Inner Work

For the week of October 1, 2007

Sameness

(Part 5 of 9 in the Inner Work series The Stages of Love)

The practice of stillness, wherein we allow our thoughts, emotions, and intentions to subside into relative quiescence, ushers us into the great hall of silence, our vast and pristine consciousness itself, without boundaries. The classic approach to stillness involves simple meditative practices: just sitting with attention on our breath or body, patiently letting the thoughts and emotions arise and pass away on their own. Gradually all these inner processes settle down, leaving us in natural awareness, in the stillness that opens the doorway to pure consciousness, the framework of our experience.

This contextual sea of consciousness is always there, but we are distracted from it by our inner noise, by the content of experience. Stillness leads us into consciousness. Repeated stillness trains us to recognize consciousness. Repeated recognition helps establish us in consciousness, even in the midst of ordinary daily life. No longer completely distracted by our senses and actions, we live in and from consciousness. Naturally pure awareness brings naturally pure joy.

From the state of being in consciousness, we can inwardly open to recognize that this cognizing stillness pervades all and, in particular, other people as well our self. So we look to see the stillness within the other person. We perceive that their inner stillness is the same as ours, their consciousness is the very same substance as our own, and their inner experience of living is the same as ours. To be sure, the content of experience differs from person to person, but the consciousness at the foundation of experience is one and the same. Living in the stillness, we intentionally and directly feel and see the sameness that we share with all people, that mutual core of experience and being. The connection is palpable.

For this week, practice entering the inner stillness. And from that state, practice opening to that self-same stillness in others.

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