Help! My avatar has been kidnapped by a self.
The movie Avatar by James Cameron provides a good analogy of what’s happening with awareness, the self, and the body.
Awareness & Consciousness
Awareness is the root of what we are. What is awareness? If we Google awareness, we get a cornucopia of definitions and examples of what awareness makes possible but no satisfactory explanation of fundamental, essential awareness.
This is expected as root awareness is not a process resulting in knowing. Awareness makes knowing possible not through process but through what we might call “isness” – awareness is the foundation for consciousness and knowing.
So, for this analogy, let’s say that this mysterious awareness/awaring is our nature. It takes up no space yet pervades all space.
The Avatar
In the movie, Jake Scully’s consciousness is linked to an avatar, a created body with no inherent consciousness. This is slightly useful as an analogy for the soul’s relationship to the body. The exception is that Jake is an already existing “self” linking into a body/avatar, and the soul is nothing like a self.
The avatar is like an action figure. It provides a locus for the awareness/consciousness and the various processes necessary to interact, interface, and move around within its dimension of reality.
This is the relationship of awareness with our body, avatar, and action figure. It’s the locus of our perception and experience in this dimension of reality.
The Self
In the course of the movie, Jake becomes more invested in the life and reality of the avatar than that of his human body. He’s aware that he (awareness) is more than the body, so he chooses the avatar over the body as the repository of his consciousness.
Jake’s identification with the avatar happens pretty quickly – he’s still “Jake” – whether in the body or the avatar, the self is there. This is the conundrum of self – the self believes it is the awareness/consciousness.
One fascinating aspect to consider is the role of choice in our identification with the ‘self.’ Just as Jake chooses to identify more with his avatar than his human body, we, too, can choose where we place our sense of identity. This choice is often influenced by societal norms, personal experiences, and even our emotional states. However, the key takeaway is that awareness allows us to make this choice consciously. By understanding that our true nature is awareness itself, we can navigate the complexities of life with greater clarity and purpose. Of course, this brings in the question of – Is there choice?
Ponder This
When your body/avatar was born, there was no you, no “Jake.” Your parents started referring to your body/location as Jake, and soon, the whole world got on board with “you” as Jake. As the body/avatar grew and developed, the body/mind developed a sense of being Jake – I’m Jake.
But you might say what you really are is not Jake and not the avatar – at the core, “you” is awareness, making it all possible. Awareness is not a “you” or “I.”
Awareness
Awareness is nonlocal. Awareness functioning through an avatar does so through a local perspective, but awareness is the whole kit and caboodle – reality.
Good News – Bad News
The good news is that you are what you’re looking for – you’re the looking, or more accurately – you’re the seeing (not the seer or the seen, the seeing), or more accurately – your true nature is awareness.
The bad news is that Jake will never find Jake because Jake is Jake.
It’s a strange and mysterious reality where Jake must disappear to reveal his identity.