For the next few posts, please assume that anything I say is my version of Adyashanti’s teachings. Meaning that I don’t actually know if this is what he means to be saying and I am a successful student, or they are just my thoughts but are not really what he is trying to communicate. Either way, I credit him with what I have been learning.
Looking within, I can identify four domains.
Underlying everything is my consciousness, which is the true sense of existence that I can sense and feel but that seems to be deeper than all thought and feeling. Consciousness is the grounded, calm nature that seems to sit at the very bottom of my mind, and my self, and is foundational in nature. It is here that I believe religious experiences of connection outside of self can be experienced and found.
There is also the domain of thought, which analyses and synthesises information we bring in both in the present and the past. Thinking leads to feelings, desires, and ultimately to action or lack of action. It is also in the realm of thinking that we create our ego, which is a build up of who we are and where we fit in the world. Much of this ego is a house of cards, influenced by our environment, just like most of the arbitrary thoughts we have come to associate ourselves with.
In order to experience consciousness or thought, I use awareness. This seems to be a tool of the mind that simply takes in information. I can use awareness to look internally and be aware of consciousness, to be aware of the thoughts of my mind, the be aware of the feelings in my body, to be aware of feelings of pain, to be aware of external stimuli, as well as all the other things that we make ourselves aware of both internally and externally.
Finally, there is a fourth domain, that seems to be a real construct or tool of the mind, but doesn’t fit into any of the other domains. This domain is experienced as integration of multiple domains. For example, the integration of consciousness and individualized ego (thought) can result in that feeling of individual existence that we have when we are just going about our day. Alternatively, integration between thought and awareness, can create a sense of flow. And finally, integration of awareness and consciousness enables transcendence.