The Practical Work of Awakening |
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Awakening requires
practical work. This means, first of all, learning to understand the difference
between imagination and presence. We acquire this understanding by making
regular efforts to be present. The Fellowship of Friends provides its members
with many exercises and disciplines that help to initiate and prolong presence,
as well as work against imagination. As a member’s understanding deepens, these
exercises and disciplines acquire a more personal character, as he or she comes
to understand the meaning of sleep and the necessity of awakening.
Our efforts to be present can acquire the objectivity of a scientific
discipline, the accomplished skills of a craft, and the subtleties of an art
form. Through trial and error, and through the vast experience available from
other Fellowship members, we learn how to apply the right effort at the right
time to help evoke and prolong presence.
