Jonesboy Posted February 16, 2018 (edited) I have found this to be a very powerful means of continuing ones practice during every conversation and every interaction. I have found that just being open as described while walking down the hall at work, down the isles at the store can be a very powerful and beautiful experience. Pause is a reminder to yourself, given inwardly, to stop for a little while. But what stops? It’s the habit mind, the compelling intrigue of your own thoughts. So pause is a call to stop and shift fully into awareness, into the here and now. At this moment, you may notice what thoughts, emotions, and sensations are coursing through you, with all of their elements of desire and aversion. Pausing can illuminate what’s happening with you as you listen or talk to others. Pausing corresponds to meditation practice itself. Relax is an intention you bring to the tension you find in your body when you settle into the pause. You may notice what the tensing is related to as you feel into the tightness or contraction with curiosity and acceptance. With a scary thought, you pause, relax, and begin again. You let everything be and invite the part of your body that’s tense to let go. You turn toward whatever you’re holding in your body and simultaneously toward your mind with loving-kindness and compassion. You let it be and let it go again and again. Open involves extending the friendly acceptance and mindfulness you cultivating in your personal meditation practice to the external world and specifically to those you’re engaged with in communication. It’s an agenda-free receptivity toward the external world that may be first cultivated personally, independent of others. Opening to nature can be a good place to begin, providing a context in which you can feel very safe in opening. You can open to a forest or an ocean, the sky or the desert, or even a flower. Open your heart – extend loving kindness where you like. You might go for a walk in the rain or find a place where you can open to a star-filled night. Trust emergence invites you to remain poised in the open space that you’ve created by pausing and relaxing. You allow whatever may come up without rushing in to fill the space out of some need or discomfort. Think of it as trusting that something will emerge when the moment is right, or trusting whatever emerges, without clinging to the past or preconceptions about the future. In social contexts, it means allowing the conversation to form within the interaction without trying to control or manipulate it. Trust emergence is being present, on purpose, in this ever-changing moment with acceptance of whatever arises. Listen deeply means becoming a receptive field that receives the words and feelings expressed by another person. The invitation is to listen with kindness and compassion and allow yourself to be touched by another human being. This kind of listening is patient, nonjudging, and free from personal agendas. The attitude of listening deeply is a willingness to feel with and experience the thoughts and feelings of another human being without personalizing what you hear, meaning misinterpreting it on the basis of your personal concepts or preferences. Speak the truth means to be honest with the person you’re interacting with. It’s straight talk in the sense of saying things as you perceive them to be. The intention is to express what’s useful and appropriate with attention to goodwill and without cruelty. This is the union of mindfulness with virtue, morality, and mutuality. Is what you are saying true? Is it beneficial? Is it kind? Is it offered in goodwill? It’s important to consider all of these questions, as speaking the truth calls for not only honesty, but also a sincere intention not to injure others. A helpful guideline is to consider the golden rule and speak to others as you would like to be spoken to. http://files.meetup.com/18332821/Instructions for Insight Dialogue.pdf Here is a much longer pdf on the instructions if you are interested. https://www.spiritrock.org/document.doc?id=2472 Edited February 16, 2018 by Jonesboy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
