The path to Tranquility (spring)
1. It's time to wake up from the dream
In the early fetal stages, our bodies are like fish, with gills and a tail. At that time, we really did live in water. When we are born, we are suddenly faced with a new world, just like a sea creature suddenly thrown onto land. In fact, we could only float up from the water slowly. From the unconscious we first develop self-awareness, then awareness of death, and finally universal awareness of the world. We have gone through a long time in this process.
From birth to a certain age, we are probably still struggling in the water. Only a small part of consciousness is above the water, while most of it is still submerged. No matter how hard we try, our subconscious mind cannot come to the surface, and the more we struggle, the more difficult it becomes, which makes us feel tired and frustrated.
Surfacing is necessary because we are no longer adapted to life in the water. We felt suffocated in the water and had to go ashore to feel safe and stable. However, the world on land is more complex than the world underwater. There are many dangers in life that we can encounter if we don’t have enough awareness.
First of all, we should stop struggling, because struggling only wastes energy and deepens unconsciousness. Struggling will also make the water more murky, making it harder to see what's going on underwater. If we cannot see our subconscious mind, we cannot raise our consciousness to a higher level. Therefore, it is necessary for us to calm down, observe the part of ourselves that is still underwater, and focus on exploring our subconscious mind.
This means that when awareness is low, allowing that little awareness to dominate our thoughts, we can more easily calm down. This way our inner struggle will be reduced. Then, look carefully into our hearts, think about those unresolved questions one by one, and find the answers.
Being able to focus on solving the problem means that we can stay awake, so that the subconscious mind will gradually emerge. As problems are solved, our awareness grows. When our hearts are clear and bright, the quality of our lives will be greatly improved. Living in the present moment and having enough awareness is like flying freely in the sky. If we are still struggling in the water, then our lives are only slightly better than those of animals.
Even when it’s time to rest, we can still stay awake. Take a deep breath first, hold your breath, and feel the position and changes of the air pressure. Then exhale slowly and hold your breath for about ten to thirty seconds. Repeat these steps several times, and then think about something unrelated to real-life needs, such as philosophy or ancient poetry, which will allow us to enter an inner world without emotions.
Without the obstruction of emotions, our consciousness is at its clearest. By releasing emotions and bringing awareness into sleep, the brain can organize memories more effectively while the body rests. Bringing our various consciousnesses closer together helps improve our wisdom. As long as we don’t get lost in dreams at night, we will be more awake tomorrow.
2. Discovering something new every day
