MQ:
Yes. So if the nature of
enlightenment can be defined as the intersection of
the psyche and consciousness at the edge of pure
creativity, we now need to take a look at…
P: Enlightenment?
MQ: No, that’s for you to co-create
as the process of life, by means of the
relationship you have to the experience you are
already having.
P: So we will speak of consciousness?
MQ: Yes. Earlier in the book, we spoke of consciousness as the
simple awareness of being or the capacity to be aware.
Now, we will discover what happens when consciousness
focuses on consciousness.
P: God looking in a mirror…
MQ: Sees?
P: Only the mirror?
evolutionary
pointer: God is a narcissist of cosmic proportions. God looks in a mirror
and from the depth of eternal emptiness and infinite
potential appears your
reflection.
P: God is the reflection of ‘my’ infinite potential… I am
the depth of eternal emptiness and infinite potential?
Please continue.
MQ: Okay. There is a popular travel book called, 1,000 Places to
See Before You Die2. It no doubt
offers a fascinating list of exotic locations that are
worthy of experience. Yet, inside of you, an
incalculable majesty awaits your attention without
taking a single step or without circling the globe.
You might title this humble volume: One Place to
See Before I Die.
The rediscovery of this essential aspect of yourself
does not require that you have months of
vacation time or even a large travel budget. Its
recollection requires only stillness.
P: Stillness reveals my infinite potential?
MQ: Yes. The Third Insight is the key by which you may recall your
origin of authentic joy, your source of already
completeness, the state in which you have always been
free. The Third Insight frees you from the stream of
time, for a timeless moment, from all of your
cherished opinions and the tribulations of this dual
dimension.
P: The dual dimension is all the ways I know myself, but as that
which I consider separate. For instance: Me and the
world, my relationships,
my things, my memories, my plans for the future, the
separate sense-of-self, the Ego, the ego, the shadow
and more.
MQ: Yes and even your enlightenment. The Third Insight describes a straightforward practice that allows you to
take a stance of stillness in relationship to
the endless demands of this dual dimension.
evolutionary
pointer: The Third Insight reveals not so much all you can be,
but that your inherent radiance is, in fact, your
true quintessence. With
the Third Insight, you recall that
which is only the essential You,
whole and complete just as you are.
MQ: Remember that Krishnamurti
said, “In the gap between subject and object lies the entire misery of
humankind”. The
Third Insight is your key to melding this separation,
uniting subject and object, activity and stillness,
doing and being, the witness and consciousness as One,
first in meditation, and eventually in all aspects of
your perspective. The practice of stillness meditation
outlined in the Third Insight points to the rightness of being you have so long intuited yet long missed. Once
seen as your natural
state, meditation ultimately emerges as your
every waking moment.
evolutionary pointer: Presence takes
practice.
P: I have noticed though that it is impossible to
control the movement of my mind.
MQ: And there is no need to try.
Start your practice of stillness
meditation by controlling the only thing you can -
your body. In martial arts, the word ‘stance’ is
used to describe a position of readiness for engagement. When in a stance, the practitioner is
impeccably balanced and poised to respond, if
required. No response is necessary when the opponent
is only being observed. In meditation, you learn to
sit completely still and be only the observer. This
becomes your stance
of stillness in relation to the constant movement
of the mind. The mind does as it pleases, but as long
as you do not move your body you remain in a position
of pure objectivity. This is your silent statement of
victory over the demands of the conditioned mind to
always be moving.
evolutionary
pointer: In the practice of stillness
meditation there is to be no movement of the
body whatsoever. A position of
motionlessness leads to the
significant quieting of the mind.
MQ: The natural state of meditation first emerges
when the conditions are created for that. The
awareness of the body eases and recedes. Emotions
slowly fall away. Thoughts become quieter and quieter.
Persisting in physical stillness enables a great sense
of wellbeing and joy to pervade your being. There is
no activity now except silence, stillness and
observation, more silence and stillness, deeper and
deeper observation, and a delicate observation of
effortless breathing - slowly and gently. Who is breathing is the timeless beauty in which no event has
occurred or any damage has been done.
evolutionary
pointer: You are breathing itself, there is no subject who is breathing,
only breathing.
MQ: Eventually, even the tacit awareness of inhalation
and exhalation slips away, without ever noticing. Now
you are neither the observer nor the observed, for
your awareness is merged with that which is observed.
Consciousness awakens to itself in you as you. God is
looking in the mirror. The immutable state of meditation unfolds and now becomes wholly apparent as none other
than your Self.
evolutionary
pointer: The state of meditation is
apparent with great ease, as undeniably obvious
perfection. You don’t have to look ‘here’ or
‘there’ for it. You don’t have to seek it in
the ‘now’ or in some other ‘moment’. You
cannot miss it!
P: And where am ‘I’ during all this?
MQ: Your body is sitting right
here on your cushions. Your attention is present and
complete, beautiful and deep. You, your attention and
the vastness of consciousness are one. Just like when
you are fast asleep, safely tucked away in your bed,
and the sounds of chirping birds eventually filter
through to your attention, are you
there in that noticing?
P: Yes.
MQ: So when you ask, “Who’s
paying attention?” the only answer
can be, I am.
©Excerpt based on the book: The Uncommon
Path, O-Books, June 2009.
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© 2008
Mick Quinn, All Rights Reserved
Mick
Quinn is the author of The
Uncommon Path and Poder Y Gracia
and the founder of Choice
for Enlightened Living Foundation. Mick's work
is quoted in The LA Times, Yahoo!, CNN
Living, and Woman's World. Gary
Renard, the best-selling (Hay
House) author said this book is "informative
and gripping". Raquel
Torrent
– Psychologist
and founder of the Spanish Integral Association
said, “Mick Quinn’s style is clear and direct -
like silence making music”. Mick lives in Utah
with wife Debora. For upcoming events visit: www.mickquinn.com
(2)
By Patricia Schultz. Workman
Publishing Company, 2003.
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