Enter that Flow of Experience

So while we're sitting still, we're not sitting still to be in some static state. We're sitting still in order to enter that flow of experience which is coming and going all the time. And it's extraordinary to be a conscious being. Living in the world is nothing short of a miracle. It's nothing short of a miracle to be turning up and experience this. As all the different philosophers say through various different cultures, there is something rather than nothing. We're here rather than nothing exists. And that's extraordinary. The best way in my life to experience that is to sit still. Quiet the mind. Don't talk. Don't entertain ideas. Just turn up to that extraordinary experience of being alive.

Sesshin Day 1 - Non - Stop Flow, talk by Geoff Dawson, April 24, 2022, Ordinary Mind School of Sydney

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Near the end, he talks about a book that deepened his faith. "Not that I didn't have faith in the first place, it's just that it has deepened." As I listened, I realized that's how I would explain what I have found in Zen Buddhism. My faith has deepened, maybe I could have found it with my interest in contemplative Christianity but I didn't follow through on practicing what the books offered or receive in-person guidance. I feel like I had lots of beginnings from different authors and even some contact with certain people. I can't think of anybody off hand that I would talk to about contemplative Christianity though. A Monday zoom with friends has talked about it a little since one person has gone through learning to be a spiritual advisor. Gerry and John S. moved me along the path.

A book by Iain McGilchrist (mentioned by Geoff) is described in a review: "The left hemisphere is detail oriented, prefers mechanisms to living things & is inclined to self-interest. The right hemisphere has greater breadth, flexibility & generosity. He ( the author) argues that, despite its inferior grasp of reality, the left hemisphere is increasingly taking precedence in the modern world, with potentially disastrous consequences." Geoff concludes "The sense of the sacred in things, the vibrancy and creativity, the free will, and the energy for renewal is all being diminished through this concept. I'm so glad that someone has written a book to challenge all that. Because it's a construct in our mind, consciously or unconsciously, that shapes the way we experience ourselves or understand ourselves. And it's not the only way of doing it. Spiritual traditions - like Zen, Sufism, contemplative Christianity, indigenous religions - are all connected into direct experience of moment to moment life." 

Why science needs to break the spell of reductive materialism by Stuart Kauffman from aeon