Monday, March 23, 2009

Trust Emergence

With this instruction we are invited into the numinous but observable impermanence of all experience.

Trusting Emergence is rooted in the wisdom aspect of [practice]. That is, it supports our seeing things as they are--unstable and far more complex and fluid than the mundane glance can know. The dynamic quality of experience demands robust practice and provides the object of that practice: change itself. The instruction to Trust Emergence invites us to dive headlong into the tumbling moment by providing guidance for how we relate to each other and to the totality of experience. To 'trust' is to make the leap of faith required to enter the seething sea of change. 'Emergence' refers to the process by which the complex things we experience arise spontaneously from underlying contributing factors.
GK p. 139

suggested reading: Chapter 13 Trust Emergence

Monday, March 9, 2009

Open

...The Open component of Pause-Relax-Open does not incline us toward spatial precision, toward awareness of you or me. It suggests a flexibility that can move with ever-changing experience. Explicitly internal awareness, explicitly external awareness, and awareness that is both internal and external--all of these are valued and practiced. The mind unencumbered by clinging becomes malleable and learns to navigate internal and external freely, without distinct boundaries or transitions. We enjoy vibrant rest amid the wide sea of experience. GK p.132

As you practice Open and your mindfulness becomes more steady, you may become aware that you can notice thoughts arising as easily as you notice bodily sensations. It is just like looking at a tree and the next moment giving your attention to hearing some insects or birds. You can attend just as easily to internal or external phenomena. So I am inviting you to cultivate a malleability of mind. See how it is to be mindful of rising and falling emotions and then attending to the words or facial experiences of people around you. Sometimes your attention may be very focused; at other times quite wide. Sometimes it may be internal, sometimes external. Let the reminder to Open be an invitation to you to move freely through the field of awareness, without clinging to anything whatsoever. GK p.132-133

Suggested reading Chapter 12 Open