This week, Rumi’s words inspired me to explore without planning what I might find. Gloria Fuertes and Rumi pointed toward different points of awareness than just our conscious mind: the body’s “endless eye” and the “other eye” that we tune into when we “close both eyes.” Fuertes reminds us that seeing with the body’s eye is not a lighthearted path, but is often one of deep suffering, pain, and adversity.

What is meditation for, for me? What am I looking for? Why meditate, if I’m not necessarily going to “get” relaxation, peace, or ease? This week (ha), my answers are:

• Because I want to know my whole self, all the “eyes” in me.
• Because I want to become more aware. Because my life’s journey is about that unraveling of the false eyes, the fears, into more and more awareness, even if that opens me up to more to work through.

Practice

For a long time, I haven’t been able to sit still. And for a long time, as I became more aware of my body, it was not pleasant, and it is a growing awareness that has taken years of ongoing practice.*

So this week’s practice doesn’t ask us to sit still, to take on new insights into awareness all at once. This weekend, as you’re going about your activities — whether visiting friends or family, going out to dinner, sweeping the floor, or working — become aware. Set the intention now, and then let it go as you go about your normal activities.

Then sometime throughout your tasks this weekend, notice if you’re aware of more than just the events in front of you. Follow it, stay with it just for a moment. Is it the “body’s endless eye” or “the other eye”? Where are those located for you? In your body, in the back of your head, outside of yourself? Practice moving your awareness from that other eye back to the activity or people in front of you, then back to the other eye. Explore, feel around for different points of awareness within you and outside of you. Can you hold more than one awareness at the same time — the things happening in front of you and your body’s endless eye, or oneness, or your internal awareness? The practice of moving back and forth between — or even maintaining concurrently–different awarenesses is, I’ve realized, one of my own main reasons for embarking on meditative practice. I hope you find this a useful exercise.

As always, please comment below if you’d like to share your practice or any realizations or inspirations this week!

*Note: If you have experienced trauma (defined as anything that has lodged itself in your psyche and body, whether or not considered a “traumatic” event), going into your body and becoming more aware of it can be really intense and even frightening or triggering. If you suspect this might be your situation, you might consider seeking support and guidance in these explorations, whether your guide be a counselor, psychologist, or therapist.