Greetings, reader. I've been working online (the Harmonic Prsence Online Study Program) with a dear person battling life-threatening illness. Having been silenced this week outwardly with bronchitis, I've been able to bring the work more inside, so to speak, and also, knowing sickness myself makes me more open and attuned to wanting to be as helpful as possible to others. So, having had to cancel an online session with my dear student-friend, from whose battle I am learning so much, I felt spontaneously moved to writing something instead. Maybe you will find it somehow helpful, as well. I wrote it partly in a kind of attunement to how I used to feel when I read some extremely precious letters I received from my root guru, Lord John Pentland (www.lordjohnpentland.com), of the Gurdjieff Foundation.


from David... "I have been thinking about our sessions and work together and was wondering how inbetween the sessions whatever is most helpful about them could continue. So I was wondering, do you practice inbetween? By practice, I don't mean just physical vocal/chant work. Practice means taking time and giving space to some kind of active immersion-- it could include listening to the music, meditating with the music. It could be moments of silent inward listening awareness, where, no matter what is going on on the outside, you are more aware of yourself, taking in impressions of the moment, the others, yourself, from a place of more inner freedom and detachment. Detachment is a tough word for us sometimes. It doesn't mean indifference, not at all. It can be a deeply compassionate gaze on life that just lets everything be, while fully participating. Fully participating not necessarily by only going outward with one's energy and attention, but fully participating just through being present with awareness. It takes no extra energy at all; it just means letting one's attention naturally return more to its source. We don't have to think or wonder what that means or how to do it-- it's a natural process that is initiated the moment we let go even just a little bit of our hold on everything. It's like invisible muscles that are too tight and we can just slowly learn to relax them-- consciousness muscles! There's an immediate release of tensions... the breathing gets right away a little freer... there's immediately more open awareness about what's going on inside and out... I become more of an active listener to whatever life's vibrations of the moment are... often this brings an immediate opening in the feelings-- gratitude for this nourishment of the present moment, like consciousness being nourished, fed... the nourishment is the universe flowing back in... the returning tide of one's very own energetic core... which is always going out, going out, going out... that very fact can serve to remind us that the tide of consciousness can come back, come back, come back, much closer, right back in.

It seems to me when we begin to awaken some to the movement of presence flowing back in, when there is some contact with that, that it's then that "practice" can come in as a kind of support or help. Usually we try and initiate the process, which most often comes just from the mind and doesn't take us very far. It all goes better when rediscover the movement of return to ourselves as already underway. Then we can subtly join in the process... awareneness exercises to just kind of support the process, the movement, that we already feel to an extent.

So it's at this second phase where things like breath awareness can really help.... just silently following the breath... they make an amazing awareness team, awareness and breath awareness. So do listening and listening awareness... sensation and sensation awareness... space and space awareness.... light and light awareness... if little by little the center of gravity can be that of the awareness, like the tide pulling back in, then whatever is seen, heard and felt is not just part of the flowing out, but an expression of the flowing in.

It's to support the possibilities of moments like this that the different "physical" approaches or octaves exist... so for example, humming exercises, humming music, humming harmonic chant, can be a way to 'channel' or 'accompany' the flow of awareness, help it spread and help the body be more open to it.

the quieter we get, the closer we are to the real fusion of open awareness and open space, inside and out.

i hope you find this little morning meditation helpful-- having lost some outer voice capacity for a few days, i am able to remember and share the fact that the real music is that of the awareness, of the consciousness-- our ultimate home.

Much love and great peace to you, friend.

David







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