Living Consciously – A Path For Warriors, Not Wussies
There is a path in life that is the most challenging. It is not for the faint-hearted and if you do not have the guts to take it on, then stop reading now.
Living Consciously is a decision you make in life, not to live as a automaton, but as a spirit that really chooses how to move forward; deciding moment to moment, and to really listen to that inner inspiration, and taking the necessary courageous steps to fulfil that calling.
A friend of mine recently said to me, “with every decision you make, comes the cumulative power of making better ones” and he’s absolutely right. Like a muscle in the body, the more you use it, the stronger it becomes and the path of Living Consciously works in exactly the same way.
It’s the power of saying “no” when everyone else around you is helplessly saying “yes”. Or the passion of saying “so what” every time you come face to face with a brick wall.
There there are the countless benefits you receive too. Yes, it will be incredibly challenging, and at times, overwhelming, but the rewards far outweigh any conceivable setback like being successful, attractive and truly fulfilled.
Living Consciously Vs Control
Some people believe that living consciously or the power of choice is too controlling or that they have to control their thoughts and emotions all the time. On the contrary!
There is nothing to control. Living Consciously is all about selection. We may have a million thoughts running through our head but which do you choose to pay attention to.
I hope for you that it’s the one that is closest to your true inner voice and not the ones that have been heavily diluted by the daily sensory overload. When you live consciously you’ll have the skill to tune and filter out the voices that do not serve your cause or your purpose.
It’s the same as mindfulness which is different to control. It’s paying attention to rather than selection. Control is the furthest thing from my mind. I neither want to control my thoughts or emotions; the more I try, the more they will fight back.
Boredom, Laziness and Procrastination
The “b” word never enters the vocabulary of individuals living the conscious path. They know that every single moment is more precious than the last and do their best to make use of that time wisely. If there is an absence of activity, it’s through volition not laziness. It’s a respite to recharge and refresh.
Laziness and excuses cease to be common place in the life individuals Living Consciously. They do not seek escape responsibilities through procrastination because they become aware of those moments. They are awake to the excuses and recognise when they they arise.
Attention, Mindfulness and Presence
The bottom line is do you want to one of those people that says every year, “wow, time is going so quick these days” because it isn’t being paid enough attention or do you want to enjoy every minute of the ride?
Being mindful is the only way of not skipping your existence. Do you really want to be one of those people that arrive at 50 and not have a clue about the journey? Is your life worth documenting? If you were to write it all out would it be worth it for others to read? Or would it be an account of how others lived while you watched?
Being mindful and present is the most amazing way to live life because you’re paying attention to the smallest of miracles that make us feel the biggest gratitude.
The ‘Living Consciously’ Manifesto
1. You will not succumb to the nature of someone who suffers from boredom or procrastination
2. You will act deliberately and therefore will not be wasteful of time, energy and resources.
3. You will not control anything, you will merely observe the policy and power of selection of where attention is paid.
4. You will practise mindfulness and the observation of the mini-miracles that are always occurring.
Warrior Or Wussy?
Have you got the guts and strength to stay awake during your own ride and be a peaceful warrior? Choosing this way of living is only for those real stamina.
Those who do, fall down, but will never stay down. They will rise to fight again and even enjoy the process. Everyone is capable of living consciously but only few fulfil that capability. Are you one of them? Or are you a wussy?
Who’s with me?
Very inspiring Amit, count me in as a warrior!
After all, no-one is born as a warrior or a wussy, it’s their actions in life that makes it so ๐
Hey Stuart, indeed my friend, it’s that choice we make and everyone has that capability. ๐
Beautiful post, Amit! I am always so motivated by your blog.
Blessings,
Kathirynne
Hey Kathirynne, aww thank you and so glad you enjoyed todays musings. Have an amazing day!
Hi Amit,
Love this post! I’ve discovered that living conciously has greatly enriched my life. I am healthier physically and emotionally. I’ve grown stronger spiritually. I know now that I can filter out and choose not to be affected by negativity. I put a strong focus on everything positive in my life and since I’ve done that so many wonderful things have happened to me. I’m a much happier person!
Hey Dandy, Thanks for your sweet message. I definitely have to agree with on how much my life has been enriched too. It also makes me feel like nothing is beyond my reach. That I can accomplish anything by living more deliberately and using my intention.
> Being mindful is the only way of not skipping your existence.
Beautiful point and spot on.
I find another key is adding new flavors of experience all the time — it’s a way to add life to your years, whether you add years to your life.
Hey JD, that’s a brilliant suggestion and you’re absolutely right , that’s the beauty of living consciously too. Rather than being herded like a sheep we can now go and seek out amazing pleasures and fun that we may never have otherwise thought about without living consciously.
Amit,
Great post! I love the idea that we’re not “controlling” our thoughts but selected them. Brilliant! Yes, and it’s exactly right too. It also sounds much easier to accomplish when we say we’re selecting vs. controlling something.
To me living consciously means we evolve emotionally and spiritually. How sad it is to go through life without ever delving into our interior life.
Hey Ang, I too am not keen on this idea of control. I didn’t know why until recently why it never sat well with me until I realised for me it wasn’t controlling at all, it was more a case of selection…almost a bit like selective hearing in a way. Thank you so much and here’s to our spiritual evolution! ๐
Amit: I LOVED this post and I am so with you. This post was so great and everything in it you mentioned was so helpful. Being conscious all the time as we move through the day and being a peaceful warrior (love that term) is one of the most important goals we can have. It takes time, practice and dedication, but I do believe it is the most rewarding and fulfilling way to live. Thank you for this post. I really enjoyed it.
Hey Sibyl, so glad you loved the post. I love the term ‘peaceful warrior’ too. You’re right, it does practise and most importantly patience with the self, the forgiving of the self that errors will be made along the way. ๐
The trouble is that people will believe that living consciously is self-improvement.
There are plenty of people who are unconscious and yet are very successful, and never procrastinate, are never lazy, are very effective, are never bored, are highly productive, and never waste time or energy or resources. Hitler comes to mind, but even apart from that extreme example, most unconscious people aspire to this type of self-improvement. This in fact is the very definition of unconscious living. Unconscious living is living according to ideas and belief and shoulds and should-nots.
Living consciously is seeing that there is no self to improve. The self is a false idea.
Life, when it’s allowed, just lives. Unburdened by the idea of you, life is natural and easy. The first thing to see is that you do not exist. Life exists. You do not.
I’ll be perfectly honest Kaushik, I do know, that I do not exist, but I don’t see how saying it benefits me or others.
If I became prime minister of the UK, how would me, saying to my constituents “you do not exist” benefit them? Where as if I communicate the values of self empowerment, conscious living to become more abundant, wealth creation, compassion, inspiration, etc, all make sense to me.
Non existence provides no practical value as far as I’m concerned. Maybe I’m too short sighted to see it but right now, I see no way way to live this, non existence, by just being present, enjoying moments and fulfilling my passions.
I’m here, whether I exist or not, so I’m going to enjoy it.
I’ll be honest too and say that you do not recognize that you don’t exist. You want to believe it but you do not recognize it.
If awakening is the goal, then it requires a ruthless sort of honesty.
You think that the recognition of no-self is some of sort of spiritual or mystical thing. It isn’t. It is immediate, imminent and utterly practical.
The delusion of self is the fundamental problem. But of course the mind is dualistic, and it will say that if the self does not exist, then that means there is no passion or compassion or inspiration. That’s silly. The Buddha, Krishna, Eckhart Tolle, Jesus, Adyashanti, Krishnamurti, and many of the awakened are highly passionate and inspired people.
What does it mean to promote “values of self empowerment, conscious living to become more abundant, wealth creation, compassion, inspiration…”? Hasn’t humanity been doing this very thing for 10,000 years? Isn’t this what every blogger tries to do?
Be ruthlessly honest.
You can of course continue to use these beautiful-sounding words, and they are unoriginal and unhelpful; however people will respond to them, because people want to reinforce their delusions. But this is exactly what it means to be unconscious–to simply agree with nice-sounding concepts and continue in delusion.
As you said yourself, be a warrior. That means be ruthlessly honest. It isn’t easy and nobody wants to do it right away. But it can be done.
Look deeper than most people look. Don’t agree so readily to these concepts like abundance and self-empowerment. Look deeper. It isn’t that hard. It does take honesty and courage. If you want true inspiration, recognize that the false self does not exist. Don’t just agree with it. Actually look, and recognize it. That’s awakening.
I do KNOW that I don’t exist, but I also KNOW that I do and yes, both are not only possible simultaneously, but ARE one and the same thing. They are matter and anti-matter, love and fear, light and dark. Existence cannot be without non existence.
I’ve was on the same path you were on Kaushik. I went very far with it. To the point where I became completely bodiless and mindless. I was at the point where I was totally free of this corporeal existence, I was sitting in meditation, in a place where time did not exist, neither did thought, communication was on a completely different level. I remember someone referring to it as the ‘seed stage’. where I was just soul, me, nothing more.
Then a small voice told me turn around, apply what I had learned and live a full life…so I did just that, in this body, in this moment, in this time, I’m am here applying all that I know.
I don’t ever recall Buddha, Christ or any other teach ever saying that I do not exist, however, I wasn’t there, so I guess I’ll never know. But I haven’t studied every single word they spoke so I could be wrong. But I also know I am the Buddha, I am the Christ, Just as every soul in the Universe is. We are totally interconnected both physically and non physically.
You are me, I am you. My use of beautiful sounding unoriginal words are you too.
I want to thank you for your kind words, your challenging notions and that fact that your words made me take a close look at myself and realise even more-so now than before I wrote this post that I am doing what I was born to do in this corporeal form. I am here living. I love business, I hope to create a thriving one. I love comedy, I hope to entertain people through TV one day. I love radio and would love to reach a million people through it. I love pop music and yet I can still meditate like the buddha.
I’m not ashamed or afraid of the contrast of my personality. I embrace it wholeheartedly and am engaging in it, even further. As far as I’m concerned…that is the warriors way.
Come on, Amit. Look at your first paragraph. It’s utterly meaningless. You don’t know that you exist and don’t exist simultaneously. Even a highly mystical guy like Ramana Mahrishi or Nisgardatta ever claimed anything like that.
You’re an intelligent person–don’t get sucked into meaningless fantasies. This is the problem with awakening. It’s a simple, immediate, and real, and people make into some sort of fantasy.
Stop lying to yourself.
I’m keeping this up because I think if you look, you can actually recognize this.
The trick is to actually look. I’m not talking about meditation–there are plenty of skillful meditators, and it’s not hard to reach blissful or mystical states in meditation. But that is not truth.
The central teaching of Buddha, Christ, Krishna, Ramana, Tolle, and any other truly awakened beings is in fact to see through the false self.
This is not a challenge to what you are doing. Nothing changes. That’s one of the biggest myths about awakening.
Freedom is not about change. It is about a simple recognition. The you that you think you are does not refer to anything.
Take a look.
What do you seek to achieve by telling me all of this Kaushik?
The same thing you claim to be doing. To encourage people to go past these nice-sounding delusions and actually and honestly look.
Thank you. I appreciate it. I will continue in my way and you in yours. I wish you all the best.
hello amit
how are you?
thanks for sharing this article and i loved the manifesto for living consciously.
am i a warrior or wussy? certainly a warrior lol!!!
take care of yourself and enjoy the rest of the day
Hey Ayo, thank you so much for you kind words, and welcome to the warriors club! ๐
Hey Amit,
That is true, I am hardly ever “bored” as I’ve started on my spiritual path there is just so much amazing things in life to get involved with, like you say it is just the choice of what one wants to actively engage in. What we choose to focus on expands. You are indeed a warrior of peace. Keep on the good fight. =)
Hey Baker, boredom is definitely the sign of a lazy mind. I’ll totally admit that I still get bored occasionally but it’s very rare, even if I do occasionally fill up some of my time watching my absolute favourite shows, I would so much rather do that than sit around moaning about being bored.
Thank you for joining the cause!
quite a motivating post, keep it Amit ๐
Hey Farouk, thank you my friend!
Hey Amit, great perspective here. I especially liked “The รขโฌหLiving Consciouslyรขโฌโข Manifesto.” It’s always a good idea to give specific action steps like this and yours were really well done. The title was a real grabber also. Well done!
Hey Jonathan. Thanks for you kind words and I’m so glad you liked the idea of the Manifesto. It was a great method for keeping myself on track and not letting myself get sucked into the mundane….I just had to share it as it was proving so useful for me. Have an awesome day!
Hi Amit.
I agree with this material wholeheartedly. You have to be a warrior to handle things as they arrive in a conscious fashion, and to say “no” to things that don’t match your priorities, and also to choose things and stick with them as your plans. I know this is not an exaggeration because so few are able to do these things. You have to be like a Roman conqueror to not waver.
Hey Armen, thank you for sharing and it’s so true what you said about saying no to the things that do not match your value or priorities. At first it may not be an easy thing to do, you may feel the pressure of saying yes or even yes just about of habit, but once you start living the warriors way you will no long succumb to that kind of poor habitual practise.
This whole article is so on target, Amit. You are smart to know: “I neither want to control my thoughts or emotions; the more I try, the more they will fight back.” The best way to approach thoughts and emotions is by being spacious!
If only everyone knew: “Being mindful is the only way of not skipping your existence.”
Thank you Sandra and by the way I’m so glad to see the huge response your free writing post had! Awesome! ๐
Hi Amit! I like when you mention that living consciously is not about controlling our thoughts. We can’t really control our thoughts but we can be aware of the thoughts that cross our mind and use it as information. Gently noticing what crosses our minds allows us to notice what kind of thoughts we’re harboring.
Thanks for this beautiful reminder. Loving blessings!
Hey Andrea, Thank you for your kind words and the way you put it, gently noticing what crosses our minds, very well said. As I mentioned the idea of control just never sat well with me at all and this way I choose rather than control and think there is an important distinction. Have a cracking day! ๐
Iรยดm with you Amit! Itรยดs so easy to just think and talk about conscious living, but to really live such a life requires some practice. And the more we practice the better we become at it. Thank you!
Hey Tom, Thank you so much for the comment, practice is the key, simple and awesome advice. So very happy to connect with you!
Amit, awesome post, new friend. I am reminded of the film “The Matrix” where the kid is bending the spoon with his mind. Neo tries to bend the spoon but is unable to get it to budge. The kid responds with telling him “there is no spoon.”
In fact, Neo seems to struggle throughout the film until he learns to let go of trying to control it all. When he learns to let go and just BE fully engaged in the moment, he manifests the destiny he was made for.
We’re the exact same way. Thanks for the memories. I’m gonna go watch “The Matrix” now. ๐
Hey Bryan, I never thought of that metaphor but a great way to explain it and how true. That letting go of control, I’ve just found it to be so important to evolve. Hope you enjoyed the trip down memory lane…you’ve got me feeling the urge to watch it again now!
Love the energy of the peaceful warrior. You have spelled out great principles for conscious living. You know what…I actually read your post twice. It’s exactly how I have chosen for myself. I am seldom bored and am always looking for ways to live more authentically. It’s definitely not a path for the faint hearted. I am almost constantly putting myself in discomfort. Shared on Facebook and tweeted! Great post!
Hey Evelyn, Thanks for the RT and sharing. When you say discomfort are you referring to when people talk about stepping outside their comfort zone? If so I whole heartedly agree and do the same. Not everyone agrees with those steps I take but that is also stepping out of my comfort zone, not doing things just to keep people happy but because I believe I will grow.
๐
Oh yes, Amit. Sorry I didn’t make it clear earlier. I am referring to comfort zones. I’m glad that we share the same ideas about conscious living…not always the easiest path…but one that will challenge us to learn, grow and evolve.
Mr. Sodha – I finally made it. I actually had the pleasure of reading this on my phone, via my reader account, but just now jumping on to comment. In fact, this marks my first comment on Unlimited Choice.
Nice subject by the way. I particularly find this an important topic for me because it’s been something that has been a work in progress in my life. I was introduced to a similar topic by Rob White, and the way he delivered the message impacted me so greatly, that my mind opened, and I’ve been making an effort to develop and grow in this area.
I’m a warrior in training! Peace.
Hey JK, Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and I’d love to see that article by Rob that you mentioned as I visit his blog regularly too. Feel free to paste a link to it here! Looking forward to future exchanges!
Hey Amnit 0 to be honest, I can’t reference an exact article…I was more in reference to one of our phone conversations. But I’ll say, anything that I read on MindaAdventure.com touches me greatly. And, I must say that I was touched by your article too. So allow me to thank you. Peace.
My pleasure JK and it really is awesome to have connected with you in this way! ๐
I like to think positive and use affirmations so I have more good stuff to choose from! I also find quiet time each morning allows me the freedom to choose consciously in life.
Hey Tess, thanks for the comment. I’m not really a believer in positive thinking as such. I do believe in being determined but I feel that both negativity and positivity have their places. Even some of my negative thoughts have helped me grow.
Amit,
I love it! Exactly as I choose to live..count me in! Magic, wonder, awe, delight..all in abundance…:)
Hey Joy, thank you so much for sharing! ๐
This is a great post Amit! I love that you talk about living your life in purpose the way you want it to be lived. I am doing what you’re writing about as of this moment. I wanted to be free of the chains of the 9-5 job and work for myself. So far, I’m enjoying the journey and living life on purpose with purpose.
Nice post, Amit!
Hey Elmer, thank you so much for sharing and about your journey too! I’m so glad you made those steps and I’m sure it won’t always be an easy ride but the benefits will far outweigh any setbacks! ๐
Hello!
I’m definitely with you! The secret in life is to make the process enjoyable! Most people try hard with no results. Emotion comes from motion and whatever you try will be useful if you don’t like it!
Few people are chasing their dreams and setting goals. It’s because of the community we live and the inspiration we take from our peer group!
What happened with me, I simply changed my peer group and now I see life from a different angle, which make things much easier with better quality and more interesting!
Thank you for sharing this great post!
John
Hey John,
Thank you for sharing and bringing in the whole aspect of peer groups. Just out of curiosity, why did you change your peer group and did you do it with a specific intention in mind, i.e. to bring about changes to your life?