This month I’ve been working with, “Meditation in the Silence,” by E.V. Ingraham. Below is an excerpt from the book regarding communing with our Source through the practice of sitting in silence. I’ve also included a lesson and mindfulness practice that complements Ingraham’s.
The Practice of the Silence
1. Be comfortably seated so that your mind will be as free as possible from any thought of the body.
2. Remember that this period of silence is a period of prayer, a period of conscious communion with your Source.
3. Be interested in discovering the nature of Source and what Source wishes to reveal to you.
4. Become very still, and listen with your whole being to catch whatever degree of Presence may be revealed to you.
5. Acknowledge that The Presence is in you and that Its infinite wisdom is unfolding in you, Its Life is expressing in you, and Its inexhaustible substance is being formed in you continually.
6. Do not make the period of silence too long in the beginning—perhaps only two or three minutes. Let it be only as long as your interest seems to hold you.
7. Only by practice does one become a musician, and it is by practice that you develop the new consciousness of spiritual things…so don’t be discouraged if your experiences are not as you anticipate them to be.
8. On closing your time of silence, assume an attitude of thanksgiving.
From, “Meditation in the Silence,” (by E.V. Ingraham, pp. 42-43)
Lesson and Practice: Practicing Attention and Appreciation.
To know God (Source, Universe, Soul, Self, etc…), you must first be interested in knowing God, you must give your attention to It. This week practice knowing God in all things, in all places, and in all peoples everywhere through the giving of your attention.
Try This: Find a few minutes each day this week, (either at home or at the office), sit still, and pay attention to what is going on around you. Pay attention to your environment with your entire body. Listen to the sounds in the room with your ears, smell the smells around and about you, feel the chair beneath you, feel the temperature of the air against your skin, feel your feet in your shoes, feel the breath as it glides in and out through your nose. If you have more time, widen your attention and become aware of the floor beneath you. Deepen your attention even more and become aware of the earth beneath the floor. Did you realize that the earth is supporting you in your practice in this moment? She is holding you, nurturing you, and supporting you, not only in this moment but in all moments. Direct your attention to the earth, and just breathe.
Paying deep attention is a form of gratitude and appreciation. It is not enough to just think, “I am grateful,” when it is so easy to be in a state of gratitude through the vehicle of paying close attention. This is how we approach the Infinite. This is God.
“I am you. My interest is your interest; your interest is mine, since the one life animates our being, the one Soul, the one Spirit of God. Anything we do for each other, we do because of the principle that binds us together,” (Practicing the Presence, by Joel Goldsmith, pg. 79)
Photo Credit: Kristopher Roller