Inner Work

For the week of: January 3, 2005

First Things First

Details are the stuff of life. The particulars of our many moments, when taken together, form a whole, which is our life. And to each moment we bring our priorities, or lack thereof. To the details of how we live, what we perceive, and what we do, we can put the question of what those details serve. Sometimes they serve nothing, just wasted or worse. Sometimes they serve the necessities or the pleasures of living. And sometimes they can serve our greater goals.

One aspect of conscious living involves knowing and acting on our priorities. From time to time we can profit from meditating on our priorities and goals. After sitting quietly for some time and bringing ourselves to a state of presence, we consider where our life is going and what matters to us. This is not the place for should's and ought's, which are conditioned responses, external to our true nature. Instead, we examine what we truly wish for, from the bottom of our heart. These more essential passions hold the key to our own uniqueness. Perhaps we see priorities of developing and applying our own talents and gifts, of how to give more to our family or society. From a spiritual standpoint, the way of becoming ourselves serves our true destiny, our role in the great world.

Within those priorities we include our inner work, which need not detract from our external priorities and can even support them. As we meet each moment, can we stay focused on the work of presence, of contact with our body to keep us centered? Moment by moment: that is the way to build our soul, to create our inner wholeness. Recognizing an inwardly empty moment, we begin again straight away: relaxing our tensions, sensing our body and awakening to conscious presence. This moment, and this moment, and this moment, throughout the day, until presence becomes our norm.

For this week, examine your priorities and bring them to life.

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