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- The Path to Freedom: When Your Mind Becomes Your Teacher
The Path to Freedom: When Your Mind Becomes Your Teacher
Discovering Exactly How to Interact with your Mind
Namaste,
Let’s dive into something that might seem so simple at first glance, yet it’s the very foundation of everything we experience—the mind.
The mind is like a river, always flowing, always moving, beautiful and majestic… But if you’re not aware of it, it’s as if that river doesn’t even exist.
Imagine it like this: if there’s something going on behind you, three miles away, but you’re not aware of it, does it have any impact on you?
Absolutely not.
The same goes for the mind—if you don’t bring your awareness to it, its chatter, noise, and stories have no real effect on you.
But we do bring our awareness to it, don’t we?
We listen to the thoughts, the emotions, the sensations. We engage with them as if they were the truth, as if they were who we are.
The path to freedom, however, is in realizing that these thoughts, these emotions, this body you inhabit—these are all just objects that your consciousness is aware of. And who you really are is not the thoughts, not the emotions, not the body—you are the awareness itself, the one who sees, the one who experiences.
Here’s where it gets really interesting. The whole spiritual path, the journey to self-realization, can be boiled down to one simple practice: be aware that you are aware.
That’s it.
Every moment, under every circumstance, be aware of your awareness.
It’s as if you’re a flashlight, and you can choose where to shine your light. Usually, we shine it on objects—thoughts, emotions, sensations.
But what if you turned that light back on itself?
Interesting…
What if the flashlight became aware of the light it’s shining, rather than what it’s shining on?
This, my friend, is when the magic happens.
Stick with me here… I know this might sound foreign, but I promise it’s the legit secret of life that few people truly can understand.
When you start to focus your awareness on your awareness, something incredible begins to unfold. The energy that usually gets scattered across all the thoughts and emotions and sensations starts to gather. It starts to build up within the self.
And as it builds, you begin to feel something you might not expect—joy, bliss, ecstasy. This is the natural state of your being, but we’re so busy focusing on the objects that we miss it entirely.
Let’s break this down a bit more.
You have a thought. It could be any thought—a worry, a memory, a plan for the future.
Usually, you get caught up in the content of that thought. You start to analyze it, react to it, maybe even let it dictate your mood. But what if, instead of getting lost in the thought, you simply noticed that you had a thought? What if you turned your attention from the thought itself to the awareness that’s observing the thought?
That’s the key.
It’s not about the content of the thought—it’s about the fact that you’re aware of it.
This same principle applies to emotions. Let’s say you’re having a tough day. You feel anxious, angry, or sad. The natural tendency is to get swept away by the emotion, to try to fix it, or to escape it. But what if you didn’t do any of that? What if you just noticed that you were feeling something, and then asked yourself, “Who is feeling this? Who is aware of this emotion?” In that moment, you shift from being the one caught in the emotion to the one who is observing it.
Now, I’m not saying this is always easy.
The mind is very persuasive. It will tell you that the thoughts are important, that the emotions are real, that they define who you are. But they don’t.
They are just objects in the field of your awareness, just like the breeze on your skin or the sunlight on your face.
They come and go.
What remains constant is your awareness—the real you.
As you practice this, something amazing starts to happen. You stop getting so caught up in the ups and downs of life. You start to see everything as just a part of the flow, something to be noticed but not something to get attached to. This doesn’t mean you become indifferent or detached in a cold way. Quite the opposite—you become more alive and more engaged, but from a place of deep peace and joy. You’re no longer at the mercy of every thought and emotion that passes through your mind. Instead, you rest in the awareness itself, which is always calm, always centered.
And here’s the best part: as you keep turning your awareness back on itself, the energy that usually gets scattered in a million different directions starts to accumulate, as I just mentioned....
It starts to build up in the self.
And eventually, it overflows.
Ever heard that one bible verse?
“My cup runneth over.” It’s a phrase from the Hebrew Bible, Psalm 23:5.
That’s when you start to experience the true nature of your being—bliss, ecstasy, and joy that doesn’t depend on anything outside of you.
This is the path that leads to self-realization. It’s not about renouncing the world or meditating for hours on end. It’s about being aware that you’re aware, every moment of every day. It’s about choosing, over and over again, to focus on the subject—your awareness—rather than the objects—your thoughts, emotions, and sensations.
So, here’s the challenge I’m offering you: in every moment, no matter what’s happening, ask yourself, “Who is aware of this?”
If you’re having a thought, ask, “Who is thinking this thought?”
If you’re feeling an emotion, ask, “Who is feeling this emotion?”
This is how you turn the flashlight of your own awareness back on itself.
Are you getting it!?
No? Then just ask the questions above again, and pause and wait.
You’ll get it eventually.
If you’re reading these emails, you’re open enough to this type of energy to be aware enough to finally understand the deepest teaching there is….
Don’t get caught up in trying to answer the question with your mind. Don’t think about it.
Just let the question bring you back to the awareness itself.
And bath in that sensation.
This simple practice, when done consistently, will change everything.
It will bring you a peace that nothing in the world can shake.
It will bring you joy that isn’t dependent on circumstances. And it will bring you closer to your true self, the one who is always there, always aware, always at peace.
So, what do you choose? To stay caught up in the objects of your awareness, or to turn your attention back to the awareness itself? The choice is yours, and it’s the most important choice you’ll ever make.
With love and in truth,
Arlin
PS - if you’re enjoying these letters, please share parts that resonate on your instagram story and tag me! And / or DM me your feedback on instagram I read and respond to almost all DMs
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