If I ask, \u201cWhat\u2019s going on for you right now? What\u2019s happening in your mind? What\u2019s happening in your heart? What\u2019s your predominant energy right now? What are you thinking about a lot of the time?\u201d Most people would have an answer to that if they really<\/em> considered what they were thinking about.<\/p>\n I do that quite a bit. As long as I don\u2019t overdo it, I actually find it quite helpful to keep myself in check.<\/p>\n One of the key elements that we teach, and that a lot of people teach, is the element of consciousness. Consciousness is about acting from the present moment instead of based on programming from the past.<\/strong> It\u2019s about making conscious choices in this moment and not being habitual or automatic like we normally are.<\/p>\n If you notice, the key element that many monks have taken 40 years in caves to consider is the element of observation<\/strong>. It\u2019s observing yourself, being your own witness.<\/p>\n It means thinking about what you\u2019re thinking about. It means taking a bird\u2019s eye view of your life, your situation, and where you\u2019re at.<\/p>\n It\u2019s your way of thinking, feeling, and acting and being conscious enough to observe that. Not in a judgmental way as in, \u201cOh my god! What an idiot I am!<\/em>\u201d, or, \u201cHow great am I?<\/em>\u201d It\u2019s not like that. It\u2019s just watching how you do your life.<\/p>\n My Zen teacher is Cheri Huber. I love Cheri! She\u2019s so great because she makes things really simple. It\u2019s like being aware of what\u2019s going on in your life and coming from a place of, \u201cHere\u2019s how I\u2019m thinking, what I\u2019m thinking, and what I\u2019m feeling,\u201d and then working backward to say, \u201cIs that what I want to be doing?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n If you can do this without judgment, you\u2019re going to be in great shape. What Cheri says is the problem most people have is that they are conscious and living in the present moment, but they do it with judgment.<\/em><\/p>\n Considering that most of us grow up in a culture that emphasizes superficial things, it’s no wonder most people have a part in them that’s near neurotically self-critical. When people feel like they don’t compare to others who are successful, they judge themselves.<\/p>\n And that’s not including those circumstances from our childhood and life traumas that pile on feelings of lower self-worth.<\/p>\n It’s tough for a lot of people to look critically at their lives and accept, without judgment, that whatever happened before to make us who we are now, we do have a now<\/em> to work with! But sometimes there are places within themselves people just don’t want to go.<\/p>\nHow to Make Conscious Decisions in the Moment<\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nReasons to Leave Behind Personal Judgment and Criticism<\/h3>\n
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