Why Are We Here?


Why do we suffer? Why are we here? Why did we choose this experience? Ever wonder about these questions?

I certainly have. In fact, for many years I felt tortured by them.

In WellBeing Alignment Sessions I frequently hear them from clients also.

why are we here

We all come to these questions eventually, especially when our attention turns toward awakening from this dream.

If / when the "why are we here" question comes up for you, this will help:

First, do the "Am I Here?" exercise, which turns your attention to the "you" that is Awareness, this that is simply here. Then, ask Awareness these (or any) questions.

You will, of course, discover your own answers to the "why are we here" question which will be far more valuable to you than something you hear from someone else. Meanwhile, I will share what I discovered.

First of all, even though it appears that we are "here," in a body having this experience of being embodied, we aren't only IN the body. The body is in us.

At night, let's say that you dream you are someone named John and you have an entire life with a past history, a current family, responsibilities and concerns. You might have to deal with a big green monster who keeps finding and chasing you.

In the dream you really believe you ARE John. You really ARE invested in running and hiding from the monster and getting your family to safety. You're anxious about trying to find a way to solve this monster problem.

Then in the morning you wake up, relieved that it was all a dream. The John person you thought you were, as well as his family, the big green monster, and all the hiding places you experienced, all vanish.

Where did they go? And where did they come from? They arose from within YOU, as images, perceptions, and experiences. And then they disappeared within YOU.

Likewise, THIS dream arises and disappears within YOU, Awareness. You aren't shoved down inside the body and the brain. You, Awareness, are choosing to narrow your attention down to an image / perception of a body / mind that is arising within YOU, Awareness.

Our attention is like a camera lens. In an unlimited field of energy we have the ability to narrow our attention way down to just one tiny thing like an ant walking on a leaf, excluding everything else in the field. Or, our attention can broaden way out and include everything in the very same field.

This is what we do when we believe we are just a body / mind. Our attention is narrowed down to just THIS experience, which excludes the rest of the totality of Awareness we actually are.

The "why are we here" question can only arise if we are identified with JUST being a body/mind. Awareness itself has no concerns about whether this body and dream are appearing or not.

So... Why ARE We Here? Why DID We Choose This? Why DO We Suffer?

To explore the "why are we here" question, I ask Awareness why it narrows itself down to the identification of being just a body, rather than the entirety of what it truly is. It doesn't answer in words.

Instead, I experience a kind of knowing-ness. To translate that knowing-ness into words, it would go something like this:

"I narrow attention down to the experience of being a body /mind because I CAN. Because I have the freedom to do and experience anything I want to.

The terms 'suffer' or 'resistance' don't mean anything to me. For me it is all just experience itself, without judging any of it.

I am the knowing-ness that KNOWS all experiences but is not changed by any of it. Experience, perceptions and sensations are made up out OF me. It is all just the energy that I am taking different shapes.

I continue to be unlimited, unbroken freedom, peace and joy. Nothing can ever change that.

I am continuously joined and one with this infinite field of energy I am, which includes all life itself, and is never limited by anything that appears within me.

I am the totality of all of it – undivided consciousness, pure acceptance and love.

The experience of suffering only comes from narrowing the focus of attention down and resisting what is appearing.

Even then, the experience of suffering doesn't change me. I, Awareness don't suffer. I remain the same, eternally accepting and at peace."



The "why are we here" question and ALL "why" questions only arise when we identify with being just the body / mind – when we focus the camera lens of our attention down to just our thoughts, body, sensations and perceptions.

Instead, in the "Am I Here?" exercise, you can begin to experience yourself as the entirety of what you/we are, in the dimensionless-ness of Pure Awareness.



What Is Real?

Along with the "why are we here" question there is usually an accompanying "what is real" question.

Let's say that you turn on your tv set and you watch a movie with a main character who faces many challenges. Then at the end of the movie you turn the tv off.

Did the tv set have the challenges that the main character did? Did the movie change the tv set in any way?

In this metaphor, the tv set is You, Awareness and the main character in the movie is you, as you identify yourself as a body / mind.

Are "you" (the main character) real?

Your EXPERIENCE is real.

This is where the tv metaphor breaks down. Your experiences are made up out of the same substance that YOU Awareness are made of. You, Awareness are what knows your experiences. THAT is real – the KNOWING / experiencing of your experiences.

We overlay thought on top of our experience and then believe that we are separate bodies and the rest of the world is "out there." However, in our actual experience it is all one energy field, made up out of US, Awareness.

You, Awareness have never not been here. Your attention may have been on your thoughts, emotions and body, but You, Awareness has always been here, in the background of your attention.

You have no borders, gender, or age. You have never been born and have never died. You lack nothing and don't share the same limits the body or the mind have. AND... you don't have to DO anything to be this. You already ARE this.

Suffering Is An Alarm Going Off

When there is something out of balance within the body we feel pain or discomfort. The same is true of psychological suffering. It tells us two things:

  • First, we are resisting something that is appearing in our experience.

  • Second, it tells us that we've narrowed and limited our focus to a small part of the totality that we are.

    We have mistaken who we are as being only a body and mind rather than the totality of pure conscious Awareness we actually are.


If You're Suffering...

I recommend a two-way healing approach that simultaneously applies to all levels of suffering – physical, emotional, and mental:

  • First, get to know yourself as Pure Awareness, which is ALWAYS at peace, even when the experience of suffering arises.

  • Second, allow whatever arises – anger, fear, sadness, guilt, or even a general, undefinable discomfort – to be here as it is, without trying to change it in any way. It is actually the resistance to what is arising that creates suffering.

This page will help you with both of these steps. When the "why are we here" question arises within you, notice the emotions that are present when you think that thought.

Also notice places of tightness / constriction in your body that you're aware of along with the emotion. Then use the techniques given on the energy healing therapy page to help you embrace this discomfort. Gradually, it will release on its own.

I'm also happy to coach you through this healing process in a WellBeing Alignment Session.

“What a gift you have been to me. I don’t know enough words to express my gratitude. Thank you for helping me, guiding me through healing. Thank you, thank you, thank you. ”

~  Ande Nesteby



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