Rest as awareness or consciousness

[Joker_Theory]

Hi all

I have a few questions on this topic.

1. Is awareness and consciousness the same thing?

2a. How does one rest as awareness or consciousness in daily life? 2b. Where is  awareness or consciousness located for one to rest as it? I ask this question cause i think it's important if one wants to rest as awareness/consciousness to know where it is located. To give an example some say awareness/consciousness is inside ones head or at least feels like inside and some say it's outside your head. 2c. How does it feel like to rest as awareness/consciousness? Is it peaceful and relaxed or focused and alert or both?? I know it feels like being aware but what state?

3. How does one practice resting as awareness/consciousness in meditation?

4. What is the difference in resting as awareness or resting in awareness?

Thanks in advance!!

Edited June 29, 2020 by Joker_Theory

[nistake]

For me, resting as awareness is basically meditation. Not trying to manipulate your experience, not focusing too hard, not being neurotic (asking "am I doing this correctly?" constantly). You don't have a particular object to focus on, you just let your awareness do whatever it wants to do and at the same time keep a relaxed focus.

Mind you, if you're not an experienced meditator, you can get lost in monkey-mind quite easily this way. There's nothing wrong with focusing on an object (breath, mental image, mantra, etc) at first. Some people find these objects as a useful anchor to the present moment.

[Joker_Theory]

@nistake Thanks for reply.

I have been meditating a while like 2 years on breath, relaxing the body and mind. also, done self inquiry and still do and happy to still do. I feel like i am ready to do this but i get myself in this type of meditation were i just get lost and have doubt about how to do this, resting as or in awareness.

I feel any advice could help me be more clear.

[Beginner Mind]

Be aware of being aware.  Simply notice the experience of being aware, and rest there.  That is resting as awareness.  Sometimes it is peaceful, sometimes nothing noticeable happens.  If the peace isn't present, it's not necessarily due to doing it wrong.  The peace comes and goes.

[LarryW]

I eased myself into this state of resting in/as awareness/being by gradually progressing from mindfulness of breathing, to full body scans (ie broadening my attention from 1 thing to more), then letting go meditation where I let go of attention to 'things' (Leo has a video on letting go) ... then finally to 'letting go of letting go' or just letting be as the totality of awareness, a letting go of techniques altogether.  I found Diana Winston's approach of Spectrum of Awareness useful which covers this range, although she calls it 'natural awareness' instead of 'resting as awareness'.

Part of this (several years) of rather bumpy progress was developing my intuition of what is right for me, as I'm not following any particular teachings, but being my own teacher, so obviously don't just copy me but take time to reflect on your spiritual practice (perhaps via a journal) and take the wisdom which your practice offers you. 

"4. What is the difference in resting as awareness or resting in awareness?"
There's a subtle distinction here which suggests 'in awareness' is a dualistic state with yourself in it, rather than collapsing the duality of yourself vs awareness when you are it. 

Edited June 29, 2020 by LarryW
clarification

[Guru Fat Bastard]

When you're not doing or being anything in particular,who or what are you?