April 10 2007 – #106

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Spiritual Path of Focusing
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nelle writes: "I am wondering if you feel
comfortable speaking to the spiritual path of
Focusing.  You indicated that you had
experienced a kind of enlightenment through
Focusing, and I would say the same thing."

Dear Nelle,
Thank you for asking...
and also for checking if I feel comfortable
talking about this! I'll start by
acknowledging that, over the years, I've
become less and less certain what
"spirituality" is. Whatever this dimension
is, it seems deeply personal, and I wouldn't
want whatever I say to impinge on anyone
else's territory.

After all that is said, though, there is
something I feel ready to say about the
(possible) spiritual path of Focusing. To do
so, let me define "spirituality" as a felt
experience of connection to what is larger or
more than we are as separate individuals,
more than we are as human beings.

And I do feel that. At the start of a
Focusing session, when I find Presence so
that I can welcome whatever comes, I feel my
body resting on support. If I choose, I can
sense into that support, sensing what it is I
feel supported by.

The word "God" would fit. Supported by God,
resting into that support. Or I could call it
the interconnected mesh of everything, not so
much the physical objects as the interweaving
of life force, how everything implies what is
next in a dance or tapestry we all make.

As I read the last paragraph, I feel
dissatisfied with it. Words, words, words.
Then I find my body again, feel the
support... yes. There it is. Not the words
about it, but that experience itself. I can
rest into it.

It's like this: When I'm Focusing, I find a
spaciousness inside myself, and in that
spaciousness, anything can come. Radical
acceptance of everything. Nothing is exiled,
all is welcome. The prodigal son can come
home, the last sheep is found. Home.

And there is a spaciousness larger than
me--that I can feel--that has a welcome just
like that, for me, for all of me. I can feel
It, I can rest into It, I can feel how It
welcomes not only me but all of us, with no
exception. I feel joy, gratitude, peace.
Praise be.