The Resting of Attention vs. Being Aware of Awareness

[TDW1995]

@Leo Gura Yes, much work to do to question something that's such a strong hard-wired belief.

@silene I sometimes do my self-inquiry at night while in the dark. It does seem to be helpful in a dark room for me as I'm much more focused. At times I am very focused and sit with the feeling of just Being, of what is, but then my mind will come up with the idea that once this body dies, awareness has to disappear. This logical brain of mine can't fathom anything else as a possibility. 

Edited May 21, 2020 by TDW1995

[silene]

 @TDW1995 If that's the only thought you're having, you're doing much better than me, good job my thoughts are private   Seriously though, while there is a good discussion to be had about awareness vs physical matter (the mind-body problem), but when meditating I just try to let go whenever I notice I'm taken off into thought.  I also practice several methods to complement each other: this 'resting in Being' meditation benefits from some basic concentration practice too, it helps me with keeping focussed. 
 
I used to struggle too with the phrase 'aware of awareness',  (it sounds like you have two types of awareness with one observing the other) until I read Diana Winston's book recently (The Little Book of Being) where she describes moving from being aware of objects (like individual chairs, tables, walls, trees, whatever) to having a single field of awareness without our cognition dividing it up. I don't really like the phrase 'aware of awareness' so avoid it myself but understand that other people like it. 

[TDW1995]

@silene I agree. The phrase "aware of awareness" sometimes makes my mind churn away, which is not at all what the phrase suggests. However, I do think it can be a very useful phrase for newbies starting out in this work because it can help them differentiate what is and what isn't considered awareness, or the True Self. Eventually the realization may come that subject and object merge into one. 

That description of Winston's book is helpful. I spend 10 minutes/day using an object for concentration, but all other meditation I do is the resting of attention and allowing what is to just be. I'm starting to notice that there isn't much of a difference between meditation and self-inquiry, although self-inquiry is more focused.