Inner Work

For the week of April 25, 2005

Standing Presence

Most of us spend a good deal of time each day standing: cooking, engaging in a brief conversation, washing dishes, looking in a mirror, waiting in line, waiting for the elevator, waiting for the train or bus, viewing a work of art, and so on. To bring our spiritual practice into more of our day, we seek to extend it into every posture we take. For this week we work on standing in presence, one good way to make our spiritual aspirations real.

Whenever we find ourselves standing, we take the opportunity to sense our body. We can begin with sensing our feet as they do they work of supporting our body. We can then move the sensation up until the whole body is filled with the sensitive energy. At that point we can work to become aware of ourselves, here, standing, in this body full of sensation. We become our will-to-be and enter the wholeness of presence. We can work toward this whenever we stand, whether we are standing still or engaged in some activity while standing.

If we need to stand still for long enough, we can turn it into a standing meditation, standing in presence and peace. If thoughts come, we just let them go on their own without grappling or engaging with them. We stay rooted in our sensation, in our intention to be here, in the simplicity of presence.

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