After we’ve begun to climb past the tangle of egoic living, we begin to uncover a clearing beyond anything the mind can grasp. It’s as if we’ve literally climbed past the tree line and into an open space on the other side of everything that used to trap us. In spiritual terms, we are approaching the summit of the Mountain of Spirit.
At this altitude we find that we can objectively experience our felt sense of separation. We are offered an entirely new perspective on life—one that is sourced consciously from total unity. This new perspective is whole, undivided, and intimate with exactly what is happening right now. Participating from this new perspective inspires us to live in ways that are revealed continuously as conscious expressions of engaged wisdom and compassion. Taking in the view from this lofty point changes us forever if we have the courage to let its revelation into all facets of our being.
From the summit, we can see that the ego and all of its activities are oriented in two centers of experience: the mind and the body. All of our pain and all of our pleasure stems from the ego’s attachment to these two areas. As the ego attaches to thoughts in the mind and feelings in the body, suffering is born. But through a deepening intimacy with mind and body, we are offered a way out of the limited perspectives of our thoughts and feelings.
The Path leading us towards higher and more expansive levels of awareness shows up when we develop an ability to observe our experience exactly as it is the very moment it unfolds in our minds and bodies. Once we can practice this consistently, we can begin to orient our daily lives from a perspective that simply and silently watches, without judgment, our mental and physical activity, all of which shows itself as performances on the Stage of Mind. From this open orientation, we simply rest as the audience of our thoughts and feelings as they play themselves out on the stage without trying to alter or change anything about them. Instead we consciously surrender to the present moment, without giving in to circumstances. This surrendered meeting of our circumstances gives us a chance to bring our deepest presence into whatever challenges we might face. Once we trust in this conscious participation, we give permission for our psychological and spiritual centers of gravity to shift from the contraction of the small self into a liberated realm of boundless Big Self; from occupation, to presence; from ego, in other words, to the Infinite. Wisdom and compassion are continually born and reborn here in ways that allow for us to touch lives with complete generosity.
But we need to practice being still in order for this mystery to unfold. Becoming a conscious participant in this kind of awareness comes from discipline and wholeheartedness. As we purposefully expose ourselves to a stillness of mind and body, over and over again, we spontaneously notice that the conventional circumstances of the small self lead us directly to the Ultimate Living of the Big Self. Stillness not only helps us let go, it is the letting go of everything. It allows us to bring the perspective of the summit back into our daily lives. Stillness helps us face our dilemmas and successes with fearless integrity and allows our intentions to be filled with the profoundly rich grace of Spirit. As this grace and ease of Spirit informs our experience, we realize that our stillness is not something we practice only for ourselves, but for the benefit of all things, for all time.
