#60 Choiceless Awareness

Choiceless Awareness is a path to peace of mind. It means having awareness in the moment as things are unfolding but not making a choice or judgment one way or the other about whether it’s good or bad. Bruce talks about how, “There is an awareness without choice, without demand, an awareness in which there is no anxiety and in that state of mind there is perception and it's perception alone that will resolve our problems.” Choiceless Awareness is about being the objective observer, standing back from the situation a little bit and not assign any blame one way or the other. Just say, “Here’s what’s happening, I’m perceiving what’s happening, now what am I going to do?” This not easy because you have to battle the “shoulds”--what you think should or shouldn’t be happening in the situation. Remember, Bruce Lee used “No way as way.” “Just watch choicelessly, and in the watching lies the wonder. It is not an ideal end to be desired, but watching is a state of being already and not a state of becoming.” If in this moment you can achieve this state of choiceless awareness, you can achieve wholeness because you’re just being. “Choiceless Awareness. Do not condemn, do not justify. Awareness works only if it is allowed free play without interference.” Awareness leads to discovery. Discovery leads to uncovering your potential. Bruce Lee often relates this idea of Choiceless Awareness to being in tune with “what is.” “There is what is, only when there is no comparison at all. And to live with what is, is to be peaceful.” “Awareness is never exclusive. It includes everything.” The easiest way to explain this state is as “free play.” Free play without judgment, like when you were a kid playing and pursuing what interested you. The technology we have now, such as smart phones, can bring us out of the moment. “I Bruce Lee am going to die some day with out having fulfilled all my ambitions. However, I am not afraid to die. I go on, I move forward. Because everything I’ve done, I’ve done sincerely, and wholeheartedly and to the best of my ability. What more can you ask for than that?” Take Action: Practice being the objective observer, try to remove your judgment from the present moment, and just let things be as they are. Take in everything. Create time for a place of "free play”—free of expectations and outcomes. Do something with your body to enter into the space of free play, such as running around like a kid or sing a fun song. This will help you remember what free play felt like. #AAHA This week our #AAHA is hapa Michelle Waterson who is half Thai. Michelle is an American Mixed Martial Artist and competes in the UFC. MMA is the fastest growing professional sport. Michelle is ranked #6 in the UFC strawweight division. Raised in Colorado, Michelle studied karate from the age of 10 and holds a black belt in the American Free Style Karate, and also trained in WuShu, Muay Thai, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, boxing, and wrestling. She started out as a ring girl, and she trained really hard and made her MMA debut in 2007. She made her debut without having any amateur fights. Michelle you’re a badass, and we think you’re awesome! #BruceLeeMoment Our moment this week comes from Robby M. who shared with us this poem and his #BruceLeeMoment: Everything I know how to do, I learned first and foremost from Bruce Lee, I copied everything he did to the point where I got obsessed and erroneously thought myself to be his Reincarnation. Doing that, I realized I missed His central tenet of Life, Be Yourself! Express Yourself as creatively, profoundly, powerfully, dynamically, skillfully, and Honestly as humanly possible at all times no matter what the cost or situation.” Share your #AAHAs, #BruceLeeMoments, and #TakeAction progress with us at hello@brucelee.com Find the full version of our show notes at BruceLee.com/podcast