Universal Self
In the initial Awakening, Awareness itself, your real Self, is released from its entanglement with the mind/body and is experienced on its own level as being infinitely unbounded and free. The innermost sense of Being awakens to being unbounded pure Awareness, the cause of the Stillness and Presence you sense around you right now.
Awareness itself is no longer isolated to your mind/body. It is the unbounded screen upon which all thoughts, feelings and perceptions of the world are displayed. Your mind, body and all its perceptions have been within unbounded pure Awareness all along.
We all have different bodies, minds and personalities, but pure Awareness itself is the same for everyone. It is the pure sense of Being and existing, and the same one universal Self of all. It is infinite, unbounded and eternal.
When identified with the personal mind/body, the mind assumes that the inner sense of Being is individual. But the thinking mind is actually an object of experience, and it cannot possibly know whether the innermost Being is individual or universal. It can only have a belief or concept about it, but it cannot know for certain until the real Awakening happens.
True Awakening and Enlightenment have been lost to mainstream society and replaced by a multitude of concepts, beliefs, imaginations and misunderstandings. But, concepts and beliefs, no matter how dear, are just the concepts and beliefs of the mind. They are not reality. You are not the mind. You are the Observer of the mind.
Only when the innermost sense of being clearly observes its Self, without interference from the mind, can it awaken to its unbounded universal reality. Only the real Self can know itself.
Set aside your concepts and beliefs for the time being. It’s not necessary to make something mystical out of the most intimate part of you. Universal Consciousness is the simple, natural, most intimate reality of your inner being. When freed from the false identification with the mind, your inner being is found to be infinite, unbounded, universal Consciousness.
Space is space, air is air, no matter at what point it is being experienced. Consciousness is Consciousness, Awareness is Awareness, the sense of Being is the sense of Being, regardless of who is experiencing it or what is being experienced. There is only one universal sense of Being. It is the universal one Self of all. Your innermost sense of being is universal Being.
Being universal Consciousness does not mean you lose your sense of individuality. Universality includes individuality. The boundless universal reality of your Being has been underlying and pervading your individual life all along. It is only because your sense of self has been identified with the mind, body and all of your perceptions that its universal reality appears to be a mystery.
When Awakening occurs, individuality regains its universality. The individual, conditioned sense of self disappears and instantaneously awakens to its universal reality. The Self is no longer identified with, and limited to, your mind and body. It underlies, pervades and permeates everything everywhere.
And yet, on the level of individual life, everything remains much the same; only the absolute unbounded universal sense of Being is no longer overshadowed by individual experience.
You are no longer just the person aware of the Stillness and silent Presence in the surroundings. You are that all-pervading silent Presence. It is no longer just an experience. It is your undeniable, unwavering permanent state of Being.
The unbounded field of pure Awareness in which everything exists is your real Self. Consciousness has awakened to the boundless universal reality of itself. You have come back home to who you really are.
