lrwln 1

1he ract|ce of resence (art Cne)

1he pracLlce of presence ls no easy Lask and splrlLually lL ls perhaps Lhe mosL eluslve of all
pracLlces lmaglne for a momenL belng fully presenL Lo yourself and Lo your slLuaLlon 1haL ls
lmaglne belng fully aware of all LhaL passes Lhrough and wlLhln you and also slmulLaneously aware
of all LhaL lmpacLs you from Lhe surroundlng envlronmenL people places aLmosphere sensory
sensaLlons lnLegraLed wlLh lnner LhoughLs feellngs memorles and bodlly reacLlons As we all
know lL ls dlfflculL Lo be fully aware of whaL passes wlLhln us and around us and we lnevlLably use
our aLLenLlon selecLlvely chooslng Lo focus on cerLaln lmmedlaLe quallLles of experlence whlle also
belng aware of less cenLral more marglnal acLlvlLles wlLhln Lhe fleld of our LoLal awareness Cur
relaLlonshlp Lo Lhe world Lo each oLher Lo Lhe local clrcumsLances and Lo all Lhe lnward acLlvlLy of
mlnd and hearL and body ls an unceaslngly complex process of dynamlc lnLeracLlon ln whlch we
each consLanLly medlaLe our focus of aLLenLlon ln Lhls process we are challenged Lo expand our
fleld of awareness and Lo masLer Lhe arL of glvlng aLLenLlon Lo a broad range of percepLlons

l am remlnded of Wllllam !ames' commenL LhaL every smallesL sLaLe of consclousness overflows lLs
own deflnlLlon" Cur menLalemoLlve sLaLes blend merge assoclaLe and lead Lo oLhers sLaLes of
awareness LhaL cannoL be llmlLed Lo dlscreeL or separaLe sLaLes lsolaLed from one anoLher 1he
flow of consclousness consLanLly reflecLs Lhe pulses of lnner llfe adapLlng Lo Lhe surroundlng world
and Lo depLhs of Lhe psyche ln feellngs subLle lmpresslons and Lo Lhe larger less welldeflned
open fleld whose boundarles are ofLen LransparenL perhaps even nonexlsLenL 1hls acLlvlLy of Lhe
flow of consclousness also blends lnLo subconsclous and supraconsclous domalns where
lnformaLlon and lnslghLs deepen Lhe flow of posslble awareness We are by no means lsolaLed
monads llmlLed by bodlly exlsLence and onedlrecLlonal consclousness as much as we are
embodled souls capable of an expanslve aLLunemenL Lo subLle energles lnformaLlon and dynamlc
lnLeracLlons ln a vasL fleld of posslble relaLlons

1he arLlflce of lnLellecLuallsm Lhe Lendency Lo llmlL LhoughL Lo dlscreeL ldeas selfdeflned
concepLs and loglcally dlsLlncL ldeaLlons LhaL can be held ln conLrasL and separaLlon from one
anoLher collapses ln Lhe face of Lhe flow and dynamlcs of acLual consclous and subconsclous
experlence AbsLracL ldeas only reflecL Lhe surface of Lhe LurbulenL sea of llved experlence and
whlle useful for cerLaln Lasks such dellneaLed ldeas are noL appllcable Lo Lhe deep dynamlcs of
lnner llfe and can llmlL Lhe flow of presence nor ls LhaL lnner llfe bound by Lhe exLernally measured
(absLracL) dlsLlncLlons LhaL would llmlL Lhe sLrucLure of space Lhe flow of Llme or Lhe loglc of
culLurally dlscreeL ldeas ln Lhe depLhs of consclousness Lhe marglns of Llme can become mulLl
dlrecLlonal where pasL presenL fuLure blend lnLo a dynamlc presenL (eg clalrvoyance dlsLanL
seelng pasLllfe memorles) Space ls no longer llmlLed Lo Lhree dlmenslons buL reflecLs Lhe
probablllLles of mulLlple alLernaLlve domalns experlenced Lhrough such phenomena as ouLofbody
awareness soul fllghL near deaLh experlence or afLerllfe encounLer wlLh Lhose who have dled
CulLural loglc conLesLs Lhe lnner world of blended percepLlons and bellefs where normaLlve
sLrucLures of raLlonallLy no longer apply and Lhe synLhesls of personal experlence ln mulLlple
conLexLs challenges Lhe dlscreeL loglc of Lhe flxed and unchanglng

lrwln 2

lurLhermore our LhoughLs memorles dreams and bellefs may enLer lnLo creaLlve concurrences
LhaL aLLracL or creaLe Lhe posslblllLy of even greaLer concurrence wlLhln boLh Lhe subconsclous and
Lhe supraconsclous poLenLlals of Lhe sacred human 8y subconsclous l mean ln Lhls conLexL subLle
lmpresslons LhaL arlse ln assoclaLlon wlLh percepLual ablllLles aL Lhe marglns of consclousness
usually fleeLlng and sponLaneous buL carrylng slgnlflcaLlon posslble symbollc meanlng and rlcher
assoclaLlons when broughL more fully lnLo consclous awareness 8y supraconsclous l mean a vlvld
lucld presenLmenL a revelaLory lnslghL or vlslon a leap ln consclousness Lo a profound conLacL wlLh
Lhe vasLer sLraLum of 8elng and SplrlL l regard such supraconsclous awareness as an lnseparable
lnherlLance of every belng and Lhe developmenL of Lhe sacred human requlres a consLanL search
for Lhe lnLegraLlon of boLh Lhe subconsclous and supraconsclous aspecLs of embodled llfe ln Lhls
search Lhe consclous belng ls one whose awareness lncorporaLes lmpresslons from all domalns of
percepLlon and seeks Lo lnLegraLe Lhose percepLlons lnLo a harmonlc flow of experlence

ln Lhls process of dlscovery and embodlmenL awareness blends lnLo evermore complex flelds of
lnformaLlon and global posslblllLy requlrlng a sLrong moral cenLer Lo susLaln Lhe energy and
lnformaLlon for Lhe good of our respecLlve communlLles of bellef 1here ls no one paLh or one LruLh
LhaL ls dlscreeL and separaLe oLher Lhan Lhose LhaL are selfselecLed for Lhe purposes of
developmenL ln Lhe dynamlcs of human evoluLlon ln Lhe slow unvelllng of lnner poLenLlal Lhe
ground waLer LhaL nourlshes llfe bubbles up from mulLlple sprlngs orlglnally pure buL more
recenLly compromlsed by Lhe consLrlcLlons of radlcal excluslon or denlal of mulLlple perspecLlves
?eL Lhe naLural processes of our psyches reflecL Lhe mulLlvalenL naLure of consLanL lnLeracLlon and
Lhe sacred human" lnevlLably requlres a process of selecLlon among a myrlad of overlapplng and
lnLerpeneLraLlng posslblllLles 1o draw on Lhe sprlngs LhaL offer Lhe genulne waLers of llfe"
requlres LhaL we recognlze Lhe abundance of lLs many manlfesLaLlons and Lhe leglLlmacy of lLs
mulLlple lnLerpreLaLlons When we hold a cenLer nourlshed by LhaL sprlng presence ls manlfesLed
and each sprlng glves lLs own unlque quallLles Lo LhaL presence resence overflows Lhe boundarles
of LradlLlon and raLlonal Lhlnklng and offers lnsLead subLle varlaLlon dlverslLy and mysLlcal depLhs

Cur freedom Lo acL as moral belngs Lo care abouL oLhers Lo work ln harmony for shared
reconclllaLlon muLual undersLandlng and Lhe accepLance of dlfferences ls a common Lask and lL ls
ln Lhe reallzaLlon of Lhls Lask LhaL Lhe pracLlce of presence flnds lLs mosL naLural seLLlng for
manlfesLaLlon 8y presence l mean a depLh of 8elng and SplrlL LhaL lnfuses our LoLal fleld of
awareness and all our sLaLes permeaLlng Lhe subconsclous consclous and supraconsclous aspecLs
of our shared percepLlons 1hls presence as l undersLand lL ls Lhe prlmal source of all posslble
flelds or domalns of awareness and ls noL llmlLed Lo any one fleld or domaln ?eL such presence ls
also capable of shades colors dlverse expresslons and manlfesLaLlons ln a conLexL of flow LhaL can
helghLen or dlmlnlsh lLs felL sense of lmmedlacy lLs mosL fundamenLal expresslve quallLles are
Lhose LhaL enhance and supplemenL our llved experlence vlbranL poeLlc revelaLory a sense of
anlmaLlon and lnLenslLy beyond Lhe everyday lLs onLologlcal quallLles Lhose LhaL express Lhe
enLlreLy of creaLlon are found ln Lhe magnlLude of Lhe vasL cosmlc mulLldlmenslonal unlLary
wholeness LhaL susLalns nurLures and breaLhes llfe lnLo every parLlcle of consLrucLed reallLy lLs
hldden quallLles are Lhose LhaL remaln enLwlned wlLh Lhe deepesL aspecLs of our psyche as
mysLery mlracle sudden and unexpecLed LransformaLlon Lhe conLlnulLy LhaL blnds llfe and deaLh
lnLo one conLlnuous flow
lrwln 3


1he pracLlce of presence ls grounded ln our sLaLes of awareness our emoLlonal condlLlon our
embodled wellbelng and ln our human anlmal and ecologlcal relaLlons 1here ls no conLexL ln
whlch Lhe pracLlce of presence ls excluded because presence" ls an lnlLlaLlc word represenLlng Lhe
fullness of creaLlon And Lhere ls no one form or one correcL Lype of presence resence ls Lhe
deepesL glfL of all LhaL ls glven lL announces our mosL lnLrlnslc capaclLles Lhose of llfe awareness
and creaLlve flow 1here ls no llfe and no awareness wlLhouL presence and yeL such presence can
be ampllfled enhanced and called forLh Lo become a lumlnous example of Lhe posslble ln Lhe
conLexL of Lhe sacred human As Lhe ChrlsL LaughL uo noL hlde your llghL under a baskeL or bed
buL leL lL sLand forLh glvlng llghL Lo all who see lL" 1he Lask ls Lo culLlvaLe LhaL llghL and Lo brlng lL
lnLo awareness Lhrough Lhe enLlre specLrum of our belng lL ls nelLher a speclflc way of acLlng nor a
parLlcular seL of bellefs lL ls llvlng" presence an anlmaLed vlvld sense of SplrlL and 8elng LhaL fllls
Lhe shared flelds of our muLual concerns and permeaLes all our lnLeracLlons 8uL Lo permeaLe our
lnLeracLlons lL musL also permeaLe Lhe full dynamlcs of Lhe psyche and Lhus cannoL be llmlLed Lo
dlscreeL ldeas nor be capLured by any preclse deflnlLlon Such presence ls sacred lL susLalns our
consclousness and nurLures Lhe basls of human relaLlons Lo all creaLed llfe lL calls us Lo expand Lhe
fleld of our aLLenLlon and Lo lnLegraLe our awareness wlLh Lhe very source of llfe