The Unobtrusive Life

The Unobtrusive Life

From our friend, Charles R.

Presence is an invisible wordless state. The nature of the efforts we make to arrive at the third state reflect this. The small inconspicuous efforts to introduce and prolong presence, that no one notices, makes up the life of a fourth way student. Henry’s post a few days ago succinctly captures and sums up the essence of this week’s subject.

The machine we inhabit contains four lower centers. In each center there are opportunities for ushering in the third state quietly and unobtrusively. In the moving center, if one is right-handed, try using one’s left hand to perform routine tasks. In the shower, do we turn to the left or the right when washing off soap or shampoo? Turn instead in the opposite direction. Keeping one’s feet flat on the floor while dining or intentionally leaving that last tasty morsel. Avoid talking loudly or unnecessarily. One of the most inconspicuous and highly effective efforts in the moving center is limiting, if not completely eliminating, gesticulating while speaking. The moving-instinctive center offers us many, if not perhaps the most, opportunities.

The emotional center presents more of a challenge and requires a more attentive effort, but the rewards are profound and life-changing. It’s the fastest of all the centers, and learning how to ‘reign in the horse’ is one of the foundational efforts in the process of awakening. Refraining from sarcasm, gossip or cynicism. Not arguing or immediately voicing an opposite I or opinion. Making eye contact with someone while thanking them. Refraining from using curse words in conversation, or making jokes at someone else’s or one’s own expense.

The intellect in unison with the emotional center can generate an appropriate work I, at the right moment. This effort is not just inconspicuous, it too is invisible. Intentionally choosing an attitude or thought that brings the right scale and relativity to one’s efforts paves the way, so to speak, for higher centers to appear.

The seventeenth century is regarded as the ‘golden age’ for the Dutch masters. One artist in particular was adept at capturing and conveying inconspicuous moments of ordinary everyday life in Holland. Studying Vermeer’s The Lacemaker we see a portrayal of an artisan pursuing her craft. As well as a quiet attentiveness, Vermeer captures the state of a self-contained individual. To capture this intimate relationship between the lacemaker and her work, Vermeer himself must have been in a quiet inconspicuous state.

When we limit the showy and unconscious habits of the lower self, at first we will probably believe that we are boring or uninteresting. Indeed, Peter Ouspensky observed that if we walked into a room full of conscious men and women, we’d probably think they are dull and uninteresting. Presence lacks pretense.

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Johannes Vermeer, The Lacemaker, c. 1658-1660, Louvre, Paris