
One must
become aware of certain body sensations of which one is explicitly
not aware. To go around by yourself to become conscious of your
toes, your feet, your legs, your knees, your thighs, your buttocks,
your waist, your stomach, your chest, your shoulders, your fingers
(starting from the tips), your forearms, your elbow, your arms,
your full back, then again your shoulders, your neck, your chin,
your lips, your nose, your cheeks, your ears, your eyes, your
forehead, your head, upper side of your head and backside of your
head. Do not dwell for more than two or three seconds on each
part of your body. REPEAT it again and again for five minutes.
This act of yours brings a sense of relaxedness. BIGGEST ENEMIES:
Nervous tension, living too much in head i.e., to
remain conscious of the thinking and imagination and to remain
conscious far too little of the activities of the senses. It is
a must to remain in the PRESENT and not in past and future.
One must master this technique of sense awareness. One must learn
to get out of the area of thinking and imagination and move into
the area from Head to Heart i.e., feeling, sensing,
loving and intuiting where contemplation takes birth, prayer becomes
transforming power and a source of delight and peace. A few of
you may feel an increase in Tension. Note what part of
your body is tense and see exactly what the tension feels like.
Become aware of the fact you are tensing and note exactly how
you are doing this. Note means not to reflect but to feel and
sense. You pick up no sensation. Why? Your sensibility has been
dead from so much living in head. Our skin is covered
with trillions (3 Powers of a million) of bio-chemical
reactions that we call sensations and you are finding it hard
to pick up even a few of them? You have hardened yourself not
to feel may be due to some emotional hurt or conflict that you
have long since forgotten. And your perception, your awareness,
power of concentration and attention are still gross and underdeveloped.
It is as a means for attaining relaxation and stillness. GET IN
TOUCH WITH SENSATIONS AGAIN AND AGAIN without naming limbs and
organs as you sense. If you notice an urge to move or to shift
your posture or position—do not give into it. Do continue this
exercise for a few minutes. You will gradually feel a certain
stillness in your body. Go on with your AWARENESS exercise and
leave taking care of stillness. If you are distracted, get back
to awareness of body sensations, moving from one to another, until
your body becomes still once again, your mind quietens, you are
able to sense again stillness that brings peace and a foretaste
of contemplation and of God. HOWEVER, DO NOT explicitly rest in
the stillness. Because resting in it can be relaxing and even
delightful. BUT in it there is DANGER of mild trance or mental
blankness which is not good for contemplation. It is like a sort
of self-hypnosis that has nothing to do either with the sharpening
of awareness or with contemplation. IMPORTANT: DO NOT DELIBERATELY
seek stillness or silence within you and not EXPLICITLY REST in
it when it occurs. BUT SEEK SHARPENING OF AWARENESS. In moments,
stillness becomes so powerful that all exercise and all your efforts
become impossible. Then it is no longer you who go in quest of
stillness. But stillness takes possession of you.
THEN you may safely, and profitably, let go of all effort and
surrender to this overpowering stillness within you.