ESSENCE OF BEING
ESSENCE OF BEING
Day 5 - The Knower & The Known + Journaling as Integration
Why This Matters Now
So far, we’ve explored how to prepare the body, steady the breath, and ground yourself like a rooted tree while thoughts and feelings move. Today we take that even deeper.
One of the most important realisations in this work - and in life - is that you are not what you experience. Everything you notice, from thoughts to visions, belongs to the category of “the known.”
What is constant is the Knower - the awareness that notices it all.
In ceremony, this insight can change everything.
Instead of being lost in visions, emotions, or memories, you begin to rest in the one who is aware of them.
This shift allows you to meet any experience with more space, steadiness, and compassion.
Teaching & Meditation: You Are Awareness, Not Appearances
(The Knower & The Known)
Every moment of life brings experiences: sensations in the body, feelings in the heart, stories in the mind.
When we’re caught in them, it feels like we are them: “I am anxious,” “I am sad,” “I am overwhelmed.”
But look closer:
If you can notice a thought, it means you are not the thought - you are the one who knows it.
If you can feel an emotion, you are not that emotion - you are the awareness in which it arises.
Even visions, however vivid, are appearances within consciousness - they are not you.
This doesn’t mean you reject or distance yourself from experience. It means you relate differently: resting as awareness, while allowing experiences to come and go.
This perspective is especially powerful in Ayahuasca ceremony. Whether you are in bliss, fear, stillness, or intensity - all of it is “the known.” The Knower - awareness itself - remains steady.
Reflection & Journal Prompts
Now that you’ve completed today’s meditation, here’s a simple way to deepen the experience.
Use the reflection prompts below to explore what you noticed and how it felt. Take a moment to write down your answers or screenshot them so you can revisit them later in the day.
There’s no right or wrong - it’s simply about staying connected to the insights from your practice and letting them continue to unfold as you move through your day.
What did I notice most clearly as “the known” during today’s meditation?
How does it feel to rest as the Knower rather than as the content of my thoughts and feelings?
In what ways could journaling help me prepare for ceremony by giving space to what arises?
Journaling as Integration
One of the simplest ways to deepen this realisation is through journaling.
Writing allows you to notice your inner world from a little distance, turning the rush of thoughts into words on a page.
Each evening this week, try this:
Set a timer for 10 minutes.
Write freely whatever arises - thoughts, emotions, sensations. Don’t censor or edit.
When finished, read back through what you wrote. As you notice each entry, say to yourself: “That is known. I am the Knower.”
This gentle practice turns journaling into a daily act of integration - reminding you that you are awareness itself, not the stories that move through you.
Daily Rhythm Suggestion
Morning: The Knower & The Known meditation.
Daytime: Pause at least once to ask: “Am I this, or the one noticing this?”
Evening: 10 minutes of free journaling, ending with: “All of this is known. I am awareness itself.”
Closing Note From Nik
The gift of this practice is freedom.
No matter what arises - in daily life or in ceremony - you are not bound by it.
You are the one who notices, the awareness that holds it all. Resting here, everything becomes workable.
“I realised I didn’t need to chase visions or fight emotions. I could rest as the one who was aware of it all, and that brought a deep peace.” - Client testimonial
Tomorrow we will explore Demons on a Boat - an ACT practice that helps you face fear and difficulty with courage, showing you how to keep moving toward what matters even when challenges arise.