The Universe Within by Gwen Randall-Young

It is so easy to take this moment for granted, although it is the most precious thing, the only thing, we really have. Significantly, it is our awareness of this moment that is the miracle. To be aware of our surroundings, our body, our thoughts and feelings, is to be alive in, and to the moment. In sleep, unconsciousness, and death, that present, observing from ‘the inside out’ ceases.

Life itself is a journey of awareness. The infant, at first, is only aware of sensations. He may experience warmth or coolness, lightness or darkness, silence or sounds, but has no thoughts about what those are. Gradually awareness grows, and there is recognition of the familiar, be it of faces, smells or sounds. Slowly, the infant develops a relationship to his surroundings. It will be some time yet, before the young child becomes aware of the fact that he is thinking. Longer still before he has the skill and experience to contemplate the world beyond his home. And so, each one of us has taken that journey. From being unconscious and unaware, to a place where the world, from the vast expanses of outer space to the infinitesimal particles of the quantum realm, has gloriously opened up to us.

There is more than most of us could ever know and understand, yet the information is, literally, at our fingertips should we choose to explore. Then there is that whole other universe of inner space, which, if we attend to it, is also ever-expanding.

The process of evolving consciousness, it seems, mirrors the birth, and ultimate death of the Universe. The ‘big bang’ occurs when we become aware of our consciousness as something bigger than our thoughts; a tool we can use to endlessly explore both inner and outer worlds. It is when we contemplate the cosmic hall of mirrors, with the brain holographically connected to the rest of the Universe. We recognize our consciousness as a drop in the ocean of the "Oneness" that is the cosmos.

If we are open and interested, our awareness continues to expand. Ultimately, however, a process of contraction begins. The process of aging often brings a narrowing of focus, until we become once again like the child, focused primarily on our immediate surroundings. The difference is that at the end of life we have memories, and a conscious awareness that we are more than our physical bodies. If we are somewhere in the middle of life, having embraced our ability to be conscious as the exquisite gift that it is, then we are truly at our prime. We are the eyes, ears, heart and soul of the cosmos, perhaps the only way it can be conscious of itself.

For each of us, consciousness is like a telescope we can use on our journey through life. If we use a lower power, we may only see what is in our own backyard. If we use a higher power, there is no end to what we can access. Being fully alive is about the ability to be conscious. It is what we came here to experience. How we that ability is used is up to us, and ultimately will determine the depth of our experience. Our lives are but a flash in time, the duration of optimal consciousness briefer still. Paradoxically, being open to the present moment and our experience of it simultaneously links us to the eternal. What an amazing journey!

Gwen Randall-Young is a psychotherapist and author of Dancing Soul: The Voice of Spirit Evolving. She has also written Echoes Through Time: A Message of Healing for Men, Baby Soul: A Blessing of Spirit, and produced audiocassettes entitled, After Recess: A Calming Meditation for the Elementary School Classroom, Healing the Past: A Meditation for Wholeness, and A World of Kindness: Experiencing Personal and Global Harmony. Email: gwendall@shaw.ca




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