Awareness, Authenticity, Awakening

Often, at the close of a year, we talk about how fast the year has gone by, which, when you think about it, is a disservice to the gift of time, life, and consciousness.  

In case you didn't know, there are 31,536,000 seconds in a year. In other words, we have thirty-one-and-a-half million opportunities for awareness, awakening, and realization in the coming year, as much as we've had for this one.

Here are some journaling questions to ask ourselves at the end of this year in view of upping our game in 2025:

What did I do with my time, energy, and consciousness this year—2024?

Am I genuinely satisfied with my choices for improving my consciousness this year?

 Has the quality of my consciousness improved over the year as a direct result of my choices?

What do I hold responsible for my consciousness this year: my choices or my circumstances?

The biggest realization I've had in my life is that quality of life equals quality of consciousness. No matter what one has (or does not have), achieves or does not achieve, knows or does not know, it is the quality of one's consciousness in each moment that truly matters in the end.  

Quality of consciousness is the ultimate measure of how one is living each day. It refers to the depth and clarity of our awareness and our ability to be present and engaged in the current moment. Interestingly, the quality of our consciousness does not need to be dependent on our circumstances but can be developed despite our circumstances. Enhancing our consciousness by going through our specific circumstances with integrity and equanimity not only builds character but evolves our consciousness to higher levels. 

As we look at the year ahead, let's remember that we are about to receive another 31,536,000 seconds, which is like receiving a multi-million figure inheritance. We are each a custodian of what is given to us, and time is one of the greatest of the gifts we receive. This new year is a canvas, and we have the power to paint it with our growth and evolution. 

William Blake eloquently wrote:

To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower 
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand 
And Eternity in an hour

These wonderful words contribute little to consciousness development if we don't discover the direct experience of the eternal, mainly when we are in highly constricted ego states, which is when psychological time and our energies feel constricted and restricted.  

Discovering the expansion of consciousness (and self) in moments of constriction requires living in the moment with enhanced consciousness and the tools that help us address everything that comes our way each day. One can fail to appreciate the gift of time when one does not live fully in the moment. Let's strive to be fully present in each moment, embracing the richness of life as it unfolds. 

Living fully in the moment with enhanced consciousness is the gift of Tantric mysticism I've come to value over the years. From the Tantric perspective, being fully in the moment involves tapping into the enrichment of consciousness through the tools of Tantra, which essentially include mantras (repeated words or phrases that focus the mind), mudras (hand gestures that channel energy), and meditation techniques (practices that calm the mind and increase awareness). This methodology is more than being aware of our physical environment or our bodies. However, bodily awareness is also an essential part of the process.

Every day offers us fresh opportunities to begin our life anew, to make changes, to achieve what we didn't achieve yesterday, or to take it to a new level. Every day is a day to develop our consciousness with better tools, methods, and insights. The tools of Tantra range from simple to sophisticated. All of us, including teachers, must remain connected to the fundamentals, or we run the risk of distorting or convoluting the essentials.

In the Zen tradition, there is a profound teaching that invites us to allow every moment to be a new beginning.Zen has this sense of a beginner mind and simplicity, clarity, and rootedness in the present moment.  

As we prepare for the coming year, we can envisage what it would feel like to be genuinely rooted in the present and be able to relearn everything we know with this beginner mind. For me, I am eager to relearn and rediscover everything I know about mantras, meditation, music, and mudras. 

I want to relearn, and I want to learn how to do it all again from scratch and the ground up, so I'm looking forward to this year with that perspective. The joy of learning and the excitement of growth are what make life truly fulfilling. I'm eager to have this sense of freshness about whatever I choose to explore each day.

And to realize that not only do we have a whole year to relearn how to do the things we know to do differently, but that every day is a day that comes with the opportunity to be rooted in our authenticity, in life, and to make our contribution to society from this place of authenticity and groundedness. 

Asha and I wish you a blessed 2025,

In One Heart

💖