Inner Work

For the week of September 8, 2008

Personal Presence in Three Steps

The measure of our presence reveals itself in the quality, the breadth, depth and density, of our experience of this moment, of now. Because the whole of reality, both our ordinary world and the higher worlds, opens to experience only through the now, the practice of presence stands fundamental to our spiritual path. Furthermore, through the practice of presence we transform energies which serve the higher and build our soul. We can enter presence through three steps: through body, mind, and spirit.

Direct awareness of our body anchors us in the now, because our body is always now. It does not go off like thoughts into the past, future, or daydreams. This direct physical awareness is mediated by the sensitive energy. As we place and hold our attention in part of our body, say a hand or a foot, the sensitive energy begins to accumulate there, making our experience of that part more vivid, our body more alive. We are constructed, though, so that the sensitive energy also plays another role in our spiritual practice: as a key substance of the body of our soul. So by practicing presence through sensing, we enter and stay in this our only moment, and we simultaneously collect, accumulate, and organize a basic energy of our developing soul.

We begin our journey into presence by sensing parts of our body: hands or feet, arms or legs, torso or head. We refrain from attempting to sense specific inner organs so as not to interfere with their instinctive functioning. Instead, for example, we sense our torso as a whole — a breathing, active whole.

In the second step, we continue our journey into presence by sensing the entire body as a whole. This is more than a mere linear continuation of our effort in the first step. Sensing the whole body brings a qualitative difference. The quality of wholeness attracts the conscious energy, whose nature is contextual wholeness without boundary, cognizance, and spacious stillness. Whole body sensation offers a suitable platform for consciousness. Its contextual cognizance releases us from the thrall of associative thoughts, daydreams, and reactive emotions. And through its quality of spacious stillness, consciousness enables our will to relax into peace and equanimity.

The third step into presence involves responding to the question: Who is conscious? The Buddhist answer to this might be that no one is conscious. And what is meant by that response? We have no separate self, no ego that is conscious. Our usual sense of self is an illusion constructed of patterns of thought and emotion. A deep understanding of that truth helps free us from self-centeredness and all the ill baggage it carries.

But take the question of who is conscious another step and find a Self that is individual, uniquely us, but not separate in its roots, in our Source. Not an ego, but an I. An I that emanates from the Sacred. This may sound abstract, difficult, or distant from us. But it is not.

Simply be the one who is here, sensing, conscious, and present. Be the one who is. Be the one in you that can say “I am” with meaning. Inhabit your sensation. Inhabit your body. Intentionally be the one who lives in and as you, the one who sees with your eyes and tastes with your tongue, the one who is you. And stay awhile.

This is personal presence.

Now these three, sensation, consciousness, and Self, mutually support and enhance each other. Sensing the whole body provides a platform for consciousness. Consciousness provides a platform for I, for Self. And by being your Self and inhabiting your body you entrain consciousness into your body, into your sensation, further building your soul.

The path of spirituality is infinite and does not end with the personal presence described here. It continues into spiritual and even Divine presence. However, personal presence opens the way toward those higher forms. For this week, step into personal presence.

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