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Contemplation As we further absorb ourselves in the words, we begin to notice the resonances they evoke in the body and images they evoke in the mind. We ruminate, chewing and digesting each word. All contributions of emotional resonance spoken to the group are related specifically to the text.
By now, we have ingested the words themselves, and deeply explored their meanings. As we continue to read and re-read the text, our contemplation naturally extends to include emotions evoked by the text. We notice the resonances and images that the words stir up in the body. This is where the cognitive meets the affective. These meanings naturally evoke reactions, sometimes pleasant, sometimes unpleasant.
We remain present to all of it as our practice deepens.
Attention to arising experience ripens. As we take in sense stimuli—words and the images and thoughts they evoke—emotions arise and the body reacts. We can rest awareness on these immediately present reactions to the text. As we read and re-read these words, what sensations arise in the body? Exactly where in the body do we notice sensations? What is our emotional state? Joyful? Scared? Resistant? Eager? What is our mental state? Is there spaciousness—what does it feel like? Is there constriction, aversion, or confusion? We notice how these states change, and how the responses shared by others affect them. When a feeling has the power to be shared, we speak it to the group, always with direct and clear reference to the text.
These teachings arouse sensations and mind states because deeper layers of the unconscious are being touched. We do not know what is going to emerge and we attend to these sensations as messengers of intuitive understanding. This phase of the practice shares much with how one approaches and is touched by poetry. Images and feelings seep into the moment. The text evokes subtle cross-currents that reference things about us that we are not usually attuned to. Mindfulness and calm become more subtle.
As we abide with arising feelings, we are likely to be pulled away from the thoughts necessary to describe them, and drawn into the personal stories aroused by the practice. Rather than share these personal stories, we simply note what the tug towards story feels like. We let go and return to the text and our felt response to it. In this phase, the predominant focus is on the physical and emotional experience, still in response to the words of the Buddha rather than to each other’s contributions. Soon, we will release our focus on the text. For now, our challenge is to deepen our relationship to these words as we experience their subtle impact upon us.
The attitude here is rumination. As in the Christian practice of divine reading, or Lectio Divina, we allow the words to come alive within us. This is a time to hear “with the ear of our hearts.” We remain stable and aware as memories, feelings, and thoughts unfold. We allow ourselves to be drawn into the present moment of experience as the words speak to us. We experience this felt wisdom and speak it out, along with reference to the words that catalyzed it.
Sample of Practice:
participant two: I notice resistance to the word ‘prerequisite.’ It feels very dry and academic.
participant three: Where do you notice that?
participant two: Physically I can feel it in the front of my head. There is a tightness and a heaviness there.
participant four: As I read abundance, I feel a fullness in my heart and shoulders. It makes me smile.
participant one: The image of the tree and all its parts plays in my mind, as I see parts like branches and leaves, then the whole tree, then twigs.
participant three: The word prerequisite first made me feel tight, bound up. But as I sit with it, I feel the flow and strength in it.
participant four: I’m noticing a resistance to the word ‘conscience.’ I just noticed that each time I come to it, I gloss over reading it. As I look deeper I can feel the resonance of that word from my childhood. There is the image of a former friend that arises and it’s painful to look at. It’s hard to let go of.
participant one: I have a similar reaction to “conscience.” But here, it’s joined with “concern.” To me, that makes the phrase take on a gentleness. It's grandfatherly. |