What is the true nature of reality? What you see, hear and touch is a reflection of energy organized into forms of matter. The energy of your senses perceives waves through nerve reactions in the brain and creates thoughts about what you see, hear and touch. These thoughts are your experience of the world. The world of form is constantly changing. All living things are changing as they go through their life cycle, non-living things also change according to their environment. It is difficult for the mind to understand the absolute, from which all things flow.
Words are limited to describe the vast energy field that is the basis of everything. In meditation you can free your mind from the attachment to thought and begin to experience that realm. In waking states of consciousness, sensory perception of sight, sound, and touch flood the mind so that you are reacting to events as they occur. This level of consciousness is unable to see the difference between the event and the reaction to it. When you can slow down your reaction thoughts, then you have the opportunity to see the difference between your experience of an event and your reaction to it. For example, when you are on a roller coaster, the sensory experience completely overwhelms the mind; there is no room for anything else. Compare that to sitting in a library reading a book. This sensory experience is not as overwhelming and the mind can more easily explore creative thoughts.
Meditation is the practice of entering deep states of awareness and limiting the thoughts that flow through your mind. As you enter deeper states of meditation, the vast energy field that underlies all of creation becomes apparent. Every culture and religion has a name for the mysterious creative energy of creation. God is the name most religions use, Great Spirit is a name the natives used, energy is another name science uses to label the unknown. What name do you give to that force which is the underlying field of all creation?
The evolution of consciousness is your ability to understand and experience different levels of consciousness. The mind is the software for the hardware of the brain to work. The mind receives thoughts and with the brain creates your experience of the world. The mind makes you believe that you are living in a world of solid objects, even though at the quantum level all forms are a fluid flow of particles and energy. This is your stage on which to play out the human experience. Humans have evolved on this plane of experience for millions of years. Each generation learns and grows in self-awareness.
Evolution is not just the physical changes that all species undergo over time, but also their self-awareness. Think about your own conscience as you go from being a baby to an adult, how much more you know about yourself. Spiritual awareness is similar, except that awareness does not end with death. Spiritual awareness is never lost; your path to self-awareness is a one-way track in that regard. However, spiritual growth will not come to you without your active pursuit. Self-awareness, the knowledge and experience of living in unity with the creative force of the universe, is self-generated. There are many spiritual teachings to learn from, but only you can assimilate the knowledge into your life.
What you bring into your world is your interpretation of it, nothing more. You have a choice because awareness always gives you the opportunity to connect with the creative force. As you experience life, you make decisions to do this or that, but for the most part the decisions are based on your beliefs, beliefs that have been built up over time from family, society, and upbringing. In a field of all possibilities, your mind filters the stream of energy from the sensory perceptions of sight, hearing, and touch. In the same way, the mind also filters your awareness to create thoughts for your subsequent decisions and actions. Young children can easily take on imaginary roles and act like cowboys, Indians, monsters, and princesses because their egos are not that strong yet. Good actors can lose themselves in the interpretation of a character that is totally different from their true identity.
Flexibility in thought is often lost as you become firmer in your ways, this is a reflection of your beliefs and how you allow the ego to control your thoughts. To bring more imagination and flexibility to your thoughts, you need to question your beliefs and how you react to life. The ability to question beliefs about your decisions is at the core of growing awareness. Start with yourself, what is your opinion about yourself? What do you believe about your own image and your abilities? What are your beliefs about health, diet and exercise? All areas of life and relationships can be examined. What do you believe about spirituality and your relationship with the creative force of the universe? Do your beliefs create stress and conflict or promote peace and harmony? Eventually you realize that you are free from ego control and can choose what thoughts you believe.
See your thoughts as they flow through your mind and begin to focus on the space between the thoughts. This silence is your portal to the world of consciousness. It is the ability to connect with the silence of consciousness and bring it into the world. Silence and thoughts go hand in hand to create your life experience. The more you can visit the deep well of silence and bring the presence of that serenity into your daily activity, the more peace and harmony you will bring into your life.