ARE YOU AWAKE ENOUGH TO KNOW YOU’RE ASLEEP?

A Brief Examination of the Human Condition

Almost everybody believes they’re awake.

This is understandable. Their eyes are open, they’re walking around, they’re talking, they’re eating breakfast, and occasionally they’re even making sense.

But being conscious of your surroundings is not quite the same thing as being awake.

Consider the possibility that your ordinary waking state is actually a highly sophisticated form of sleep.

You can drive a car, operate a computer, argue about politics, fall in love, get divorced, and pay your taxes without ever once becoming genuinely awake.

In fact, most human activities seem specifically designed to prevent awakening.

Television helps. So does worrying.

The average human being spends an astonishing amount of time thinking about things that have already happened, things that might happen, and things that will almost certainly never happen.

Meanwhile, the present moment slips by unnoticed.

Here’s a little experiment.

For the next ten seconds, try to be completely present.

Notice where you are. Notice that you are looking out through your eyes. Notice that you exist.

Don’t think about being present.

BE PRESENT.

Now here’s the interesting question:

Who, exactly, was doing the noticing?

And where was that individual five seconds before the experiment began?

You might want to investigate.

After all, if somebody has been living your life while you were asleep, wouldn’t you like to meet them?

Wake up soon enough to make less of a mess of your life.

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Here’s the Bardo bus now!!!

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See You At The Top!!!

gorby