Why Loving Welcome? & Its Gift: Elias Amidon Notes Open Path

loving welcome: “… Be still. Tune in to the wonder of this bottomless moment here and now …” ~ Joan Tollifson

Navigating unbeckoned thoughts while tuning in to this moment! …

Isn’t that a universal experience? …

Anyone who has tried meditation … sat in silence … or is simply “being here” … inevitably encounters “arisings (thoughts, emotions, physical sensations, or whatever else …)” seemingly coming out of nowhere …

And more often than not it causes some restlessness (especially for “early stage” explorers) … evoking the tendency to “do something” … to “calm it down” … maybe even try and “resist” it … although this tendency waxes and wanes depending on the person and their experience with such “sitting” …

Unfortunately, any such “effort” is counter productive … as the focus or attention ends up on the “doing” vs relaxing into the silence …

What if we simply welcomed such arisings? … without any “doings” … like Lao Tzu reminds us: “Less and less do you need to force things, until finally you arrive at non-action. When nothing is done, nothing is left undone.” {from the Tao Te Ching}

This is what Elias Amidon explores in The Intimate Practice of Welcoming: one of his monthly reflections that’s sent to his Sufi community at the beginning of every month … where …

He invites a “turning toward” vs “turning away” … a “loving welcome” … that ultimately “… becomes almost effortless … natural, gentle, and sweetly intimate …”

Elias Amidon (a master in the Sufi tradition, who has also deeply explored Theravada Buddhism, Native American, Christianity, Zen, and contemporary Dzogchen as part of his life long pursuit of spirituality) is a Pir (Spiritual Director) of The Sufi Way and has been “an initiate of the Sufi Way for the past 44 years.”

So, here is Elias on …

Loving Welcome … The Intimate Practice of Welcoming

When we sit quietly in meditation, inviting ourselves to relax into the silence of simply being, quite often we’re distracted by little thoughts that seem to arrive out of nowhere. Along with these fragments of thoughts may come currents and eddies of emotion, or stray images, or bodily discomforts that temporarily dominate our consciousness – little cramps or pressures. This is a common experience for those of us who seek to relax into silence for a few minutes, or longer, each day.

We know in our hearts that relaxing into “the silence of simply being,” for a few moments at least, is good medicine for us. Whatever stresses we’re experiencing in our daily lives, and even what old traumas and attitudes constrict us, are given a reprieve when we manage to open to the quiet of simply being — just this, just being, here, now, quiet and present. And yet this relaxing into the silence of just being, this move that sounds so simple, turns out not to be so simple for us to accept.

I suppose one reason for this is that we’re well trained in trying to fix the stresses we experience. The thoughts, emotions, and attitudes that arise seem to ask that we attend to them, figure them out, or just follow them wherever they lead. They parade through our consciousness, taking center stage, and obscure the silence we wish to open to.

In response we may try to resist them in various ways — through force of will and mindfulness concentration, or by focusing on our breath, or reciting a mantra. Or we may try to follow the advice I’ve often given: take no interest in them. But even that advice has a subtle element of negative effort — “take no interest.” It works, but it still implies a kind of “turning away” from the thoughts, emotions, and sensations that are arising.

There’s another response possible, a “turning toward” rather than “turning away,” a practice that is wonderfully intimate and that I find is both easy and natural. When thoughts arise as you begin to relax into silence, simply welcome them. Welcome anything that arises in your awareness, whether it’s a stream of thought, an emotional feeling, a point of view, a judgment, an uncomfortable sensation, welcome it. Let it come “into your arms” — so to speak — into your heart. Embrace whatever it is, receive it into your love. That self-judgment: oh I’m such a failure at meditation! — welcome it. I keep being seduced by these thoughts! — welcome that thought. I’m so bored! — welcome that thought and that sense of boredom. My butt hurts! My shoulders are tight! — welcome those sensations. Let them in, encompass them with your gentle welcome and love.

You’ll find that this “practice” becomes almost effortless. The more you respond with loving welcome to thoughts, sensations, or emotions that arise as you sit quietly, the easier it gets. It becomes natural, gentle, and sweetly intimate. You put up no resistance, simply welcoming whatever arises into your loving awareness. And then? Try it and see what happens.

~ Elias Amidon

Elias’ writes a monthly Notes from the Open Path which are short contemplations on an approach to living wholeheartedly and in clear awareness (aspects of his Open Path teachings) … visit his website for more of his work: The Open Path – The Sufi Way.

The entire text of The Intimate Practice of Welcoming above is authored by Elias and is excerpted from his June 2024 monthly email Notes from the Open Path (also available on his website). He has graciously given us permission to freely share these notes with our readers.