Certain thoughts have a special quality. They seem to link and refract through formerly disconnected aspects of reality. We suspect they may, finally, prise open a seam in one's mind and in the world beyond.
Such a thought might begin with the here and now: How am I feeling in this moment? What do I see before me? The small cascade of ideas and observations thus unleashed might carry you to an eerie waystation: This thought concerns itself unexpectedly. Its precise shape was already present in the question you asked, in the hours and days that led you here, in the strange visions now pulsing to life within you.
This self-concerning property is not a target we seek, nor is it an acid test we apply; it is not always present, and not always literal. It is more like an ambient frequency permeating this special domain; an exponential refractive layer of meaning has been activated. Questions posed here, within this aura, can reveal hidden depths. Pragmatically speaking, the aura is an affirmative signpost – we are on the trail of something.
Characteristic imagery, in our experience, now emerges. We are an eye on a stalk, seeing the mass from which it has emerged. We are cresting on a wave, accelerating into freefall. We are a character awakening, becoming aware of the story which tells it.
That we are reality experiencing itself is patently true, but not always felt. Why is it felt so acutely in these moments and what further knowledge is thus unlocked? Through us the world sees itself, knows itself, and dabbles in itself, adjusting its own meaning. These are not mere observations, despite their innate power – they are new dimensions of meaning which exponentiate every prior and future thought. This is, again, the signpost of aura.