As any true mystic will tell you, if your goal is to become fully human, the spiritual window you use to view the world must include two important spiritual questions. The first being what have you noticed and the second, what have you learned?

To effectively answer these simple questions, we first have to transform our consciousness and learn to see into the depths of reality. Stated simply, we have to learn to “see the real world”, not the world our ego expects to “see”.

We begin this transformation by recognizing that our “true self “ is not our “ego self”. Our “true self” is our pure observing consciousness.

You can determine this self-evident truth for yourself. Begin by asking yourself the question “Who am I”? Then make a detailed list of all the things, possessions, or attributes your ego uses to define or describe who you are.

When you’re certain that the list is complete and you have exhausted every possible way of defining who you are, mentally wad the list up and throw it away. What will always remain is the pure observing consciousness of your true self. What spiritual teachers call the pure consciousness of the inner “observer”.

When you have learned to “see” the world through the eyes of your observing consciousness, quietly ask yourself what am I noticing? And what am I learning from that noticing?

Remember, judgmental beliefs are the ego’s way of maintaining your self-identity. So if you find yourself judging the rightness or wrongness of what you’re observing, you are still “seeing” the world through your ego self.

The true self sees a more authentic reality. It simply observes ”what is” through the non-dual eyes of the heart. Unlike our ego self, or infant consciousness, our true self does not break the world into pieces and parts called this and that. Stated simply, our true self sees the world in wholes.

Noticing the reality around us, and then learning from what we notice, is a powerful spiritual practice. When we notice the world through the pure consciousness of our true self, and then learn from that noticing, we bypass the judgmental beliefs of our ego and thus develop the ability to more intentionally extend caring, compassion, and unconditional love to all of the other life forms we share this planet with.

When we learn to see creation through the eyes of our true self, we recognize the wholeness from which all forms are created; and when that happens, everything becomes sacred and our primary emotion becomes awe.