The Great, Unsolvable Mystery
One moment the mind is agitated with worry. An hour later, it has relaxed. Different states of mind have their own texture, their own feeling, and we know them very well. But are we the knower of these changing states or are we the states themselves?
The knower is the irreducible “I am” of existence, the fundamental presence that knows all thoughts and emotions. Awareness is ever-present and unchanging. It does not become entangled in any state it witnesses. It does not become joyful when we feel happy, nor does it become agitated when we are troubled. It impartially witnesses each state, like a screen playing a movie, unaltered by the content. Through both comedy and tragedy, it remains uncolored, unstained. It is the aware presence that makes all experience possible.
Focused attention might feel like a higher state than a scattered one, but the same awareness registers both. Awareness does not increase or decrease. The only activity is the activity of the mind.
Awareness is, by nature, mysterious. It cannot be captured conceptually. Any attempt to do so is an activity of the mind trying to understand the mystery in which it appears. But it is impossible for that which is limited to know that which limitless.
What is there to do, then? Simply recognize it, honor it, and rest in it.