Lokesh, The Author
I’ve written this account because having a powerful and extended experience of the Transcendent State of Awareness is a rare thing in the West . If I hadn’t had this unexpected and essentially unfamiliar experience throughout the summer of 1975, I’d have nothing to say.It was during this elevated and truly miraculous adventure that I knew I was to share it with others.Since it is a wholly and holy spiritual account, I’ve chosen to use the spiritual name I received from my first spiritual Master. This is also to emphasize that my personal history is not that important, and all the truly important things are a part of the sharing.
Mindfulness is a common practice for many but many people are not aware of its full potential because the West is not that familiar with the nature and capabilities of our human consciousness. It comes from the Buddhist tradition and similar practices were taught by other Indian sages. It’s a practice of focusing on the present and maintaining a non-judgmental awareness of thoughts and emotions and other things present. This is a great practice, not a religion, as is starts to help you become more aware of your thought and emotional patterns. But if you focus on the aspect of yourself that can observe all of the minds activity you will realize that this part of yourself is completely detached from all that it “witnesses”! Then you will see that this part of yourself is much more You than is your habitual mind-set! My account of Awakening shares this adventure in great detail which makes it easy to follow.We are told that this practice of mindfulness comes from the Buddha himself and that this practice of ever increasing awareness has the power to reveal the deepest levels of reality available to human consciousness.My story of Awakening shares how I experienced this Truth that cannot be explained or questioned. As the Buddha might say: Come see for yourself!
Two days in of trying to stay connected with the part of my Awareness that could simply observe my habitual mind, my everyday experience of normal mental activity, I was sitting on an porch of an old general store in Idaho, again trying not to run with my uncalled for thoughts, when two young men pulled up and got out of their truck. Seeing that they were dressed in full cowboy outfits, something I was not used to seeing, my “mind” immediately said- what a couple of real hicks! With my sense of self in the observing Awareness, what I thought of as the “watcher” of the mind, I was astonished to hear my inner voice automatically spit out this obvious mechanical, and prejudiced reactionary thought! I the observing Awareness instantly knew that my “mind” was the idiot. This is the Mindfulness that I’m sharing my experiences of! This is the real essence of Mindfulness that can help you connect with the higher levels of identity that are already potential in You.
One of my target audiences is sincere seekers of higher understanding who intuitively already know that there has to be more to this miraculous life than what our culture speaks about. And a seekers who want to know how they can make genuine progress on this quest versus just build upon beliefs that can never be proven! This is not a self-help book which tends to be about solving problems. This is about looking at life and your sense of identity in a totally new way that’s based on and consistent with ancient spiritual teachers and practices. This adventure is based around GI Gurdjieff’s teaching about self-rembering, which is very similar to Eckhart Tolle’s teaching: You are now the voice in your head, You are the one who is aware of that vioce. Getting in touch with this deeper Awareness and Presence, it’s identity and insights- is how you dissolve problems versus solve them! Those who know there has to be more and much greater understanding possible have to be willing to make sustained efforts to be able to experience remarkable and practical insights with respect to our own sense of identity and overall understanding. Ready to take a focused approach based on authentic practices to begin connecting with the deeper Awareness that thoughts and feelings arise into! This is the level of- depth of awareness that is not only aware of your thoughts, as Eckhart says, but is the key to exposing your culturally conditioned ego and slowly transcending It. This is the essence of ancient spiritual teachings and what prepares the seeker to become “ripe” to receive the Transcendent Experience- feel your oneness with the One Great Spirit In All.
1 It shares a natural lead in to how and why I became a seeker that anyone seeking higher awareness and understanding can easily relate to and try for themselves. 2 It provides a clear and easy to follow account of how I connected with a level of Awareness we don’t realize we already have!3 It provides a detailed description of what is was like to experience the Transcendent State of consciousness that I haven’t seen before. Here I share how I came to know that esoteric Christianity is the same as all of the Wisdom traditions.4 In the last section of the book, I share how my experiences and resultant understandings help a seeker appreciate that the ancient spiritual Teachings are guides to our potentials. And this part helps a person realize that these are living Teachings to assist us and enlighten us, not Teachings to simply believe in and blindly accept. Again, experiences of the Transcendent, these inner states of expanded awareness, make it easier to see what these ancient and perennial Teachings are truly about!
Focused Awareness in the book I talk about learning to be consciously present and then realizing that the level of awareness was the same awareness that I employed to study chemistry and math but now I was using it- the very same awareness or consciousness to Know Thyself – to expose my conditioned ego and realize that all of its “stuff” is not the real me! The pure focused awareness that can observe my ever flowing thoughts is the real Me. When you experience the Transcendent State- you Realize this is a Universal Experience and you experience unimaginable and indescribable Bliss. Something our culture has little understanding of- here is your chance to see that it is a natural part of elevated awareness.
This book is ideal for sincere seekers of higher understanding of themselves and this complex world we are a part of! How and why, I became a seeker of higher understanding is consistent with millions of people today that want the peace and satisfaction that goes with expanded understanding. The path that I luckily stumbled upon is both authentic and perfect for today’s world. The main practice that is recommended requires no beliefs and is easy to understand but requires effort to improve, like most learning curves. My description of what it was like to have the Transcendent revealed to me is essentially unique in the spiritual literature in the way it unfolded over a few months versus minutes. It also shares how Christianity is not different than the other great religions, based on inner experience not beliefs! This is a God-send for those who are not drawn to the Orthodox understanding of religion. Spiritually is what many are looking and hoping for but don’t know what it is truly about. This book will pleasantly surprise you if you’re ready!
