--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Especially the correlation between noticing > the witnessing and the lower level of activity > (sitting on the terrace at twilight as opposed > to moving furniture in Barry's case, and sitting > in the car driving around versus digging out the > cistern in Alex's case). The lower the activity > level, the less competition the Self has for > one's attention. > > Both of them mention the heat in which they > had to do their more active task, which also > would grab some attention, both from mind/ > senses and physiology.
Actually, to provide a little more information, I think that "coorelation" is a little too simplistic to be true, based on my own past experiences. That was just yesterday's experience that I wrote about yesterday. In the past, the most "present" or "noticeable" witnessing I've experienced often took place during times of the most *heightened* activity, not the most "low level." One of my most intense experiences of witnessing took place when someone tried to mug me in Amsterdam. The intense witnessing started *during* the mugging, kept going when I turned the tables on the guy and wound up chasing *him* down the street rather than giving him my wallet, and lasted for a week or so afterwards. Several other times the witnessing seemed to be triggered by equally intense and active foreground events, such as making love or having to speak in front of thousands of people or climbing a mountain while fighting 100 mph winds. Go figure. Then again, there have been times when the witnessing has been "triggered" by the opposite, by the sudden perception of silence. I remember once I was hiking through a forest in Westchester County, enjoying what I perceived as the relative silence, compared to my normal workday in NYC. It was neat, but there was no direct appreciation of witnessing or anything like that. Then a big noise happened (they were doing construc- tion nearby, and someone set off some dynamite) and the forest *really* went silent. And I realized at that moment that on one level it had *not* been silent before. There had been frogs croaking, birds singing, lots and lots of sounds. They all went silent after the dynamite blast, and bam! there was the appreciation of the witnessing phenomenon. And then there have been times when it became notice- able when absolutely *nothing* out of the ordinary, either in terms of heightened activity or lessening activity, was going on. Bottom line for me is that after 30+ years of dealing with this coming and going of the appreciation of witnessing, I can pinpoint NO cause and effect relationship. NONE. It "comes" when it wants to, and it "goes" when it wants to, and on another level it's always present. Go figure. It just does its own thing. Nothing I have ever done to try to figure out a way to "trigger" it has EVER worked out. At this point I don't think that there IS anything that one can "do" to bring this appreciation of witnessing about. It's not up to "me." And it's not up to any "outside agency" such as "God." It is just what is. Sometimes it's noticeable, sometimes it's not, and it Really Doesn't Matter which is which. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
