The Adventure

We also gain a clear sense of what is essential and what isn’t. We’re no longer preoccupied with trivial matters like possessions, success, keeping up appearances, or competing with others. We become more focused on really important issues, such as helping others, contributing to the world, using our creativity, or exploring our spirituality.

Reorientate yourself in the present. Refocus your attention on the objects around you and the phenomena you see outside your window. Be aware of the sensations you’re experiencing right now — the feeling of your body sitting on the chair, the clothes against your skin, your body’s tiredness or discomfort or warmth or cold.

Perhaps you know someone whose walls are lined with framed certificates and photos, their mantelpieces with trophies and other mementos, all reminding them of their past achievements. Such people are trying to keep their stories alive, to maintain their sense of success and self-importance.

Reliving the past. Do you obsessively look back to the past, the same way that other people look forward to the future? Do you often find yourself dwelling on past events, to the extent that it stops you from experiencing present events?

Your well-being depends purely on how you feel in this moment. It depends purely on your inner state right now.

One can also view awakening as a process of opening. In our normal state — what I call our sleep state — we are closed off: closed off to the reality of the world around us, closed off to the fullness of our own being, and closed off to the consciousness of others.

Even more significant than the fact that their minds are relatively quiet is that awakened individuals do not identify with their thoughts. In fact, this is the main reason why their minds are quiet. Awakened people know that they are not their thoughts. They know that the voice inside their head is not their true self. They can stand back and watc

Latching on to distractions. This is perhaps the most habitual and frequent strategy we use to escape the present.

In particular, this bleak philosophical outlook describes reality as it appears through the taking for granted syndrome, which switches off our attention to the beauty and wonder of life. In addition, the outlook stems from an aberrational state of duality, created by strong ego boundaries that cause a sense of separation. This brings a feeling of