Practice Dyads
The following are some of the instructions we have used during our practices. They are especially helpful for increasing awareness of awareness. People usually have some preferences for one instruction or another. It is usually best to work on an instruction that you like and are motivated to work on.
Instruction: “Tell me how you know you are aware.”
This is a good first question to work on when you first begin your work with Naked Awareness. We’re not necessarily looking for a “right answer.” The instruction directs the active partner to be aware of his awareness and to be open to what that is like. The goals are to become more aware of awareness and to experience what occurs in consciousness when you set out to become aware of awareness.
Instruction: “Tell me how you know I’m aware.”
This encourages the active partner to put his attention on the receptive partner and discover the other’s awareness as an experience. Doubts about knowing another’s awareness can come up. The active partner works through this.
Instruction: “Tell me what awareness is.”
This has the same objectives as the previous instruction. It should not be done as an intellectual exercise. You’re not trying to define awareness, but trying to become directly aware of awareness and to articulate what you discover when you do that.
You can also use “Tell me what awareness is” alternated with “Tell me what awareness isn’t.” This is good for clearing up confusions.
Three-Part Instruction Practice
- “Put your attention on the [object].”
- “Detach awareness from the [object] and be aware of awareness itself.”
- “Tell me your comments about that.”
Before the Dyad starts, the active partner chooses an object he wants to put his attention on and tells the receptive partner.
The active partner holds his gaze on the object until his mind is steady. He doesn’t try to analyze the object or figure out anything about it. He just steadies his gaze on it.
For the second instruction, the active partner loosens or detaches his gaze from the object and shifts his attention to the awareness itself. He tries to become directly aware of his awareness, letting go of the object he is aware of.
The third instruction gives the active partner a chance to communicate what came up when he did the practice.
Instruction: “Get your awareness across to me.”
For this instruction to be effective, the active partner needs to already have a clear experience of awareness itself. This practice emphasizes getting the actuality of awareness across to another. How do you do that? That’s what this is about. You find out how to get awareness across to another by doing the practice. The word “your” is optional. Some people object to it because they are working from a “no self” model.
Two-Part Instruction Practice
- “Tell me how to be aware of my awareness.”
- “Tell me how to be aware of your awareness.”
For these instructions to be effective, the active partner needs to already have a clear experience of awareness itself.
With the first instruction, the receptive partner is inviting the active partner to tell him how to be aware of his own awareness. It’s like saying, “Teach me about me.” The active partner attempts to describe to the receptive partner how to be aware of awareness. In so doing, he inevitably reflects on his own experience of awareness so he can get it across to the receptive partner.
The second instruction is also a “teach me” instruction. The active partner is to tell the receptive partner how the receptive partner can become aware of the active partner’s awareness.
Two-Part Instruction Practice
- “Be aware of the awareness of another.”
- “Tell me your comments about that.”
The active partner sets out to be aware of the awareness of another, typically their partner. This doesn’t mean that they try to assume the exact same viewpoint as the other, but just that they become conscious that the other is aware in the same way that they are.
The active partner notices how his own awareness shifts when he does this. In other words, what is it like to be aware of the awareness of another?
The third instruction gives the active partner a chance to communicate what came up when he did the practice.
There are many more instructions you can use to increase awareness of awareness. The ones listed here are just a few that have been tested, so we know that they are pretty good.
It is important, when making up a Dyad instruction, that you do not just have a person focus on some mental idea or look for or chase after some memory of a prior event. All the instructions listed here focus awareness on itself in the here-and-now. They don’t direct you to your intellectual mind or memories. There is a strong tendency to do this, so watch out for it.