Date: 10/18/2025 10/19/2025
Location: Star River Meditation Center
Teacher: Yunquan Huang
Sitting Meditation
Awareness: Ever-Present and Unfading
The essence of meditation is not attaining special states but returning to awareness itself.Experiences come and go, emotions rise and fall, thoughts appear and vanish, the body constantly changes—yet awareness remains, untouched and ever-present.“Awareness is unfading” does not mean it is an eternal entity, but that awareness is always available, never lost, and always here when noticed.
1.What Is Awareness?
1.Not thought, but what knows thought
Thought stops; awareness does not.
2.Not emotion, but the space in which emotion arises
Emotions fluctuate; awareness remains clear.
3.Not sensation, but the capacity to feel
Sensations change; awareness is constant.
4.Direct experience of the present moment
Not conceptual, not imagined.
2.Why Is Awareness Ever-Present?
1.Because it has never left
Only obscured by mental noise.
2.Because it is present in every experience
Pain, joy, confusion, peace—all are illuminated by the same knowing.
3.Because awareness is not created
It cannot be produced or destroyed.
4.Because awareness is not “self”
If it were the self, it would change—but it never does.
3.How Does Awareness Reveal Itself in Meditation?
1.When thinking quiets down
The background clarity becomes obvious.
2.When the body relaxes
Awareness flows naturally.
3.When you stop chasing states
Awareness is seen to be independent of experience.
4.When you rest in simple knowing
Awareness brightens by itself.
4.Qualities of Ever-Present Awareness
1.Spacious
Like sky that holds all clouds.
2.Luminous
Clear even without an object.
3.Still
Not inert, but undisturbed.
4.Non-clinging
It grasps nothing and rejects nothing.
5.Transformations Brought by Recognizing Awareness
1.Thoughts lose their power
They float lightly instead of dominating.
2.Emotions no longer overwhelm
They arise, but you remain free.
3.Less reaction, more conscious response
Clarity replaces impulsiveness.
4.Life becomes lighter
Because the sense of “I” loosens.
6.How to Stabilize This Awareness
1.Stop trying to hold it
Awareness is not an object but a recognition.
2.Return gently to “knowing” throughout the day
Breath, body, sound, thought—all point back to awareness.
3.Bring awareness into daily life
Meditation continues in every posture.
4.No striving, no forcing
Awareness is already here.
Conclusion
Awareness is not an experience but the ever-present background of all experience.It changes nothing, yet illuminates everything.When you recognize and trust this unfading awareness,practice deepens naturally.
