Being Aware of Being Aware

by Rupert Spira

Having noticed that the experience of being aware is our most direct and intimate experience, we may wonder who or what it is that knows or has the experience of being aware. What is it that knows the experience of knowing? What is it that is aware of being aware? The common name for the experience of being aware is ‘I’. I am aware of the thought of my friend. I am aware of the memory of childhood. I am aware of the feeling of sorrow, loneliness or shame. I am aware of the image of my home. I am aware of the sensation of pain or hunger. I am aware of the sight of my room or the sound of traffic. In each of these examples, ‘I’ is the name we give to that which knows or is aware of all knowledge and experience. As such, ‘I’ is the knowing or aware element in all knowledge and experience. ‘I’ is awareness itself. So we could rephrase the question ‘What is it that is aware of being aware?’ as, ‘Who or what is it that knows that I am aware?’ Is it I who am aware of being aware, or is the experience of being aware known by someone or something other than myself? It is obviously I who am aware that I am aware. That is, it is ‘I, awareness’ that is aware of being aware. It is awareness that knows or is aware that there is awareness. Thus, being aware or awareness itself is self-aware. Just as the sun illuminates itself, so awareness knows itself. Before awareness knows anything other than itself, such as a thought, feeling, sensation or perception, awareness is aware of itself. Aw...