Mercy is the opposite of judgment. It is a kindness of the mind that mirrors the spaciousness of the heart. Indeed, the term “mercy” is used here not in the context of “Oh Lord have mercy on me!”, not as a begging for a removal of punishment, but as a quality of noninjury, of kindness. Mercy, like loving kindness, is a quality of the mind which

“the visitor in the body and the egg that hatched it all.”

To understand our effort is to investigate our intentions, to recognize our motivation for directing energy in the first place. One might ask, “Why do I want to heal?” Is it just to continue feeding old mind’s way of becoming the world? Or is it to discover life anew? To replace with love that which has so often been touched with fear? Is it to

entering the greater body we all share. Seeing that each step must be taken lightly, not with force, not creating more self, becoming more of a “doer,” more of a separate identity, which draws suffering upon itself. To walk in a sacred manner is to let go of our suffering and allow the scintillating “thusness” of each moment to nurture and direct

It is the space in which all wisdom arises, in which alternatives are to be discovered. “Don’t know” is without all previous opinion; it does not perceive from old points of view, it is open to the many possibilities inherent in the moment.

Just as some areas of the mind are found to be well developed and others deeply submerged, so in the body this same high and low terrain of sensitivity is discoverable. Exploring the field of sensations we label “body,” areas of pleasure or pain are instantly recognizable from within. And we discover it is not just the mind that hides but certain

The great Sioux shaman Black Elk speaks of “walking in a sacred manner.” To walk in a sacred manner is to make an art of life, to attend to each moment as though it were the last, to take each step as though it were the first. To breathe love and awareness into this tiny body,

work to be done is most clearly seen.

“foundation practices,” lifetime practices, such as the letting-go meditation, the sweeping-the-body meditation, the mindfulness meditation.