Our personal consciousness awakens from the inside out, from firsthand imperience within our own blood and being.

Imperience: Understanding the Heart of Consciousness presents a brief, contemporary version of timeless spiritual knowledge and intuitive insight. It includes a view of absolute reality that can help readers develop a feeling for the nondual nature of consciousness and all beings within it. Understanding this clarifies the aim of spiritual practice and brings us closer to awakening the heart of consciousness.

This is not merely a theoretical description. These pages also include practical suggestions for awakening conscious awareness in both deep retreat and daily life. Through the practices of meditation and contemplative inquiry, anyone can learn to look within and see firsthand what is true.

Part 1 describes the domain of absolute reality and the origins of human consciousness in order to provide a perspective of who we are in relation to the whole of life. Part 2 examines the primary elements and functions of individual relational beings to help us understand the nature of our own minds and bodies. Part 3 offers some practical meditations and reflections on spiritual life that can help guide our journeys. Part 4 illuminates the nature of awakening consciousness.

There is a glossary to clarify key words since some may be used in a way that differs from other spiritual writings. Words are symbols we use to communicate and convey meaning. If a topic is subtle and profound, our language needs to be especially precise. Our common usage influences the way we understand words, but this can also lead us astray when describing intuitive spiritual principles. If we don’t look deeply into the meanings of the terms we use, understanding becomes self-limited. Even when we use words correctly and believe we understand them, we might miss nuances of meaning that are important for deepening insight.

For instance, mindfulness and awareness are often used interchangeably, but they are not the same. Mindfulness is a mental activity that engages our attention in observing our experiences as they happen. Awareness is a function of consciousness, a different faculty from our mental lives. Unlike mindfulness, awareness is not an active doing of mind; it is an awakened presence of being. Awareness and mindfulness often arise together and can be difficult to distinguish, but knowing how they differ can be key in understanding the very heart of consciousness.

The words path and way often mean the same thing, but they can also have very different implications. Because we take a path from one place to another, it’s common to speak of a spiritual path as though the goal were somewhere else and apart from us. Divine consciousness, however, is already here and now by its very nature, and it requires no distance to travel and no time to arrive. Even though a worthy path can be useful for spiritual development, ultimately we need not a path to, but a way of, awakening conscious awareness in the present moment. Like the hidden 3-D image described in the preface, we don’t actually need a path to see it; we only need a new way of seeing.