When One Realise - UNDERSTANDING OUR TRUE SELF - PART 26
When one realises the true nature of mental activity (concepts, interpretations, memory and time), one realises that awareness goes far beyond the mind
The mind, in its ceaseless activity, creates a labyrinth of concepts, interpretations, projections, and memories. It weaves a web of time, where the past and future dominate the present. Most of us live ensnared in this web, mistaking the movements of the mind for reality itself. However, when one deeply observes and realizes the true nature of mental activity, an astonishing clarity emerges: awareness exists far beyond the mind.
The Nature of Mental Activity
Mental activity is fundamentally a process of interpretation. It names, categorizes, and assigns meaning to experience. Memory serves as its foundation, creating the illusion of continuity by stringing together fragments of past events. Time, as perceived by the mind, is nothing more than the projection of these memories into a linear framework, where the past informs the future and the present moment is reduced to the junction between past and future.
Interpretation is the mind’s core function. It takes raw sensory input and overlays it with meaning. This interpretive process is not inherently flawed but becomes problematic when mistaken for reality itself. For example, a thought about the future is not the future; it is an interpretation based on past conditioning and memory. Similarly, a memory is not the past; it is merely a reconstruction shaped by present awareness.
Seeing Through the Illusion
When one turns inward and begins to observe the mind, its activity is revealed as transient and insubstantial. Thoughts arise and pass like clouds in the sky; emotions/feelings ebb and flow like waves on the ocean. These movements are neither permanent nor defining. Yet we identify with them so completely that we forget the boundless awareness in which they arise.
To see the mind for what it truly is—a tool for navigating the relative world—is to step out of its confines. This realization begins with awarefulness (mindfulness): the simple act of watching thoughts without judgment. When one observes, it becomes clear that the observer, the awareness that witnesses the mind, is not limited to the content of the mind. Awareness is prior to and independent of mental activity.
Awareness Beyond the Mind
Awareness is infinite, unbound, and without form. It is the silent witness, the ever-present backdrop against which all mental activity unfolds. Unlike the mind, which operates in duality—good and bad, right and wrong—awareness is whole and undivided. It does not interpret; it simply sees.
When awareness recognizes itself as distinct from the mind, the illusion of being trapped within thoughts dissolves. One realizes that concepts, interpretations, and memories are useful tools, but not the essence of reality. Time, as a construct of the mind, loses its grip, revealing the eternal now—the timeless presence in which all experiences occur.
Living from Awareness
To live from awareness is not to reject the mind, but to see it in its rightful place. The mind becomes a servant rather than a master, a functional instrument rather than an identity. In this state, one moves through life with clarity and freedom. Situations are met with wisdom rather than reactivity, as awareness is not entangled in the mind’s interpretations.
This shift profoundly transforms one’s experience of life. Fear diminishes, as it is rooted in imagined futures or clinging to the past. Joy arises naturally, not as a result of external circumstances, but as the inherent state of awareness itself. One begins to experience life as it is, free from the distortions of mental activity.
Realizing the true nature of mental activity is a gateway to freedom. It reveals that awareness is not confined by concepts, interpretations, memory, or time. Awareness transcends the mind, existing as the infinite ground of being. To live from this realization is to awaken to life’s boundless nature, where peace, clarity, and unity are ever-present. The mind’s web no longer ensnares; instead, it becomes a transparent veil through which the radiant truth of awareness shines unimpeded.
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