The Primary Factor in Life | A Doorways into Presence miniseries, Part 4

Your state of consciousness is the most important factor in your life. Not what happens to you externally, but your state of consciousness determines how you perceive the world, what actions you take, how you react to circumstances and events, your relationships with people and other life forms. It is, in other words, primary. The primary factor in your life is not the events or whatever circumstances of your life may be, successes, failures, and so on, but your state of consciousness. So you should give your state of consciousness in the present moment. That's when it arises. Your consciousness is inseparable from the present moment. Give it your fullest attention. It is more important than anything you do externally. And in fact, what you do arises out of your consciousness. So wise or skillful action, action that is helpful and does not create further suffering, further problems, arises out of state that is non egoic, a state that we may call presence or aware. For thousands of years, humans have been trapped in egoic consciousness. And all the ancient spiritual teachings and religions have stressed the fact that there is something dysfunctional within human consciousness, which in many ways is a wonderful thing and quite miraculous. But there's an element of a strong element of dysfunction in human consciousness that was already there thousands of years ago. It now is becoming intensified and is amplified by our scientific and technological knowledge. The Buddha stressed the fact that you are condemned to a life of ultimately suffering in one way or another unless you awaken. So the Buddha pointed to the possibility of awakening, which is a ship. Shift into the state of presence out of the egoic state, and that will change the way in which you experience your life and how you affect others. And in the Christian teachings, the term salvation is often used. So Jesus points to the possibility of salvation because there's something not right. Jesus said, for example, you are the slaves of sin. Sin, literal translation of the word as used in the Greek, Old Testament, New Testament, is missing the mark of human existence. So you fail. There's a failure, missing the mark. Like an archer who misses the mark, that sin, the slaves of sin. And sin is therefore unconsciousness. The destiny of humans is to evolve into the awakened consciousness. And this is why I am offering you here some doorways into the awakened state.