After my life changing experiences with Ayahuasca in 2015, my desire for enlightenment exploded, and I decided to go to India.

I booked my tickets, got my visa, and flew to Rishikesh in India in February 2016 (in time to attend the International Yoga festival). I then spent the next 6 months living in ashrams, attending satsangs with Mooji and Sadhguru (spiritual talks on enlightenment), meditating, practicing mindfulness, reading spiritual books, doing Yoga and other spiritual practices, and watching my mind and myself.

I also became a vegetarian for 6 months (well almost, 95% of the time I would eat vegetarian, but I would still occasionally eat chicken sandwiches at Subway)

As a result of all the meditation, mindfulness, spiritual talks, self-reflection etc. my mind became quieter and quieter, my senses sharpened dramatically, and I began to wake up more and more. It also became painfully clear to me whenever I was acting/speaking/thinking unconsciously and it would disturb me.

I sat in an ashram one day and I began to take notes as to the kinds of behaviors that I was demonstrating whenever I was acting unconsciously, so that I would recognize them immediately the moment they occurred in the future.

In this article I want to share them with you, because I think that these behaviors are incredibly common, and so you’re likely to recognize them in yourself and others. I’ve also included in this list the types of unconscious behaviors we often see in society.

Before I go further: How do I define unconsciousness?

I define unconsciousness as: Being completely lost in thought, being controlled by your emotions, an inability to be present in the moment, and an unawareness of yourself, your behavior, your surroundings, and how you come across to others.

But of course we’re all unconscious. You’re either awake and enlightened or you’re not.

The problem is that most of us are unconscious without even knowing that we’re unconscious. We’re asleep but we think we’re awake.

Hopefully this article serves you as a wake up call whenever you find yourself unconscious/asleep…

25 signs you maybe unconscious

See if any of the following might apply to you…

1. You can’t stop thinking. You’re constantly deep in thought, lost in your own world, unable to shut your mind off, incessantly thinking all the time about everything
2. You find it hard to concentrate and focus. Your mind is all over the place, your thoughts are scattered, you find it hard to concentrate and focus, and even listening to someone talk for 30 seconds without drifting off into your own world is extremely difficult
3. You can’t meditate for 20 minutes. You can’t sit down and meditate for even 20 minutes without your mind going crazy, and when you do sit down you’re constantly thinking to yourself “I don’t have time for this”, “There are so many other things I should be doing right now” etc. 
4. You find it hard to be present in the moment. You find it almost impossible to be present in the moment, and most of your time is spent thinking about the past or the future, or something other than what you’re doing
5. You talk more than you listen. You talk a lot more than you listen, and even when it’s your turn to listen, you’re not really paying attention, you’re just waiting for your turn to talk. You also have a habit of interrupting others and trying to control and dominate conversations
6. You’re argumentative. You’re quick to argue and interrupt, and you constantly feel the need to correct people and tell them they’re wrong
7. You’re aggressive. You’re aggressive in your body language, and in the way you speak to people and treat people. “Non-violent communication” is a foreign concept
8. You’re competitive. You have a strong desire to one-up and beat people
9. You’re intolerant. You find yourself unable to accept people as they are, especially those who don’t think the way you do, and don’t believe what you do
10. You’re reactive. You react emotionally without thinking, often flying off the handle compulsively as if there were no other option
11. You’re easily annoyed and irritated. You’re triggered easily and upset by the smallest of things, and it takes nothing to get on your nerves, to push your buttons, and provoke you
12. You’re quick to criticize and complain. You spend a lot of time criticizing and complaining and judging others. You’re a fault finder who sees the worst in people
13. You’re controlled by your emotions. You don’t just feel your emotions, they overwhelm you. You’re up one moment and down the next
14. You enjoy conflict. You enjoy arguing, fighting, put downs, trolling, Twitter wars etc. (either as an active participant yourself, or simply watching others)
15. Most of your thinking is negative. Most of your thoughts are negative, and you often find yourself seeing the worst in people, and speaking negatively about them
16. You enjoy angry/aggressive/sad music. You enjoy listening to angry/aggressive/sad music because it reflects the way you feel inside
17. You enjoy aggressive/negative/violent movies. You enjoy watching aggressive/negative/violent movies, TV, video games etc.
18. You take pleasure in the suffering of others. You enjoy seeing others suffer, and you take pleasure in their pain, suffering, and misfortunes
19. You’re addicted to social media. You’re addicted to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc. and you feel a compulsive urge to look at your phone and check it out every hour (or more) of the day
20. You’re obsessed with other people. You’re outwardly focused and obsessed with other people (celebrities especially) and what they said or didn’t say, did or didn’t do
21. You’re closed minded. You’re attached to your beliefs, stuck in your ways, and unwilling to listen to, or to even consider, any new ideas or to anything that challenges your current belief systems
22. You have excuses for everything you say and do. You’re defensive and have excuses for everything you say and do “I need to fit in with other people”, “I only did it because everyone else was doing it” etc. everything is always someone else’s fault. You’re unwilling to take responsibility for anything
23. You’re oblivious to your surroundings. When you go for a walk, are you aware of your surroundings? Or do you get lost in thought and become oblivious to your surroundings and to what’s around you?
24. You use the term “woke” Nuff said.
25. You don’t care if you’re unconscious. One of the biggest telltale signs that you’re unconscious, is if you don’t care whether you’re unconscious or not. I know that when I’m asleep/unconscious, somehow I don’t care if I’m acting/speaking/thinking unconsciously. My attitude is: “Who cares?” “So what?” “Why does it matter?” etc.

These are some definite signs that you maybe unconscious.

I’m sure you can identify with most of them as I can.

My 21-year-old self would have ticked almost every single box in this article. Except for using the term “woke”. I pray to God I never would have used that stupid term.

Of course most of us exhibit some of these behaviors at least some of the time.

The question is: How many of these behaviors do you display, and how often do you display them? Are they the exception or the rule?

You might display every single behavior on this list and it might not even bother you in the slightest, and that’s fine.

Obviously not everyone is interested in waking up. Most people aren’t.

“For some it is an interest, for others it is an urge. For some the urge becomes urgency. For some the urgency becomes emergency.” – Mooji, on enlightenment 

I heard Mooji speak those words at a Satsang in India and it stuck with me.

I believe that most people are exactly as awake/conscious as they want to be. It’s not that they can’t wake up, it’s that they don’t want to wake up. They’re content with their ignorance. They like being asleep. They’re willfully ignorant.

However if you do want to wake up, and you find yourself identifying with a lot of these behaviors and you know that you’re unconscious more often than not, try not to beat yourself up too much. Just be aware of it, and don’t lie to yourself and pretend that it’s otherwise, or try to convince yourself that you’re more “woke” than you really are.

The truth is that the vast majority of people are unconscious almost all of the time and they stay that way their entire lives. They don’t wake up, they don’t get enlightened, nor do they approach anything even remotely like human adulthood.

“The average 70-year-old, is just an 11-year-old with 59 years of experience.” – Jed McKenna

Unfortunately for most people, the only thing that wakes them up is pain and suffering (a breakup, a death in the family, a terminal illness etc.)

Finally: Why are so many people unconscious?

Answer: We’re raised to be unconscious by our parents and society.

How many children are raised to think for themselves, to question the information presented to them, to think critically?

I wasn’t.

I used to wonder why I was so unconscious during my teenage years, and then it became obvious to me: we’re socially engineered to be unconscious by society.

Look at the information presented to you – the “news” isn’t news. It’s propaganda.

The ‘education’ you get at school is practically worthless. Think about how much better it could be.

We live in a society where everyone lies to everyone about everything, where lies are not only expected but rewarded, and the truth is often punished and labeled “hate speech”.

If you want to wake up check out these articles:

10 Powerful Ways to Raise Your Consciousness

How Ayahuasca Changed My Life

The Top 10 Teachings of Sadhguru