Inner  Frontier
Fourth Way Spiritual Practice

 

Inner Work


For the week of: April 19, 2004


In Body, In Heart, and In Mind

A tremendous possibility of a vibrant and deep inner life awaits us. But to approach that, we must first see where we are. In particular, we can see that our attention, which defines us, typically remains passive and weak. With our presence so ephemeral, we collapse into associative thoughts and daydreams, emotional reactions, or our physical and sensory experience. The possibility of becoming more fully human and forming our soul depends, in part, on strengthening our attention and broadening our awareness to live in body, heart, and mind simultaneously.

We begin with sensing our body, opening to the sensitive energy in the body, gradually building up to sense the whole body, strongly, as often as we can. This work of sensing the energy body forms the foundation of the path, for it always brings us into the present.

In such moments, the bodily platform of sensation stabilizes our awareness and enables us to open our attention to encompass our emotions and thoughts without collapsing into them. Seeing our emotions gradually purifies them, which in turn opens us to the deeper emotions such as love, in relationship and in prayer. We also join our thoughts to this dance of our full humanity, using our thoughts to remember to practice, to drive our prayer, to consider how best to pursue the path.

The power of this practice of living in and through all three, body, heart, and mind, cannot be overstated. Ultimately, the three parts unify into one whole human being. For this week, work toward simultaneous presence in body, in heart, and in mind.

 


     

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