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The Practice of Presence (Part One)

The practice of presence is no easy task and, spiritually, it is perhaps the most elusive of all practices. Imagine for a moment being fully present to yourself and to your situation. That is, imagine being fully aware of all that passes through and within you and also simultaneously aware of all that impacts you from the surrounding environment - people, places, atmosphere, sensory sensations, integrated with inner thoughts, feelings, memories, and bodily reactions. As we all know, it is difficult to be fully aware of what passes within us and around us and we inevitably use our attention selectively, choosing to focus on certain immediate qualities of experience while also being aware of less central, more marginal activities within the field of our total awareness. Our relationship to the world, to each other, to the local circumstances and to all the inward activity of mind and heart and body is an unceasingly complex process of dynamic interaction in which we each constantly mediate our focus of attention. In this process, we are challenged to expand our field of awareness and to master the art of giving attention to a broad range of perceptions. I am reminded of William James comment that every smallest state of consciousness overflows its own definition. Our mental-emotive states blend, merge, associate, and lead to others states of awareness that cannot be limited to discreet or separate states isolated from one another. The flow of consciousness constantly reflects the pulses of inner life adapting to the surrounding world and to depths of the psyche in feelings, subtle impressions, and to the larger, less well-defined, open field whose boundaries are often transparent, perhaps even non-existent. This activity of the flow of consciousness also blends into subconscious and supraconscious domains where information and insights deepen the flow of possible awareness. We are by no means isolated monads limited by bodily existence and one-directional consciousness as much as we are embodied souls capable of an expansive attunement to subtle energies, information, and dynamic interactions in a vast field of possible relations. The artifice of intellectualism, the tendency to limit thought to discreet ideas, self-defined concepts, and logically distinct ideations that can be held in contrast and separation from one another collapses in the face of the flow and dynamics of actual conscious and subconscious experience. Abstract ideas only reflect the surface of the turbulent sea of lived experience and, while useful for certain tasks, such delineated ideas are not applicable to the deep dynamics of inner life and can limit the flow of presence. Nor is that inner life bound by the externally measured (abstract) distinctions that would limit the structure of space, the flow of time, or the logic of culturally discreet ideas. In the depths of consciousness the margins of time can become multidirectional where past, present, future blend into a dynamic present (e.g. clairvoyance, distant seeing, past-life memories). Space is no longer limited to three dimensions but reflects the probabilities of multiple alternative domains, experienced through such phenomena as out-of-body awareness, soul flight, near death experience, or afterlife encounter with those who have died. Cultural logic conteststhe inner world of blended perceptions and beliefs where normative structures of rationality no longer apply and the synthesis of personal experience in multiple contexts challenges the discreet logic of the fixed and unchanging.

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Furthermore, our thoughts, memories, dreams, and beliefs may enter into creative concurrences that attract or create the possibility of even greater concurrence within both the subconscious and the supraconscious potentials of the sacred human. By subconscious I mean, in this context, subtle impressions that arise in association with perceptual abilities at the margins of consciousness, usually fleeting and spontaneous, but carrying signification, possible symbolic meaningand richer associations when brought more fully into conscious awareness. By supraconscious, I mean a vivid, lucid presentment, a revelatory insight or vision, a leap in consciousness to a profound contact with the vaster stratum of Being and Spirit. I regard such supraconscious awareness as an inseparable inheritance of every being, and the development of the sacred human requires a constant search for the integration of both the subconscious and supraconscious aspects of embodied life. In this search, the conscious being is one whose awareness incorporates impressions from all domains of perception and seeks to integrate those perceptions into a harmonic flow of experience. In this process of discovery and embodiment, awareness blends into ever-more complex fields of information and global possibility, requiring a strong moral center to sustain the energy and information for the good of our respective communities of belief. There is no one path orone truth that is discreet and separate other than those that are self-selected for the purposes of development. In the dynamics of human evolution, in the slow unveiling of inner potential, the ground water that nourishes life bubbles up from multiple springs, originally pure but more recently compromised by the constrictions of radical exclusion or denial of multiple perspectives. Yet the natural processes of our psyches reflect the multivalent nature of constant interaction, and the sacred human inevitably requires a process of selection among a myriad of overlapping and interpenetrating possibilities. To draw on the springs that offer the genuine waters of life requires that we recognize the abundance of its many manifestations and the legitimacy of its multiple interpretations. When we hold a center nourished by that spring, presence is manifested, and each spring gives its own unique qualities to that presence. Presence overflows the boundaries of tradition and rational thinking and offers instead subtle variation, diversity, and mystical depths. Our freedom to act as moral beings, to care about others, to work in harmony for shared reconciliation, mutual understanding and the acceptance of differences is a common task and it is in the realization of this task that the practice of presence finds its most natural setting for manifestation. By presence I mean a depth of Being and Spirit that infuses our total field of awareness and all our states, permeating the subconscious, conscious, and supraconscious aspects of our shared perceptions. This presence, as I understand it, is the primal source of all possible fields or domains of awareness and is not limited to any one field or domain. Yet, such presence is also capable of shades, colors, diverse expressions and manifestations in a context of flow that can heighten or diminish its felt sense of immediacy. Its most fundamental expressive qualities are those that enhance and supplement our lived experience - vibrant, poetic, revelatory - a sense of animation and intensity beyond the everyday. Its ontological qualities, those that express the entirety of creation, are found in the magnitude of the vast, cosmic, multidimensional unitary wholeness that sustains, nurtures, and breathes life into every particle of constructed reality. Its hidden qualities are those that remain entwined with the deepest aspects of our psyche, as mystery, miracle, sudden and unexpected transformation, the continuity that binds life and death into one continuous flow.

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The practice of presence is grounded in our states of awareness, our emotional condition, our embodied well-being and in our human, animal, and ecological relations. There is no context in which the practice of presence is excluded because presence is an initiatic word representing the fullness of creation. And there is no one form or one correct type of presence. Presence is the deepest gift of all that is given; it announces our most intrinsic capacities, those of life, awareness, and creative flow. There is no life and no awareness without presence and yet, such presence can be amplified, enhanced and called forth to become a luminous example of the possible in the context of the sacred human. As the Christ taught, Do not hide your light under a basket or bed, but let it stand forth, giving light to all who see it. The task is to cultivate that light and to bring it into awareness through the entire spectrum of our being. It is neither a specific way of acting nor a particular set of beliefs; it is living presence, an animated, vivid sense of Spirit and Being that fills the shared fields of our mutual concerns and permeates all our interactions.But to permeate our interactions, it must also permeate the full dynamics of the psyche and thus cannot be limited to discreet ideas nor be captured by any precise definition. Such presence is sacred; it sustains our consciousness and nurtures the basis of human relations to all created life; it calls us to expand the field of our attention and to integrate our awareness with the very source of life.

The Practice of Presence (Part Two)

The mystery of the human experience is inseparable from our capacity to recognize the multiple fields of awareness that we inhabit on a day to day basis. The flow of consciousness is the experiential ground of Being and Spirit and as such, this flow is the participatory medium through which our capacity to be a light unto the world is actualized. Presence, in the deep sense, becomes most obvious at the margins, on the boundaries of our developing sensitivities, and it flows most fully into the conscious center when we can hold the openness and receptivity necessary, a deep reverence and gratitude for the enhancement of our life and awareness. As a gift, presence seeks to amplify the most receptive conduit, the most sensitive capacity for expansion that will allow for the sustained embodiment of the subtle, very fine, silken soft layers of psychic media through which wisdom and knowledge are held for assimilation at the integrative center. And beyond this, the supraconscious domain allows for the sudden crystallization of revelatory ideas, insights, and manifestations through which the evolutionary horizon can take embodied forms, condensing the field into explicit types, images, metaphors and layered seeds meant to be grown into actuality through committed world actions. In the practice of presence, conscious intention is not always sufficient.Our conscious wanting, asking, hoping, and praying (or demanding) reflects intentions which often reveal the deeper, sometimes imbalanced needs and desires of the soul. There is a Mystery within Being and Spirit that does not simply follow the conscious intentionsof the individual but often animates the subconscious and collective impulses that underlie conscious desires. In the process of manifestation, presence canbecome an antidote to false longing and artificial desires shaped by unhealthy needs or aspirations. In such cases, the manifestation can lead to an exaggeration, a more radical inflation that results in an assimilation of ego-based needs that serve only a limited good, a more immediate collective desire. This inflation is an enhancement and yet a severe

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contraction of an evolutionary potential that is rendered incapable of deep transparency. Or by contrast, the influx of presence may cause confusion and disorientation, a dismantling of poorly integrated self aspects that results in radical discontinuity, excess, and garbled half-truths built on subjective fantasy and ungrounded imagination. Deep manifestations of presence require healthy mindedness, a coherent and well developed sense of self, and a capacity for self-surpassing transparency. The flowing up of presence requires continual practice and on-going effort; each person is an expression of the sacred human and as such is called to the evolutionary task of healthy, well-integrated, moral and visionary embodiment of inner capacities. What is transparency? It is the capacity for witness: to see, hear, know, and recall what manifests within the domains of conscious being without subjecting those manifestations to self-gratifying needs and the limitations of personal desire. Unlike possession mediumship in which the medium abrogates his or her personal awareness for the speaking through of another entity, transparency requires lucid self-awareness, both as a unique individual and as an embodiment of transpersonal aspects of Being and Spirit. The goal is not to be unconscious mediums of presence, but fully conscious partners in a co-creative relationship that allows and fosters revelation, prophetic insight, artistic and scientific discoveries, and moral and ethical truths. Like the crystals in an old fashionedradio that were attuned to create a more simplified auditory signal, the practice of presence is a matter of clarity and lucid awareness that can direct presence into the seen and heard domains of human experience. This is something far more than being a channel for other entities; it requires that we adapt our entire being, the full spectrum of our awareness within the subconscious, conscious and supraconscious domains, to receive the in-flow and felt reality of Being and Spirit. We can embody this in our most ordinary actions, in heart-felt conversation, in showing empathy and concern for those who suffer, in bringing attention to all the problems of worldly life in search of inspiration to heal the wounds and imbalances of the world. This presence is transpersonal in the sense that it is not a reference to a particular being; it is not an entity, an angel, or any kind of specific type of being (of the many kinds that exist throughout the layered cosmos). It references the entirety of all embedded fields that makeup our collective and cosmic existence, into whatever planes or domains that existence may extend. As discreet individuals, we reflect the cosmos, notas microcosmicimages reflected in a mirror, but as evolutionary beings in the midst of the dynamic process of discovery, change and experimentation. The reflected image, like the reflected heavens, is transformativeand is neither static nor a predetermined form. Imagine your face as a child seen in a mirror, then see your face today, in the mirror, changing, in process;nowsee it on your death bed, still changing. The transpersonal aspect is the lived and felt sense through which this change occurs; it is the dynamic life-presence, the vitality that instills awareness and leads to wisdom. In this is living presence, space cannot be measured, time spirals to infinity, and collective interactions overflow their old boundaries. The transpersonal lifts us to a vaster horizon of seeing and knowing, challenging us to overcome our own limited views. The task of each individual, as I understand it, is to find the way to express and to embody presence most suited to that individual s capacities and existential situation. The practice of this presence requires no special context; every context is the place where presence dwells. Presence calls us to

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manifest the subtle qualities of Being and Spirit in every place we inhabit, in every circumstance and interaction, in home, work, play, casual encounter, and in dedicated times of spiritual practice. Presence is a spiritual practice; it is embodied beingness, a light of soul that shines forth through the flow of conscious experience, illumining every circumstance with depth, joy, laughter, and sober insights. It is not one state but a fluid, adaptive flow, life-giving, deeply alive and yet quiet, subtle and almost invisible in adding its qualities to every receptive circumstance. And it is a moral condition, by which I mean, a condition that seeks the health and well-being of others through positive affirmations of dedicated service and devotion to cooperative world transformations. The effects of presence are cumulative: they contribute to the flow, even when requiring critical reflection. Presence can be challenging, questioning, unwilling to accept easy and superficial reactions, demanding in its impulse toward authenticity and truly meritorious actions. The evolutionary context requires critical thinking, reflection on human limits, awareness of our own weaknesses and fallibility, and a capacity for negotiations with others with whom we may disagree. Presence is not limited by disagreement or differences; indeed, the very existence of difference is an expression of presence. But in the evolutionary or developmental context, what arises is under negotiation because these differences matter in the sense of the commitment people give to such differences. There is a certain quality of passive attention in presence because from Being and Spirit, every spring floods forth from a shared, deeply unitary ground. Therefore, patience, listening, receptivity, and acceptance are inherent to the necessary transparency that seeks reconciliation and balance. Additionally, critical inquiry, respectful disagreement, resistance, and autonomy are also necessary qualities of a mature presence. These qualities arise contextually, in relationship to what others bring, but open to undiscovered possibilities hovering at the margins. While the cultivation of presence may be difficult and challenging in many if not most circumstances, its actual realization is often spontaneous and subtle. Presence is not a particular state it is not a meditative condition (which can function as an escape from interaction), not a passive resistance to wrong, not an emotional sense of loving another. Rather, it is an actualized, participatory awareness, a living transpersonal quality of Being and Spirit that energizes and induces transformation and insight. It cannot be limited to fixed states, explicit definitions, or particular mental or emotive conditions. Its sign is a creative, sustaining outflow into the lived context of the everyday. Some conditions can be noted as preparatory, such as holding a condition of openness to what appears, being lucid in all interactions, being attentive to the entire field, including our subconscious, paranormal, and visionary impulses. Perhaps most central of all is the capacity to sustain a deep respect for others, a loving regard for their well- being, and a creative attitude toward all interactions with others. Compassion is not sufficient for creative transformation; it is a foundational quality but, like all qualities, it must combine with the full range of other capacities and not be held in isolation or captivity to a fixed ideology or belief system. Above all, the practice of presence require self-honesty and constant self-assessment of one own transparency. In concluding this brief reflection, let me return to the variability of our inner states and our conditional relationship with the surrounding world and our host of relationships with others. The transpersonal field is really not a bound space or a definable, necessarily measureable energy. I use

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the term field in this overview as a metaphor for multispatial and multispectral domains of existence which I find irreducible to any fixed quantity. I say this because the very nature of the field (or fields) is a mix of interpenetrated qualities of energy, mater, and consciousness; all inseparable from a profound continuity and wholeness that eludes my comprehension. I can intuit the fullness and have, on several occasions, had the good fortune to experience its mystical depths and vast energies. We, as multispectral beings, that is, as beings capable of perception on many subtle planes of experience, are immersed in a great ocean of Being and Spirit and it is one of the highest of all arts to become a transparent beacon to the ocean in which we dwell. And yet, a mother s love for a child, a genuine handshake, a heartfelt conversation, or a simple smile or kind disagreement can manifest its depth in ways that utterly transcend words and descriptions. May our paths leads us to presence and may our interactions be the key by which the infinite capacities of the heart make a music that is heard around the world. Selah! Lee Irwin Sirr al-Basir Forthcoming, Summer 2011: http://www.sevenpillarshouse.org/