The Natural Self

Meditation is to search for the natural self, simply being aware of yourself, your being, and eventually to merge with it. 

Self-awareness is like the water in an ocean, the thought process is like the wave on the surface of the ocean. We attach to the thought (the wave) and take it as my, me, I … etc, and forget the real thing is the self-awareness (the ocean). It is similar to a fish that has forgotten the ocean it has lived since its birth. 

In real practice, awareness is a sense of self, the I amness, that is always present together with this body-mind process, but we are unaware of it. So self-awareness is the primal consciousness before all mental states are formed. It is the original thought - I amness. It can also be called the observer, the witness, or simply Consciousness, and many other names. It is timeless, space-less, quiescence, blissful and always has the nature of harmony. 

Resting on this timeless Consciousness, it just like diving into the ocean, the active mind becomes quiet, and relaxed. As everything comes out from the Consciousness, so it is also the platform where, all external objects are formed. The external objects with its own created world, has the nature of impermanence: arising, existing and passing away. Obviously, all external objects are NOT me. So left behind only the self-awareness, the observer, the witness, which is always there, and never leave us.

The self-awareness, or our natural self/consciousness, it can be compared to the vast ocean, where all kinds of fish swim freely, but they are not aware of the ocean where they are born and died there. So exactly the same, we are not aware of our natural self, because it is so quiet, simple and too ordinary to catch our attention. Like fish in the ocean, we are not aware of our ocean - the natural self, our existence, or I amness. Instead, we are so preoccupied and attached to our wave - our thoughts, which are not us.

Obviously, the mind (the wave) is just an object of the self-awareness (the ocean). So called the different mental states or the mind, simply a tiny aspect of the timeless awareness. And this awareness is a platform where all the thought process going through, it is unstable and changeable. Hence, meditation is to be aware of the self awareness, the natural self/consciousness, the observer, the witness, or the sense of self … which is stable, timeless and blissful.

Rest or soak in the ocean of Consciousness as long as you can. With Grace, and finally, merging your mind with it, then you are one with it.