turning attention upon itself
Written by Desmond Olubunmi · Founder of Sunya
Shifting attention away from the objects of experience — thoughts, feelings, perceptions — and directing it toward the knowing presence itself. The state of pure consciousness. The simple recognition of your own being.
The mind is habitually conditioned to grasp at objects — sounds, sensations, thoughts — in an endless stream. As long as attention is entangled with the contents of experience, you remain identified with the finite. By turning awareness in on itself, you transcend all objects of experiencing and knowledge. You move beyond time, space, and form.
The mind’s compulsive grasping short-circuits. Awareness recognises itself, revealing your true nature as pure, boundless, unchanging presence.
Notice the contents — eyes open: Begin with the eyes open. Look at the objects around you, whatever is in front of you. Bring full attention to what you are seeing, hearing, and sensing in the body. Then shift attention from the objects to the act of perceiving itself — notice the awareness receiving all of this. You are not the objects. You are the awareness in which they appear.
Turn inward — eyes closed: Close the eyes. Notice that the same awareness is still present — it has not gone anywhere.
Now it can be aware of what is arising inwardly: thoughts, emotions, sensations, the inner atmosphere. Simply perceive all of this without identifying with any of it. You are still the awareness watching, not what is being watched.
Ask the question: “What is aware of this?” Do not try to answer intellectually. Simply turn attention toward its own source. Feel the sense of presence that is doing the perceiving.
Rest as awareness: Notice: if you stop trying to be aware, awareness is still there. It does not require effort. It is simply here — either recognising itself, or lost in an object. The practice is to stop being lost. Simply let awareness rest in its own nature, without effort, without grasping at any object. You are not creating awareness — you are stopping the habit of losing it.
Live as awareness: Carry this into daily life. Whether working, talking, walking, or sitting in silence — be the awareness in which all of this is happening, rather than being lost in the content of it. You realise that you are not the temporary thoughts, emotions, or sensations that come and go, but the eternal, unchanging space of awareness in which they appear. Resting in this natural state brings profound inner stillness, ending the compulsive hunger of the mind and establishing you in effortless peace. Consciousness becomes conscious of itself and abides in its own nature — beyond time, space, and the entire world of objects. There are no objects to experience there, nowhere to go, no movement or division. It is all there is. It is beyond thought. You cannot capture it or perceive it as an object, because it is the timeless seer. You can only dissolve into it and experience it — like a little wave subsiding back into the ocean and tasting the vastness of the ocean. When the limited self dissolves, pure consciousness is what remains.
Not as a concept but as a living reality: simply aliveness, presence, and a timeless livingness. Even touching this state for a few moments creates a shift at every level of being.
Occasional writing on the levers, the practices, and how to actually work with them.
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