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This practice is designed to help you dissolve your usual sense of "knowing"
about the world you live in and who you are. It can help you to open up to
new ways of thinking and perceiving, and assist you in creating the future
you want to work towards fulfilling.
You will most likely want to read through all of the instructions
at least once before actually doing this practice.
I developed this practice from the Zen teaching of Seung Sahn.
You might find this practice to be somewhat the opposite of
exercises that you have tried in the past. Please be open
to experimenting and discovering. This practice is designed
to help us dissolve our usual sense of "knowing" in order
to help us open up to the possibilities of learning something
new.
Now make some of the following statements (once again, out
loud if suitable), feeling free to improvise with whatever
YOU are drawn to feel and say:
"I don't know if I am successful or not."
Take a deep breath.
"I don't know if I am good looking or not."
Take a deep breath.
"I don't know exactly where my life is leading me."
Take a deep breath.
"I don't know who I really am."
Take a deep breath.
"I don't know many things that I would like to know."
Take a deep breath.
"I don't know what I don't know.
Take a deep breath.
"I don't know what I do know."
Take a deep breath.
As you feel into the sensations of your breathing as well
as all of the sensations in your body, know that "not
knowing" and "not fully understanding" is an
essential part of the human condition.
Take a few deep breaths and sit calmly for a minute or two,
as you feel deeply into your true human self...... .
Really do take this time.
The idea being, to become comfortable with "not knowing"
while appreciating yourself fully, and accepting that there
is so much that you do not know.
When you are ready, make some notes about what "not knowing"
is teaching you.
During the course of the next two weeks repeat this practice
numerous times. You might particularly want to do this practice
when you are feeling upset, confused, or despondent. It is
likely that you will find this exercise to be quite liberating.
Give yourself some time to think about how you can find a
sense of calmness amidst all of the ongoing changes in life
that you do not fully understand. Rather than attempting to
rush into an action or an answer, take a moment to breathe
into a sense of feeling yourself fully in the moment.
If for some reason this practice proves a bit more difficult
than you were planning on, you can try again later. Sometimes
when we are in the process of learning something new, we find
that what we have learned in the past impedes us from learning
something new in the moment.
Practices
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