The first two hours of the Fall Retreat will be broadcast live in the Awakening Together Sanctuary including an interview with Brian Tom O’Connor, the author of a book called Awareness Games: Playing with Your Mind to Create Joy.
During the first 2 days of the Self-Awareness retreat, Regina will lead participants in Self-Awareness practices including games from Brian’s book. We decided to interview Brian in the Sanctuary and play some games with everyone! So …
Join us from 12pm – 2pm ET on Sunday, October 20
live from the Fall Retreat
to play Self-Awareness games
& to meet
Brian Tom O’Connor!
If you are attending the retreat, you will receive a free copy of Brian’s book at the retreat. If you will join us in the Sanctuary on October 20 for awareness games, consider purchasing a copy of Brian’s book. (Purchasing a book isn’t required; it’s just a fun book.)
What are awareness games?
Awareness Games are ways to play with your mind to point it towards the infinite well of happiness and joy that lies within each of us. They are fun ways to sidestep all the ways the mind sorts the outside world, and instead, points it within to look for the background to all experience, happiness itself.
Awareness Games have one purpose: to turn the mind around from outer focus to inner focus, and through inner focus to find that obscure little secret passageway to expanded focus. The delightful surprise is that the obscure little secret passageway was hiding in plain sight all along.
Why games?
Why not practices, techniques, meditations, questions, koans, disciplines, instructions?
Because finding the well of joy within is not something with correct answers, set rules, reproducible steps. Everyone is different, so everyone must experiment (that is, play around) and stumble upon what works for each person. The best way to do this is with an attitude of lightness, playfulness, ease, innocent curiosity.
Because you don’t have to believe anything to play a game. If I try to teach you something, your mind runs it through the truth-checker. Is it true? Is it not true? Is it a crock? With a game, it doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is what you find out for yourself while you’re playing around. You don’t have to believe in any metaphysical, theological, philosophical, religious, spiritual, or even scientific concept. You just have to try it.
Because correctness and seriousness hinder the search. In some senses, even searching hinders the search! How can you search for something that is already here—that you already have? And yet just sitting around watching TV may not do the trick either. So play with your awareness like a toy—bounce it, squeeze it, smell it, shake it, become immersed in it. You may discover you are it. But don’t take my word for it—play with it yourself.
Also because Brian likes to have fun. (And so does Regina!)
About Brian
Brian Tom O’Connor is an actor, theatre director, cabaret performer, and formerly depressed guy who stumbled onto the source of joy and happiness in the background of all experience. He is not an enlightened person, which, in fact, is a good thing, because if someone as imperfect and flawed as he is can find it, so can you.
So try the games and make up your own. Experiment. See what works for you. It’s all about your direct experience. Play with pure awareness and discover the background of all experience, where happiness is hiding in plain sight.
