In our fast-paced, technology-driven world, finding moments of genuine peace and clarity can feel like an elusive dream. Yet, within us lies a powerful capacity for inner exploration and transformation: contemplation. Contemplation is not merely a passive act but a dynamic and profound practice that holds the key to unlocking our highest potential.
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00:00Within each and every one of us lies a powerful capacity for inner exploration
00:10and transformation and that's contemplation. Contemplation is not
00:16merely a passive act but a dynamic and profound practice. It's a verb that holds
00:24the key to unlocking our highest potential. To understand contemplation you
00:32really have to dive a little deeper into the magical and the mystical as well as
00:37the simple and everyday splendor that we have that if we're honest we don't take
00:45much account of. So noticing is the gift we seek here. How do you explain to
00:53someone anything about the art of thinking about thinking which might be far
01:02higher than any other intelligence that we have. We know from history that IQ
01:07doesn't get us that far. This contemplative practice that I'm talking about is really
01:14a dance with the physical, the psychological and the spiritual and has a
01:18tendency to help people heal. It deeply heals and transforms people. So many
01:25actually equate it to prayer or style of meditation really. However it is a meta
01:32cognitive capability of seeing reality as it is without the distortions of the
01:40defensive mind of the frightened personality. You know it goes beyond the mind that is
01:47just geared for making judgments for its own survival. That's not who we really are.
01:54The frightened personality inside us all lies to us and one day we eventually need
02:00the truth to set us free. Contemplation allows us to cut those cognitive
02:07distortions away and creatively respond like a mystic or a seeker to reality or
02:14truth if you want to call it that rather than perceptions. Perceptions are
02:19different for each of us and they change all the time. Reality never changes. So this
02:27contemplation is a journey beyond anything you can think. Contemplation is not
02:34something far off. It's accessible in everyday life for all of us. It's just
02:39about simply being fully present in body heart and mind even while engaged in
02:45mundane activities like washing the dishes or enjoying a walk in the park. Any of
02:51these can be a contemplative practice as long as you're there. There's no use
02:57being on a path in a park where your mind is elsewhere. So this deeper presence
03:05allows us to creatively respond to the present moment and work towards a desired
03:11future. We must understand we create our own futures so it does us good for our
03:18cognitive health, our mental health, to actually look at how we're creating our
03:24future. To get out of the habit of being ourselves and constantly create something new
03:33because if we're not creating, we're suffering. Nothing, especially us as human beings, divine
03:41in nature, cannot stagnate, stay in prison or be stuck. We must grow and explore and create or stay still
03:54and suffer addicted to the prison of personality. One of my favorite lines comes from Teresa of Avila who said,
04:05even a sardine can convert you. So if you really understand the mystery, the magnificence
04:12and the wonder of a sardine, something that you've probably not even looked at or thought
04:18of, certainly not contemplated for years, can actually awaken you. If studied deep
04:25enough to the reality and the truth of being, of the universe, the entire cosmos in an instant.
04:32You get to understand it if you can understand a sardine. You see, the answers must be available
04:40to every seeker on the planet. The best of life is not reserved for certain people. It must be available
04:50to everybody. Everyone is invited to heal, transform, renew their lives, and one day look
04:59out with the eyes behind their eyes. Contemplative practices are radical. They are transformative,
05:10developing capacities for deep concentration and quietening in the mind in the midst of the action
05:17and the distraction that fills everyday life today. Imagine doing this contemplative practice of the sardine
05:27with a sacred text, for example. A book, quotes, a personal counter where you've immersed yourself in nature
05:37or even more profoundly, you've had a spiritual awakening experience, for example. The burning bush is still burning.
05:45The ancient texts are still offering us this magic, awe and wonder.
05:59If we look at Paul's road to Damascus experience, he didn't know before he fell off his horse. I don't think he was on a horse, mind you, but that's how he's depicted in art.
06:09He came off his horse. He came off his horse. He had an experience with the living Christ. And there was an absolute shift in consciousness, an out-of-body type experience, I'm sure.
06:23The mind that the mind that he had before was conformed. And after the experience, it was transformed. He thought differently, saw differently, felt things differently, and experienced things that he didn't know existed.
06:41Much like that apple and sardine example.
06:46Going beyond the surface towards the contemplative mind. We've got to understand today that there's a massive influx of information, technology, and it's all paradoxically worsened our conditions.
07:03Conditions like trauma, depression, and stress, addictions, whatever it's going to be, are far worse today.
07:10There's a mental health crisis, because we all seem to be locked in survival mode.
07:15We've forgotten who we really are, and we've identified with the I that the personality creates, the defensive, the rushing, the clinging and the grasping self.
07:31And that's not who we really are. So at some point, we need to reimagine ourselves beyond the self-concept and the persona, meaning masks, that you've created.
07:42This process is something we've all got to go through.
07:47It's our journey into the wilderness. It's our Paul in Damascus moment.
07:53It's a process that allows us to shed unhealthy habits and limiting beliefs, really, that we once needed to save us.
08:02So at some point, each of us has the task of reimagining our reality and creating the lives we really want, which are lives where we get kindness, love and forgiveness, peace and joy.
08:15And then we give those things away as well.
08:21A mind locked in survival causes nothing but war.
08:24And, of course, all war just belongs on paper, not in the mind.
08:29So we lose the bigger picture, really.
08:32And a journey into self-inquiry is how we get back.
08:36I call it a journey or a return to your sacred self.
08:40To truly grasp the essence of contemplation, I always say that contemplation is the end of two.
08:53This suggests a dissolving of duality and separation from one another, leading to a sense of interconnectedness rather than defensiveness, separation.
09:06Contemplation.
09:07Contemplation really is a prayer of the heart, more so than a prayer of the mind.
09:18The mind cannot really get us very far.
09:21And as I always say to people, you know, thinking, great thinkers, you cannot get there from here, I say.
09:31You need the body, the heart, the mind, sure.
09:36But you need the contemplative, creative, unlimited mind that is not stuck in any kind of survival, any kind of fight mode, rather radical and transformative mindsets.
09:53We can only access when we're still.
09:57That's as it goes, you know, be still and know God.
10:01And that really does sum up contemplative self-inquiry.
10:05I mean, this is not about relaxation or positive thinking even.
10:10It's a deep dive into the nature of reality, the true self, and our connection to something far, far larger than ourselves.
10:20If we don't stop once in a while, contemplate, look around, reimagine, we cannot see things as they are.
10:30We see things as we've become as we are.
10:33Contemplative science, if you will, is something that's going to bridge the gap and is bridging the gap between empirical studies of consciousness and the subjective experience of contemplation.
10:53When we really want to intentionally withdraw once in a while from the hedonistic nature of the ordinary world and nurture the self so that we can nurture the world, nurture others.
11:07This is consciousness.
11:10It's wealth.
11:11It's wisdom.
11:12It's a right-brained kind of vision and perception that we can't access unless we do it consciously.
11:22And when we do so, we get rid of that illusory self, you know, awakening to our true transcendent nature, that's who we really are.
11:35Thomas Merton said, you know, always beyond our own knowledge, beyond our own light, beyond dialogue, is an entry into a higher life, a death for the sake of life.
11:49And that's the transaction.
11:56In a world characterized by division and conflict, contemplation offers a powerful antidote.
12:03By fostering inner peace and understanding within ourselves, we can contribute together to a more peaceful and compassionate world.
12:13The world we all seek, if the truth be known.
12:18The journey of contemplation is an invitation to delve into the depths of our being, unlock this potential that we all have, and change ourselves, and then change the world.
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