day or two. It's gonna be good! I hope!}. We have within our hands the incubator of a new way of life, but it will require your commitment, your soul, your heart, for what we practice here may very well change the future.

See? I told you I was a dreamer. Let us dream this dream into reality.

Many blessings,

Mistermercury

PS: If there is a call for more information on mindfulness I'll put more out. Obviously this is just an overview. If you are encouraged to go deeper in your current practice, I really recommend a book from Jack Kornfield: The Wise Heart, this will tune you right up. Or you may want a more experiential journey, if so, I suggest you take a look at Animas Valley Institute. They have magnificent adventures in nature that will transform you.