Semi-Academic Eric’s Reviews > Opening the Heart of Compassion: Transform Suffering Through Buddhist Psychology and Practice > Status Update

Spiritual work is the process of transforming the habit body…

There are several stages in this process. The seeds need to be planted through initiation or transmission; there follows a dormant stage; then, through our practices, we cultivate the seeds and insure favorable conditions for growth; finally, after a growing period, our efforts can bear the fruit of realization.

To give, we must first find something worth giving, something of value. We achieve this by directing our attention toward the richness of the world and of life. We view what is here and how bountiful life is, especially its possibilities and our own inner resources. Then, selecting among these resources, we pass them onto others.

When we can go beyond the pressure to "know" and open ourselves to what is here now, our openness itself engages the present. This sense of presence engenders satisfaction and delight. We then want to share this with others. The first gift that we have to offer is our attention. When we give our attention, it carries our energy and our intention.

We embrace giving as a natural aspect of aliveness.

The key to freshness… Is relaxing into "not knowing."... The unknown is always present, but it is obscured by our knowledge, our concepts and our filters of perception. Releasing these mental constructs allows a more direct knowing to occur…