Podcast Summary
Exploring the Power of Effortless Mindfulness: Personal experiences and curiosity play a crucial role in driving the exploration of mindfulness practices, leading to enhanced performance and enjoyment in various aspects of life.
Loch Kelly's initial experiences with mindfulness, particularly during his time playing sports, sparked his curiosity and led him to explore further. He discovered a sense of effortless mindfulness, similar to being in the zone or experiencing flow consciousness. Through playing ice hockey and experimenting with his own consciousness, Loch found a way to open his awareness and tap into a 360-degree panoramic feeling that allowed him to feel more connected and capable. This newfound state of mind enhanced his performance and enjoyment in sports. Sharing his experiences with others, he was introduced to the concepts of Zen and the art of archery, which further deepened his interest in mindfulness. This conversation highlights the importance of personal experiences and curiosity in driving one's exploration of mindfulness practices.
Exploring Awareness: Connecting the Dots between Meditation, Consciousness, and Neuroscience.: Continuously seeking knowledge and questioning traditional beliefs leads to a deeper understanding of human experience and the ability to effortlessly observe thoughts.
Loch Kelly has spent a significant amount of time studying various aspects of meditation, consciousness, psychology, and neuroscience. He approaches his studies with a scientific curiosity and a desire to understand how different practices and experiences connect to each other. Through his exploration, he has come to define different types of awareness, starting with attention and progressing to mindful awareness. This mindful awareness allows individuals to observe their thoughts and realize that they are not their thoughts. This awareness is the foundation of effortless mindfulness, where individuals can effortlessly look back at what is aware. Loch Kelly's journey highlights the importance of continuously seeking knowledge and questioning traditional beliefs, leading to a deeper understanding of human experience.
The Power of Awake Awareness: By shifting our focus from thoughts to awareness, we can access a contentless and timeless state of mind known as awake awareness, leading to effortless and mindful performance in complex tasks.
There is a form of awareness called awake awareness that is conscious and alert, but not rooted in thinking. It is a contentless and timeless awareness that can be accessed by separating it from thought and opening it up. This awake awareness can lead to a state of flow where complex tasks can be performed effortlessly and mindfully, without getting caught up in thoughts. While some believe that accessing this state requires extensive training or specific religious practices, there are direct path traditions that suggest it is already within each of us. By shifting our focus from the cloud of thoughts to the spaciousness of awareness, we can tap into this optimal functioning state.
Upgrading our operating system for greater awareness and relief from suffering.: By practicing glimpses and transitioning from an ego-centered mindset to an open-hearted aware consciousness, we can enhance our capacity for awareness and find relief from suffering.
The ultimate goal is to upgrade our operating system from a small sense of self to a transitional selflessness or no self. This allows us to access a greater capacity for awareness, an open mind, and an open heart. By practicing glimpses, we can familiarize ourselves with this installed operating system and relieve suffering. These glimpses don't require long periods of sitting still, as they can be done with our eyes open and while moving. Similar to a developmental stage, it takes small glimpses repeatedly to fully develop and live from this open-hearted aware consciousness. Being ego-centered means being identified with the managing parts of ourselves, but it's important to recognize that there isn't just one ego; there are multiple parts that contribute to our sense of self.
Embracing and Understanding Our Inner Parts: By acknowledging and embracing the different parts within us, rather than fighting against them, we can experience a more fulfilling and content life.
Our sense of self is not limited to our ego. We have different parts within us, such as sadness, anger, and judgment, but the crucial aspect is being aware of these parts. Basic mindfulness helps us take the first step towards this awareness, followed by a spacious and open-hearted awareness from effortless mindfulness. Rather than trying to eliminate or fight the ego, we should see it as a functional part of our consciousness. It forms around our thoughts, feelings, sensations, and views. By stepping out and observing, we can see how many people get caught in their ego's perspective, especially when they are intelligent. Once we engage in dialogue with our ego, it can be relieved and join the team rather than being anxious or feeling inadequate. This understanding liberates us to experience a dimension of being that is freeing, loving, and optimally functional. Suppressing our feelings or seeking distractions within ourselves won't lead to true happiness. Our ego can only offer a dualistic mindset of comparison and striving, making us feel like we're not good enough. However, by embracing a broader perspective, we can live a fully intimate and content life, relaxed and at ease.
Finding Well-Being and Freedom Within: Shifting our focus from external circumstances to self-awareness allows us to cultivate well-being and freedom, regardless of external factors, through calming techniques and developing a deeper understanding of anxiety.
Our sense of well-being and freedom does not have to be dependent on external circumstances or events. It is possible to shift our focus from what is arising to the awareness that it is arising to. This shift can be achieved through practices such as the 3 part breath and soothing techniques that calm the body and mind. By locating and giving a voice to our anxiety, we develop a better understanding of its shape, size, and communication. By asking the anxious part to give us space and opening up to a more spacious and awake consciousness, we can develop a sense of connection and open-heartedness. Ultimately, we can access our central nature of well-being and freedom in any phase of development, without relying on external factors.
Levels of Self-Exploration and Consciousness: By recognizing our experiences, exploring our anxieties, and letting go of preconceived notions, we can achieve a deeper awareness and interconnectedness with the world.
There are different levels to exploring and understanding our true selves and consciousness. The first level is recognizing that this experience is happening and not suppressing it. The second level involves consciously exploring and reasoning with ourselves, addressing our anxieties and concerns in a logical manner. The third level goes beyond conscious exploration and involves letting go of our preconceived notions and experiencing everything as a holistic whole. This level of awareness is not limited to intuition or concepts, but rather a deeper knowing that is difficult to describe in language. By practicing mindful awareness and moving beyond detachment, we can tap into a sense of effortless mindfulness, where our true awareness is always present and interconnected with everything around us.
Discovering Effortless Mindfulness: Unlocking Your Natural Awareness for Greater Ease and Clarity: By embracing the practice of effortless mindfulness, we can tap into a deeper level of consciousness, navigate stress and uncertainty with ease, and make better decisions in challenging moments.
There is an alternative operating system within us that can bring about effortless awareness and wisdom. This operating system, known as "effortless mindfulness," allows us to tap into a natural alertness that is interconnected with our thoughts, feelings, and sensations. By accessing this deeper level of consciousness, we can navigate stress and uncertainty with greater ease and make better decisions in challenging moments. The glimpsing practice is a unique method that helps us unhook from the anxious or reactive parts of ourselves and shift our awareness to a bigger field of consciousness. Through consistent practice and support, we can stabilize and integrate this new way of seeing and being into our lives.
Expanding Awareness to Transform Perception: By practicing softening our gaze, listening deeply, and allowing our awareness to move and open, we can shift our center of identity, change our perception, and enhance our engagement with the world.
Our awareness is our primary way of knowing, and it can be expanded and shifted to enhance our perception and consciousness. Loch Kelly suggests a simple practice to unhook ourselves from our thought-based self and tap into a more open and spacious awareness. By softening our gaze, listening deeply, and allowing our awareness to move and open, we can experience a shift in our center of identity and change the way we perceive and engage with the world. This practice can lead to a balanced default mode network and task mode network in our brain, as well as increased creativity and compassion. By stepping back and observing our thoughts, we can access an observation point of view that is separate from our thought-based self. Overall, this conversation highlights the power of expanding our awareness and the transformative effects it can have on our perception and way of knowing.
Shifting Awareness: Unlocking the Power of the Heart Space: By shifting our awareness and connecting with our body, we can access a heart space that brings openness, alertness, and safety, allowing for a different perspective and a more expansive state of mind and heart.
By unhooking our awareness from its usual center and dropping it into our body, specifically our jaw, throat, and upper body, we can access a heart space or open mind. This shift in awareness allows us to perceive and understand from a different perspective. This heart space provides a sense of openness, alertness, and safety. Loch Kelly suggests that there are multiple methods and doors to achieve this unhooking experience, and it may vary based on individual learning styles. It is important to find the right glimpse practice and way of shifting that works best for each person. Overall, this conversation highlights the power of shifting our awareness and connecting with our body to access a more expansive state of mind and heart.
Levels and Shifts of Mind for Deeper Consciousness: Understanding and practicing the shifts and levels of mind can lead to a deeper state of consciousness and awareness, enhancing one's understanding of identity, knowing, and perception.
There are three levels of mind: the shift of identity, the shift of knowing, and the shift of perception. The shift of identity involves moving from a small self to no self to a true nature operating system. The shift of knowing moves from thought-based knowing to nonconceptual knowing or don't know mind, and then to a not knowing that knows. The shift of perception involves perceiving from a spacious, interconnected awake consciousness that extends beyond one's body. Additionally, there are five levels of mind: everyday mind, mindful witness, unique effortless awareness, unity of awake awareness, and the unity of awareness and aliveness. Understanding and practicing these shifts and levels of mind can lead to a deeper state of consciousness and awareness.
Shifting Perspective: Embracing the Interconnectedness of Everything: By recognizing the profound interconnectedness of the world, we can tap into a deeper level of consciousness, experiencing a sense of safety, well-being, and compassion. To access this awakened state, we must let go of old orientations and embrace a new sense of disorientation.
Our understanding of emptiness should be reframed as interconnectedness. Rather than viewing things as separate and independent, we should recognize the profound interconnectedness of everything in the world. This shift in perspective allows us to tap into a deeper level of consciousness, referred to as awake awareness or the quantum field. Through this awareness, we can experience a sense of safety, well-being, and compassion. However, many people stop at a lower level of consciousness and fail to push through to the transformative levels beyond. To truly access this awakened state, we must be willing to let go of our old orientations and embrace a new sense of disorientation, recognizing that our sense of self is not fixed.
The Method of Glimpsing: Awakening Your Inner Awareness: By tapping into our already awake awareness, we can experience a timeless and boundless contentment, accessing positive qualities and experiencing personal transformation without relying on external substances or experiences. Happiness arises from connecting with our essential nature.
There is a method of glimpsing that allows individuals to tap into their already awake awareness, leading to a sense of timeless and boundless contentment. This method only takes a few seconds to a few minutes to let go and tune in to this awareness. It is a learnable and teachable potential that can be developed through an educational and scientific approach. This method offers the possibility of accessing positive qualities and experiencing profound personal transformation without relying on external substances or experiences. Happiness, with a capital H, is not limited to seeking pleasure or satisfaction, but rather stems from a natural state of well-being and okayness that arises from connecting with our essential nature.
Discovering the Hidden Dimension of Consciousness: Embracing wordless awareness enables us to tap into a dimension of consciousness characterized by bliss and unconditional love, bringing relief, joy, and freedom into our lives.
There is a hidden dimension of consciousness within us that is already installed and can bring about a sense of relief, joy, and freedom. This dimension is characterized by a low level of bliss, friendliness towards others, and a feeling that everything is essentially okay. It is not a meditation state, but rather the foundation or ground of our being. Love is described as the fabric of this dimension, an unconditional love that is not dependent on external conditions or a mental state. The hardest skill to transfer to others is expressing this experience in language, as our thinking tends to filter it through concepts and past experiences. Moving from knowing to not knowing, and embracing wordless awareness, allows us to tap into this dimension and experience its clarity and openness.
Shifting Focus to the Observer Within for Greater Fulfillment and Clarity: By cultivating awareness of our consciousness and reconnecting with our observer self, we can create a new operating system aligned with our true nature, leading to greater fulfillment and clarity in our actions.
We need to shift our focus from the results and symptoms of our actions to the observer within us. Loch Kelly suggests that instead of constantly being caught up in the small self and its habitual patterns, we should tap into our consciousness, which is spacious, interconnected, and open-hearted. By cultivating awareness of the looker within, we can unhook from our old operating system and create a new one that aligns with our true nature. Loch emphasizes the importance of starting small and gradually retraining our brains to remain in this state of awareness. It doesn't require lengthy retreats or isolated meditation sessions; it's about integrating this consciousness into our daily lives. This conversation reminds us that by recognizing and reconnecting with our observer self, we can find greater fulfillment and clarity in our actions.
