Based on the simple understanding that unless you reach freedom from being unconscious, you can not evolve in a real way.

The awakening of Consciousness is the first logical step on the path to your complete Self.

Anyone can use the term ‘Consciousness’, but to grasp its meaning is very difficult.

Words like Consciousness, being and absolute are the basic building blocks of spiritual language.

But unless they reflect in your mind the correct understanding of what they are meant to signify, they can not become suitable tools for your evolution. On the contrary, they will become a prison for your mind.

You use Consciousness, but unless you are awakened to it, you are not that Consciousness: your mind is an expression of Consciousness, and so is your sense of you.

Consciousness runs through your whole body, allowing you to feel your existence, but that Consciousness is not conscious of itself.

It is fully identified with the objective reality, disconnected from its own self. To awaken Consciousness is like turning on the light in a dark room.

You can get used to darkness and even gain orientation in it, but turning on the light results in a radical change. The whole space becomes illuminated.

There are two main misconceptions: firstly, that it can be awakened through practice, and, secondly, that it is already there and we just need to recognize it. Who needs to recognize it?

If Consciousness is already there, why is it unable to recognize itself? Consciousness is not ‘there’ unless it is activated through awakening.

Awakening should not be confused with realizing what is independent from the one who awakens, in the same way that when you open your eyes in the morning, you become conscious of the World around you.

Awakening manifests a new condition of existence.

Awakening of Consciousness can not manifest through practice because practice can not take you beyond the boundaries of Me, your personal sense of identity.

At the most, practice can result in arriving at the state of Awareness, which is the thoughtless state of me.

Consciousness is a condition beyond Me; it belongs to the soul. No practice can bring your soul into being, nor can this awakening happen through self-enquiry.

The enquiring ego cannot take you beyond itself. It can keep enquiring, contemplating the impermanent nature of the mind or convincing itself to be beyond thinking, but it cannot get out of that very mind.

Because the universal and individual dimensions of Consciousness are mixed up in the major traditions of enlightenment, not much attention has been paid to the fact that Consciousness is realized in your body.

If you assume that Consciousness is all-pervading, seeking it in reference to your body would be a contradiction.

When Ramana Maharishi was asked where the self is realized, he pointed to his heart but then said that the Self is not in the body, it is everywhere.

Without acknowledging the existence of his soul, he could get around this paradox.

Initially, what you are realizing through awakening of Consciousness is not universal Consciousness, but rather the individual Consciousness of the soul.

That Consciousness is in a direct relationship with universal Consciousness, but it is not universal.

Consciousness is awakened in the headspace. Knowing this makes a huge difference because now at least you know approximately where to look for it.

There are Hindu teachings that speak about chakras, such as the third eye, being located in the head.

However, their descriptions of the third eye – which relate to psychic perception, inner vision or intuition – do not in any way relate to the awakening of Consciousness.

Certainly, no amount of concentration on the third eye can bring you closer to it.

Before you go deeper into the location of Consciousness, you must realize how poor your relationship with your own head is.

It is often presumed that ‘being in the head’ is a bad thing because it is synonymous with living in the mind.

However, there are more things in the head than the mind. You must remember that the Human brain, the further development of the nervous system, has become the most complex and sophisticated organ in the natural World.

It is in your head that you reach the most profound insights into the nature of reality.

This is where philosophy and science are born, poetry, creativity, imagination and intuition, spiritual teachings – and Consciousness.

Of course, your head has to be linked with other centers to function properly, but it undoubtedly rules your existence. To underestimate your own head would be highly unintelligent.

Before your Consciousness can be properly awakened, its impersonal essence – I am – must be activated.

It is usually activated by the grace of a spiritual guide but can happen in more mature souls as a result of their previous evolution, meaning they remember what they have already awakened in their previous lives

I am is realized at the depth of the headspace, in-between the very back of the head and behind it.

It is interesting to note that the place in your body that you are least in touch with is actually the back of the head.

No one is aware of this space; it is as if it were closed to us. It is a deep block, but perhaps it is time for humanity to enter it.

What is very little known is that the back of the head is the actual doorway to universal Consciousness. This is the place where I am awakens, at the point of entry into universal Consciousness.

The awakening of I am opens the way for evolution of Me into the soul. One of the roles of Me is to remember I am and, through that remembrance, to enable its stabilization.

While I am is the door for Me to transcend itself through its eventual surrender, I am is also dependent on Me.

Without the surrender of Me into I am, I am can not reach its final depth. The goal of Me merging with I am is to awaken our higher Self, our soul.

I am actually becomes Consciousness by being illuminated by Me. The dimension of Me that can merge with Consciousness is what we call pure Me, which is the innermost and most intimate aspect of your personal Self.

Without pure Me, Consciousness cannot be conscious of itself. The unity of pure Me and I am is what we call pure Consciousness, for only then it becomes truly pure, immaculate.

In addition to me surrendering into I am, in order to embody it and realize the soul, there is a process of the soul surrendering into universal Consciousness.

When we speak about the soul surrendering, we speak about the pure Me of Consciousness that is unified with I am and yet continues to surrender through being pulled by the gravity of the beyond.

As long as your Consciousness is limited to the confines of the head, your soul is still not in horizontal samadhi in universal Consciousness.

To enter horizontal samadhi, the presence of the soul has to merge with absence, which is the transcendent presence of the supreme Self. This is realized behind the headspace.

Although sitting meditation with eyes closed is important, the main practice with Consciousness is done with open eyes. This is because it is only with open eyes that you can reach horizontal samadhi.

Additionally, the challenge of maintaining Consciousness while engaged in activities strengthens the energy of Consciousness and deepens the relationship of Me with I am.

Me is learning the great skill of living simultaneously in two dimensions, inner and outer, like a window looking out in two directions.

Me must constantly feel I am and keep surrendering to it while being able to function efficiently in the outer reality. It must be able to embrace both the internal and external polarities of your existence.