Chapter 1: What does honing inner attention mean?
Welcome back. Today we are going to look a little more deeply at inner attention. Inner attention allows us to become even more present to the one who is always present to us, the one through whom we exist, the one in whom we live and move and have our being, divine love. This presence, this experience is at the very foundation of the Christian monastic meditative tradition.
It is both its practice and its goal. And so the more we enter this experience, the more we are opening ourselves to being transformed by love into the image of love. In this moment then, let us begin to practice once more.
Chapter 2: How can we enter sacred time during meditation?
Entering the practice, we begin as usual with our ritual gesture, a reminder to us that this is special time, sacred time, a time of stillness and peace. We make our intention to dwell as deeply as we can in this present moment. And we sit, our feet firm upon the floor, our back resting against the chair, stable, open, breathing gently and deeply.
We are reminded that we practice not to make anything happen, but simply to be present to all as it is. There is nothing magic about practicing. We're not making God show up or making ourselves any different than we were when we began to practice. We are simply choosing to dwell in awareness, to be who we are, truly, fully and completely.
Chapter 3: What is the significance of the present moment in meditation?
When we do this, when we allow the present moment to be fully the place of encounter with divine love, then we grow. Then we become. Then we see change happen. even though we know ourselves that the change takes place simply from surrendering to the moment and to the one from whom the moment arises.
Moving into the awareness of our breath now, let us encounter the breath as the sacred thing that it truly is. The life that moves within us. The life that connects us to the world at large. The life that began with our very first in-breath. The life that will carry us forward into the next phase of life when we breathe out finally at the end of our earthly time.
For now, though, we have this moment and this breath.
Chapter 4: How do we notice sensations and thoughts without attachment?
Breathing in, we know we are breathing in. Breathing out, we know we are breathing out. And so as we rest in the breath, we draw our attention inwards, simply noticing noticing any bodily sensation, noticing any thought that crosses our mind, noticing any emotional response. We notice, but we do not grasp. We do not hold on. We do not follow the thought or the emotion or even the sensation.
We simply notice with gentle curiosity. We receive openheartedly. And we let it pass and move on. We remain anchored in the breath, anchored in the present moment. Whatever thought arises, whatever emotion moves, whatever physical sensation presses in, we greet, we receive with a smile, we receive without judgment, and we let go. Breathing in, breathing out.
with the moment, in the moment, of the moment, our practice stabilizing us to receive everything else like weather that blows up changes, shifts, moves, disappears.
Chapter 5: What practices help us stabilize our awareness amid change?
Every sensation, every thought, every feeling comes and goes. In the practice, the only things that remain ourselves, our breath, and the moment arising from divine love that holds us in being. And so we can say, breathing in, I know that I am breathing in. Breathing out, I know that I am breathing out. Breathing in I choose to notice all that arises within me.
Breathing out I choose to let it go. Breathing in I notice sensations, thoughts and emotions. Breathing out I see them, I greet them, and I let them pass by. All the while simply breathing. All the while simply trusting. All the while simply resting. And so gently, for a few moments of stillness and silence, simply follow that practice. Whatever arises, notice, aim, and let go.
. . .
always returning to the breath, always anchoring in the present moment through the breath. If any sensation, thought, or emotion appears to draw our attention away, we notice, we smile, and we return.
Chapter 6: How can we integrate meditation into our daily lives?
Returning without judgment, returning without censure, simply beginning again with each breath. Beginning again with each succeeding, arising moment. Breathing in and breathing out. Breathing in and breathing out. Gently then beginning to draw our focus back. Allowing our awareness of thoughts, sensations and emotions to fade as we really concentrate on the breath.
Feeling every gentle movement associated with the breath. Feeling the coolness of the breath as it enters, the warmth of the breath as it leaves. Trusting that through the breath we become aware and attentive to the moment at hand. And in the moment at hand, we encounter the presence of the one who is love. And holding that as an intention to take with us into the rest of the day,
We bring our focus to our feet upon the ground, our back against the chair, beginning to move and stretch a little. We allow the bell to draw us back to the rest of the day.