As we’ve seen, when we begin to look into the nature of the mind—and at the thinking process itself—we see how thinking creates this sense of separation and isolation. Through careful inquiry, we discover that the process of identification, the root of our suffering, begins with the rudimentary structure of thought itself. Thought is symbolic. A

Within this consciousness, within this space of stillness, many thoughts can and do appear. Many emotions can and do appear, many ways that we could imagine in our minds that we know. But really, it’s all imagination. How do we know it’s all imagination? Because when we stop imagining, it disappears.

What it revealed to me was that even in the deepest states of darkness, even in the most intense states of loss, grief, or depression, we can find some measure of happiness and well-being when we really open to the difficult feelings, when we really let go of our resistance, when we completely let go of trying to contain those painful experiences,

What happens when you become still and you inquire, without just jumping at the next thought? Quietly ask, “What am I, really?”

Once you come in contact with the story or view or conclusion which underlies a particular emotion, then you can invite yourself to experience the same thing without the story.

When we’re not responding out of conflict, division, and resistance, what manifests is pure compassionate action, wise action that comes from intimacy, stillness, and true connection.

We become deeply grounded in silence. The nature of this silence is a lack of conflict with life, and the more we open to this state of nonconflict, to this state of inner stillness, we begin to fall into the grace of a different dimension of being—a dimension rooted in a deep intimacy with our own lives and with existence itself.

Often, if it’s all kept in your head, it just turns into a big muddle. So the first step in releasing this muddle is to speak or write these voices of suffering.

Meditation, in this sense, is really a state of discovery. Sitting in quiet and stillness and just being in a state of openness gives you a clear opportunity to watch what happens internally when you stop judging your experience, when you stop judging your mind for being busy, or you stop judging yourself for having a particular feeling. You don’t