I and Wisdom

In pursuing the work of I and Thou, we come to recognize others as human just like us, connect with others as one human to another, as two who share the same fundamental reality. When we see another person and see their personhood, their innate awareness like our own, we intuit that we are not separate from them, and we cannot imagine harming them. We find ourselves naturally constrained to treat the other person as we would want to be treated or, better yet, to treat them as they would want to be treated. We can call this impulse conscience, our innate perception of the right thing to do in any situation, though it often arrives as a perception of what would be the wrong thing to do, or as a belated perception that we have done the wrong thing. The latter generates the sinking feeling of remorse in us. The more we obey our conscience, the more it guides us and the less remorse we create for ourselves.

This kind of higher perception goes well beyond situations of right and wrong to perceptions of better and worse, of possibilities and truth, of the innate beauty and wonder of this world, and even of the unity of all existence. This is wisdom, Divine wisdom, for it flows into us from the Sacred.

This deep and accurate seeing does not depend on the objects seen, but rather on who is seeing. There is a common thread behind I, conscience, and wisdom, for they are all of the same kind: that is will. Our I is will, our individual will. Conscience is will, both individual and universal. Wisdom is will, universal will. All will derives from the singular source, the Divine Will. That will flows down into each of us, manifesting in us as benevolent wisdom, conscience, our shared non-separateness, and our own individuality. That great will connects us to each other and to the whole of reality. It enables us, at our best, to act in accord with it, with the Tao, with rightness in every situation. In that condition, we are not acting from ourselves, from our ego or personality. We leave all that aside and allow the compassionate greatness to flow cleanly through us, as us. Without self-centeredness there to interrupt and corrupt the descent of will, we act in purity.

This is a very high inner standard for being and doing. We can taste it in flow states that come through total engagement in the face of attentional challenges well-matched to our capabilities. Perhaps you have some activity like that in your life, an activity you cultivate and value intrinsically.

We can also taste that high inner standard by seeing what it is not, by noticing our self-centered egoism when it usurps our place. To come to be able to see through our false self, to see our egoism in action, takes the willingness not to avoid the truth we see, and, more fundamentally, the ability to see. That ability comes as a side effect of the practice of presence. By working at presence, we stabilize the sensitive and conscious energies within us, and we integrate and strengthen our will, our intention and attention, our will to be. It then becomes more obvious when the self-centered ego, pretending to be I, to be who we are, acts in us to bend our will into a wasteful and self-referential knot. As we learn to be present, to simply be, that egoism is more often seen for what it is, and thus set aside as an unnecessary quirk of our human psyche, an illusory quirk that is harmful if we believe in it and allow it to make our choices for us. The purity of heart that we seek lies beyond self-centeredness.

To begin to make this real in ourselves, we can practice opening to the true descent of will directly in meditation and prayer. For example, you might try the following sitting practice:

Sit quietly and relax into your body.
As you relax into your body, become aware of your whole body.
As you continue relaxing and being aware of your whole body, become aware of the sensitive energy awakening throughout your body, like a fine vibration filling every part of your body.
Keep your attention focused on and in your whole body, and particularly on the sensitive energy in your body.
With your attention and intention, strengthen your will-to-be, manifesting as your presence in your whole body, including your sensitive energy body.
Make it your intention to strengthen this experience moment to moment.
Stay with it.
Now notice where this will-to-be, this will-to-presence, starts, where it comes from. Most likely it seems to start in you.
Open the inner gate to the source of will, to the source of your attention and intention in this moment, to allow that will-to-be to flow into you from beyond. Perhaps it may seem easiest to let it flow from somewhere behind you. Let it flow into you and through you, still supporting strong presence in your whole body.
Stay with this opening to the flow of will into and through you.
Recognize that this will is you and at the same time more than you, the Sacred will reconnected, the Sacred will that is us all.

Follow @innerfrontier

About Inner Frontier Send us email