Inner
Work
For the week of: July 8, 2002
Direct
Perception
Direct, unmediated
perception revitalizes us. The simplest objects vividly express the beauty
inherent in our surroundings, ordinary or not. We hear the clanking of
silverware as the notes of a symphony. Every morsel of food comes alive with
taste, texture, and aroma. We find once more the simple pleasures of living in
our body. This may sound appealing, but how can we live like that?
Distractions
prevent us from living in this natural, open perceptivity. Our attention
wanders far afield from our immediate perceptions, leaving little energy behind
to recognize the small miracles of daily living. Returning to our center, here
in this moment, escaping the thrall of our associative trains of thought,
daydreams, and emotional reactions, we can once again see and hear with the wonder of
a child. Removing our attention from our mental apparatus that categorizes,
comments, and reacts to perception, we enter the vivid, the true world. As the
Buddha put it: “In the seen, there is just what is seen. In the heard, there
is just what is heard…”
For this week, work at allowing your attention to rest in direct
perception, in non-distraction.
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