Going Inside
It is easy to come by the impression that meditation is
about going inside, or dwelling inside yourself. But
"inside" and "outside" are limited distinctions. In the
stillness of formal practice, we do turn our energies
inward, only to discover that we contain the entire
world in our own mind and body.
Dwelling inwardly for extended periods, we come to
know something of the poverty of always looking
outside ourselves for happiness, understanding, and
wisdom. It's not that God, the environment, and other
people cannot help us to be happy or to find
satisfaction. It's just that our happiness, satisfaction,
and our understanding, even of God, will be no
deeper than our capacity to know ourselves inwardly,
to encounter the outer world from the deep comfort
that comes from being at home in one's own skin,
from an intimate familiarity with the ways of one's own
mind and body.
Dwelling in stillness and looking inward for some part
of each day, we touch what is most real and reliable
in ourselves and most easily overlooked and
undeveloped. When we can be centered in ourselves,
even for brief periods of time in the face of the pull of