The hairdresser's comment that I heard on

the bus, had shown me that to find truth, you

have to have a technique, a method.

If you use the right technique, feelings can be seen to be layered,

that the deeper feelings . . "underneath" . . . bring meaning, they point

to what you really need.

Please read these wonderful words attributed to Lao Tzu . . . . . . .

 

"the myriad of named things

spring from an inexhaustible matrix

these point beyond themselves

to the all encompassing unity.

 

the enigma of things deepens

into the fathomless beyond

from mystery to mystery is the gateway

into the streaming wonder of existence."

 

Inexhaustible matrix ? ? ? . . . . . . That's the trouble with a

lot of mystical writing, tantalising hints. These hints are not

always helpful because each person has to find their own way

to explore the mysteries that she or he finds. For me, when

Constancy began to work, I used the phrase "deeper feelings

underneath". These feelings were not really about 'depth' or

'underneath', like a mole is under the ground. In order to describe

the process to myself and to others, I need to find some descriptions,

but it is really about looking. Lao Tzu's description, for me, is very

powerful but it does not really tell you much. It is a hint. So, my

strongest advice is, do not get attached to the words, but learn about

the process and use it to look, or, use all this as springboard to devise

your own technique, your own way of looking.

 

How can a person look at their feelings constantly?

This is one way . . . . . . . . . .

 

We will take it step by step, looking at how to actually do constancy.

 

First steps . . . .

Find a blank wall in your home, or, an area on a wall that is

at least 3 square feet, not covered with pictures or patterns.

If you have no such space, hang a plain towel or sheet on

the wall. Find an upright chair, (not a soft chair or sofa)

sit about 6 feet away from the blank space. Stare at the

middle of it. As you stare at it, your eyes will wander to the

edges. Keep bringing your eyesight back to the centre of

your blank space.

As you stare, try and "look" at what is happening inside

your mind.

what are you thinking?

what are you feeling?

Right at the beginning, an important distinction needs to be made:

do not try to remember or hold on to all your thoughts and feelings.

With constancy, you are watching what is going on inside you,

without deliberately analysing.

 

You will notice that you analyse (think about your own thoughts)

anyway. A second important distinction arises, do not try and stop

yourself thinking. Analyse away, check your thoughts, rehearse what you plan

to say to someone, re-run some event you are not happy about, try

to remember a friend's birthday - let it all happen - but watch.

 

You will notice, that as you watch your thoughts and feelings, you will

be critical of some of them, unhappy about some of them, embarrassed

or ashamed about some of them, suppress some of them, enhance

some of them - let it all happen - but watch.

 

You will notice that it is very hard to constantly watch your thoughts and

feelings. There is a tendency to get caught up in them, or, to drift off into a

kind of day-dream. if this has happened, you remember, or rather, wake

up to the fact that you have not been watching. Do not be too critical of

yourself, just go back to watching. A third important distinction arises

here. Go back to the watching without too much fuss. It is inevitable that

you will often loose the constancy, just go back to it, but set up the

intention of watching all the time.

 

Just do this, for ten minutes, every day for about a month. . . . . .

. . . . . . .nothing more, for now.

But nothing less either, you must do it everyday.

If you do not do it every day, you are wasting your time.

 

You might notice that you have a voice inside,

do some or all of your thoughts take the form

of a voice speaking words and sentences?

We look at that next . . . . . .

 

Before moving on, a note about questions . . . . .

The aim of this website is to introduce Praxis and

to indicate that there is nothing hidden or secret about

finding your own truth. The website does not answer all

questions, (for example, why stare at a blank wall, why

not close your eyes? There are reasons for this, but this

site would be too big if it tried to explain all aspects).

If you need to know more than this site tells, you can

email me, (see Hub page) and I will eventually answer.

But before you send an email, consider this:

Praxis is my personal technique, that I make available to others.

It is both similar, and different, to many other techniques.

In my search, which is far from over, I asked many people many

questions, but in the end, I just started looking at "my self", for my self.

What you need, you already have

just start . . . . . . .

and keep on

With that in mind, if you need to contact me,

don't ask me why, only ask how.

 

good luck !