Happiness is not an emotional state. It is the absence of suffering that arises when identification shifts from thought to pure awareness.
Happiness is not found in controlling energy or manipulating information, but in recognizing the consciousness that observes them both without attachment. This witnessing presence is the actual source of happiness—not as an emotional state, but as the absence of suffering that arises when identification shifts from the cognitive fixation we call "thought" to pure awareness.
Energy, Information, and the Shift of Identification
At the core of our human experience are three interdependent dimensions:
Energy – the movement of life force through our metabolism and nervous system. When unimpeded, it manifests as vitality, curiosity, and connection. When obstructed, it appears as muscular, behavioral and cognitive fixations or "closures".
Information – at the most basic physiological level, the perception of the flow of interoception, exteroception, behaviors and cognition. When lived clearly, it provides accurate navigation through life. When distorted by past conditioning, it fuels repetitive cycles of suffering generated by the mTRC "mind".
Consciousness – the witnessing presence that is aware of both energy and information yet remains untouched by them. This consciousness is not cognitive in nature but metacognitive. It has the capacity to reflect on or be aware of the act of perceiving and sensing one's own body awareness.
The Trap of Identification: How the "Mind" Becomes a Barrier
The "mind", in this context, is not an entity but a continuous process of cognitive binding, shaped by past punitive experiences and reinforced through habitual identification. When we as consciousness identify with these patterns, we lose our impartiality and become enmeshed in fear-based cycles that reinforce the illusion of a separate, suffering "self".
This identification process is subtle yet powerful. Each time we react with resistance, judgment, or attachment, we strengthen the grip of the conditioned self.
Neuroscience reveals that excessive activation of the default mode network (DMN)—the part of the brain associated with self-referential thinking—keeps us locked in repetitive loops of anxiety, rumination, and dissatisfaction. The key to happiness is not in controlling thoughts but in disengaging our identification from them entirely.
Witnessing Consciousness: The Gateway to Freedom
The profound shift occurs when we begin to recognize that we are not our thoughts, emotions, or bodily sensations, but rather the awareness in which they arise. This is the essence of witnessing consciousness—a neutral, unconditioned presence that perceives without resistance or attachment.
Unlike the reactive "mind" which compulsively seeks resolution through analysis or avoidance, witnessing consciousness simply observes. This observation is not passive but profoundly transformative.
As we watch without identification, conditioned patterns lose their grip, dissolving in the clarity of awareness. This shift has profound implications:
Energy becomes free-flowing, no longer bound in habitual tensions and contractions.
Information is processed accurately, without the distortions of fear-based interpretations.
Consciousness remains at rest, undisturbed by transient mental and emotional fluctuations.
Pointers Toward Impartial Awareness
To stabilize in witnessing consciousness, we cultivate specific forms of attention that disengage identification from mTRC "thought forms" and reconnect us to direct experience:
Observing Thought as a Movement of Energy – Instead of engaging with thoughts as "truth," we might recognize them as the transient activity of cognitive fixation, no different from passing sounds or other bodily sensations.
Grounding in Sensory Awareness – Shifting attention from "conceptual" fixations to immediate perception of exteroception (sight, sound, touch, breath), reducing entanglement with narrative forms of the mTRC.
Noticing Identification – Each time awareness contracts into a thought or emotion, we can re-direct the energy of our cognition towards a simple inquiry: Am I alive? Is it Safe to be Alive Here and Now? Maybe I can be open or curious towards my external senses?
Remaining in Openness – Cultivate curiosity rather than reaction, allowing experience to unfold without the interference of muscular, behavioral or cognitive fixations.
Resting as the Witness – Instead of seeking to change experience, we might try out simply merging with the space in which it occurs.
This perspective gradually dissolves the illusion of self as a limited, suffering entity, allowing our natural state—spontaneous, unbound happiness—to emerge effortlessly.
Happiness as the Absence of False Identification
True happiness is not an achievement but a recognition: the realization that we are not the contents of our experience but the consciousness that holds them. This realization ends suffering at its root, not by altering external circumstances, but by shifting the very locus of identity.
Happiness is not the presence of pleasurable conditions but the absence of misidentification with suffering. When consciousness ceases to attach itself to mental and emotional fluctuations, what remains is a deep, effortless well-being that is intrinsic to our nature.
Returning to our Original Condition
The search for happiness ends when we recognize that we were never separate from it. The constriction of suffering arises only when we bind our identity to thought and emotion. The moment we rest as the witness, the struggle ceases, and happiness reveals itself as the effortless state of being itself.
By shifting from mental entanglement to witnessing awareness, we align with the natural flow of energy, perceive information without distortion, and rest in a consciousness that is always free. This is not a temporary experience but the abiding reality of our true nature—a happiness that is not dependent on any external condition but arises from the simple recognition of what we have always been.
Somatic Science® is a novel, reason-centered neurocognitive & nondual wisdom approach. It supports our nervous system to become regulated, relaxed and harmonized with itself & the external environment. This helps us to develop a basic capacity for self-attunement and self-regulation, which are essential for satisfying relationships with our self and others. This approach fills the void left by Science and Spirituality yet embraces both, which ignore the great importance of Nervous System Regulation in our lives.
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