three points of awareness exercise - inspired by seth

[michaelk]

okay - below i've copied something i wrote up maybe 10 years ago or so. it's long, but here's the brief explanation so you can see if it's interesting or not. it's an exercise i used to kind of... sheer reality. sheer what i thought was 'real', and open myself for... maybe other ways of looking at this physical world.

it's an exercise i came up with after i had been reading about seth's inner senses, or something else he had talked about... where he talked about seeing smells, or hearing touch, or whatever it was. it was fascinating to me. so at the time i liked to take a walk after work to decompress (i lived in LA at the time) and as i walked i began thinking about the inner senses and how senses can maybe be sensed in other ways.

so i started playing over the course of the next month or two and as i did i came up with this exercise that eventually led me to a full-on weird experience, where i looked out at what was around me and it was all just shimmering, and i realized this is all just a dream.

i put it out on one of my websites, and told a few friends about it, but i haven't heard back that anyone has done it or had any experiences even close to mine. but throwing it out here in case anyone might find it useful.

just trying to be practical, and see what everyone else does to use this seth material to directively create our reality.

ps - don't do this while driving... or anything else that may require judgement. you're working with altered states of consciousness and the most i ever did was cross an intersection. and to be honest - maybe skip that also. keep yourself alive, so you can try even more seth stuff. hahahhahahaa...

now, onto the exercise.



Three Points of Awareness Exercise (Michael Kowal):

First off, I think the best way to present this exercise is to speak from my own perspective – let you know how I do it. Then you can take what works for yourself and try it out.

I came up with this exercise a while ago while I was out on a walk. In it, I place my awareness onto an object or thing as I'm walking – a random thing – and experience the world through 'its' eyes – feel what it senses – immersing myself in its world, as i continue walking in mine. What I find is that it tends to sheer the bonds, mostly in my own mind, of what I think the physical world is. Then once these bonds are loosened, it's a bit easier for me to begin to accept other things about this physical world that maybe I hadn't considered. Or even thought possible.

For this to work you don't need some perfect or natural setting – just use what you've got. I do this exercise on the streets of Los Angeles and it works just fine for me. If you have a beach right near by or a wooded trail go for it. The only thing required is a sense of imagination. To me the imagination is a bridge to what already exists – but maybe we haven't accepted yet.

So – go for a walk.

I'll walk a bit to get things going, clear out all the junk in my mind, then at some point I'll pick out an object or thing along the way. Let's say a particular leaf on a tree catches my attention, calls out to me – okay, that's where I'll place my awareness. But not just on the leaf itself – I pick out an imagined cell, or perhaps one of the spines, or edges, or – whatever. There's always some piece of the object that seems to catch my attention. And that's where I place my awareness. It's that simple.

Then I imagine – and allow myself to feel – what that particular place is feeling and sensing at that moment – as I continue to walk. Say the breeze drifting over that particular cell on the surface of that particular leaf, or the feeling as the cell (and leaf) dances in the breeze, or as the sun strikes it, or... whatever. I let my imagination drift in and around it, as I keep feeling and sensing it all with my awareness. And again, this is all going on as I continue my walk.

I'm sure the physical movement as I walk keeps my 'brain' and physical mechanism occupied, so I can sense all of this other stuff. I'd say more of my focus is with the other object than with my own walking self, but it's not like i've completely checked out. I guess existing in both places at once would be a good way to describe it.

It's an amazingly beautiful experience. Very calming. Very much like a kid imagining what it's like to fly as a bird. What if....

Then once I've walked for a few/number of minutes, experiencing this other thing, I'm done. That's it. Then I'll do the same thing for a second and third object, placing my awareness on each, and experiencing what it experiences for a little while.

If I want to do more objects that's fine, but for me three objects on a 2 mile walk is about right. It gives me a chance to walk for a bit between objects and fully immerse myself back into my own world. A sorbet between courses if you will. But if you have a mile, use that. Only half a mile, do it. It's just like being a kid – there's no excuse for not playing.

Once I get near the end of my walk I'll then activate my awareness in all three objects at the same time – plus my own as I walk – and feel all four simultaneously. When i'm actually doing it it doesn't feel that much different than imagining... what it would feel like if i had my awareness in four places at the same time. But – things happen.

I'm feeling myself in four different places at the same time. It's amazing. You can actually feel yourself, your awareness, expanding out to include all these extra things/places – and experiencing them all simultaneously. What a GAS!

I suppose you could think of it like juggling four balls at the same time – it's an inclusion if you will, of each of the awarenesses into your own waking awareness. When it goes well, its effortless. And while you may have focus on each of the four balls individually, you also have a larger focus, on the fact that you're juggling four balls - successfully!!!

One time afer I did this exercise, at the end of the walk – everything was shimmering in front of me. Moving if you will. It was the wildest thing I'd ever seen – I was standing on a sidewalk looking out across the street, small commercial buildings across the way, with cars and buses and trucks and bicycles passing back and forth in front of me – and everything was shimmering. I just stood there looking. I wasn't scared or anything, and in fact was probably in some kind of altered state – or – deep into my own imagination. But i remember thinking "Wow, this really is all just a dream."

Now, a couple of notes. As for objects, I never choose a whole object that is its own unit – although I did place my awareness on an entire apartment building once and that rocked – so already I'm lying to you! Okay, for me, i'll say that objects that are not 'normal' work best. So a tree, a bird or an entire car may not work so well for me because they come with some preconceived notions – their own baggage, of what they 'are'. But a cell on the leaf of a tree, or the exact spot in the tongue of a bird that's hitting against its throat to make its song, or the sound of a squeaky ball-bearing inside the wheel of a passing car – those have made EXCELLENT places for me to place my awareness. One of the best ones I did I can still feel today – I placed my awareness on the thin film of paint, on the side of a moving truck passing on a highway above me! And that brings up one other point – I am moving with my walk, but I find that it helps if the object I choose is moving also (a moving leaf, a fly's wing, a passing car, a jet...) – creating a kind of sheering effect within physical space as I hold the three objects simultaneously in my own awareness.

And sheering is the best word I can come up with that describes what happens for me. First there's the physical sheering as you move away from the objects that you're placing your awareness on. Then there's the sheering of the bonds of what's believable as you place your awareness on these REALLY strange things and experience what they experience. And finally there is the sheering of the physical bonds of – physics! How do you break an atomic bond? Easy, with your mind. )

If we hold onto our own focus so strongly – that's all we know. That's all we expect to know, and that's all we expect is possible. With this exercise I've been able to loosen all of the bonds I mentioned. And while it has helped me to expand my awareness, the main thing it has done is loosen my previous grip on what I thought was possible. I've grown. And I've noticed the effects in other areas of my life – I am a lot more open, and a lot more loose. I guess if you start breaking rigidity in one area you – gloriously – begin releasing it in others.

Have fun.

[Deb]

Would you recommend eating some magic mushrooms before doing this? Just kidding.

This is all really amazing, I'm going to give it a try. I walk 3-5 miles almost every day, but I'm aways listening to an audio book. I can certainly listen to some of my book, and then take a break and try your exercise.

There's an enormous dead and fallen Cottonwood by a small creek that I sometimes visit when I'm walking, and that seems to be the perfect place to try this out. There have been times when I'd just sit on the tree trunk, quietly observing the sounds, smells, other trees around me. But doing so in the reverse, switching the point of observation from my own to other objects around me is a very interesting twist.

Seth once said that trees are conscious, and will recognize the same man who passes it by each day, so not too hard to imagine experiencing the world through the consciousness of a tree or other things.

Thanks for sharing this! I'll try it today. Maybe I'll start with one point and work my way up.

[michaelk]

hahahahaha - i'm sure the mushrooms would guarantee success - or at least something!

[Deb]

I have to say I got to my Cottonwood this afternoon and it's been covered with alarming graffiti in blood red and electric blue. That put a damper on things for me. Damn covid, there's been a surge in teen crime in my area since all the lock downs and kids being bored.

There's always tomorrow...

[usmaak]

I have to say I got to my Cottonwood this afternoon and it's been covered with alarming graffiti in blood red and electric blue. That put a damper on things for me. Damn covid, there's been a surge in teen crime in my area since all the lock downs and kids being bored.

There's always tomorrow...

Sucks when bored = property damage.  It's tagger central in the town I live in.  I report it when I see it and they try their best to fix it.  But the paint they use never really matches the area.  There's too much property crime where I live.  It's on my short list of reasons why I don't like where I live.

[LarryH]

I tried the exercise yesterday on my walk, selecting a blade on a fern and a leaf of a tree. I did feel some success and really enjoyed the movement that my selections were feeling from the wind. I felt as if the boundaries of my being had expanded.

[Deb]

I did feel some success and really enjoyed the movement that my selections were feeling from the wind.

I did try after I got home from my walk, tried to relate to a leaf or two in a tree near my patio. Tried to appreciate the gentle breeze and sun on its face and was able to shift focus a little. I tend to be thick headed about this type of thing, but for me that just means more practice on my part. I can see the value in this, as I've been told more than once that I'm too much in "my head."

It's on my short list of reasons why I don't like where I live.

The area I'm in, south of Denver proper, is normally a "safe zone" when it comes to this type of stuff. Hopefully this type of thing will lessen as things get back to pre-covid normal. There's been more mischief here during the past year plus, but manageable. If you can consider relocating, PM me and we can talk. I moved to Colorado in 1983, have lived in a few different areas and have seen a lot of changes. Some areas have fared better than others. Mine is in the "better" category.

[michaelk]

I tried the exercise yesterday on my walk, selecting a blade on a fern and a leaf of a tree. I did feel some success and really enjoyed the movement that my selections were feeling from the wind. I felt as if the boundaries of my being had expanded.

awesome - yeah, for me i just kept that up... probably on and off for a month or two. just playing, you know?

i don't think i put them in the writeup, but the weirdest ones i did were i placed my awareness on the squeaking surface of a bad ball bearing on a car wheel as the car past, and also as a guy and girl were riding past on a motorcycle, the girl in the back, for some reason i put my awareness on the upper part of i think her left kidney! hahahahahaha... don't ask me why. it was so hilarious, that came to mind as the next place to place my awareness - you know, just an impulse - and i was like "you've got to be kidding. that's... sick, i think...?" but something said to just roll with it.

most of the sessions went like yours and were pleasant and expanding.

then that one afternoon where i just slipped into that... probably pretty dissociated, but i was perfectly aware of everything. maybe like a very deep hypnotic state. and when i looked up across ventura blvd... everything was just shimmering. completely awake, completely aware, but everything - and i mean everything was just shimmering. like pixels being shifted back and forth or something. everything.

so if you do decide to keep it going for whatever period of time, it'll be interesting to see what happens to you!

but that one thing is what really opened up my... someone mentioned an idea of solidity in the introductions earlier in may - this thing really cracked open my idea of solidity i guess. that there isn't any. but that means we really can create what we want - right now. which i think is way cool.

[michaelk]

I did try after I got home from my walk, tried to relate to a leaf or two in a tree near my patio. Tried to appreciate the gentle breeze and sun on its face and was able to shift focus a little.

a couple of things that helped me...

you can choose the face of a leaf, but in a way we already know the face of a leaf, but if you try to place your awareness on one single cell on the face of the leaf - feel in whatever way it senses - it tends to rip you/us away from what our regular senses might feel. then 'feel' that sun on that cell and feel the way it feels. sense the way it senses. like playing like a kid - imagine yourself as a cell on the surface of that leaf, and then let the breeze travel across it, feel that sun beating down and maybe affecting it internally, feel the momentum of the greater leaf as the single cell on the top part of it. and whatever ways you end up feeling. feel the actual senses of that cell... or whatever little odd place/thing you choose.

and not sure if you were doing it while moving, but the movement of my body (constant, rhythmic) i found kept my conscious mind busy, allowing my imagination to then fully engage and let loose. basically telling your body "yep, you just keep yerself occupied. i got a little bit of fun i want to try." that's also part of the sheering. sheering your conscious mind away from... i think who we really are. to let it then play even more, and sheer away all of our beliefs about how 'reality' (this physical world) really is.

[strangerthings]

the most i ever did was cross an intersection. and to be honest - maybe skip that also. keep yourself alive, so you can try even more seth stuff. hahahhahahaa...

LOLOL

Yes we need warnings sometimes apparently lmao

GREAT exercise!!!!!!! woohoo!

[strangerthings]

I have to say I got to my Cottonwood this afternoon and it's been covered with alarming graffiti in blood red and electric blue. That put a damper on things for me. Damn covid, there's been a surge in teen crime in my area since all the lock downs and kids being bored.

There's always tomorrow...

The map is not the territory lol
I could not resist the NLP presupposition here. 
You can throw tomatoes at me if you want teehee

[happilymarried]

Hi michaelk

Thank for the great suggestion! I found it really cool so I tried today.
I have a question though: you said you choose 3 points for 2-mile walk, how long does take you to walk 2 miles? Let's say 30 minutes, then do you spend 10 minutes for each point? or you only spend few minutes for each point and the rest just enjoy the scene?

I'm asking because when I tried today, I don't have a lot for each point, maybe I can spend maximum 3 minutes for each point, so I did more points.

For example: I selected a cell in a green leaf, then I started seeing myself green and surrounded by other green cells, I started to think I'm getting nutritions from the veins of the leaf somehow, and imagine myself getting CO2 and release O2. Then I saw view of things around me, including that lady (me) who is walking. I also imagined I'm moving in the wind, remember the time I was created as a cell, remember seeing other leaves fell before, etc

I must say it's really interesting to see/think from that perspective, but I need to switch more for feeling.

[StarTraveler]

This is really cool.   I bike most everywhere I go.  I will try this while biking.  See how it goes.

[Mik]

Remember there are infinite upon infinite realities. But at the same time - there is also just "The One".

Everyone carries many realities within and around themselves.

A core reality we believe we experience is the "physical" world around us.

This "physical reality" is really a composite of beliefs and expectations that exist solely in our mind.

Being in your 'mind' is the only 'real place' to be for a human on this planet.

I think the experiment is an extraordinary exercise of the Mind and the Brain. It should expand your capacity to change the universe.


Remember the most basic fact:

---You create the Universe!---

[strangerthings]

The One plus its O.

 

[strangerthings]

Ok I will get asked perhaps, "wdym?"

Your O orbit of 12 parts of self around the you. When they support you 100% and you forgive all no matter what and lift all in your own private unique kingdom within, as Lord of your weal and woe, the crown becomes one, 12 around, and you are one with, around you the one, 13, you become The One. 14 pieces of scattered mind now whole not in hole.

lol

[Mik]

Interesting. Many do not realize that the entirety of the Universe of universes exists within.

(Joy and) Happiness