Passionate Presence: Experiencing the Seven Qualities of Awakened Awareness

by Catherine Ingram

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New York: Gotham/ Penguin 2003  212pp  $24.00 (HB)

This lovely book shares the wisdom of a teacher of silent meditation and Dharma Dialogues on awakened awareness. It is truly food for the soul.

Catherine Ingram describes her personal experiences in seeking and finding peace in the Now. While mindfulness meditation was a major path, a spiritual teacher catalyzed major shifts in her consciousness. Ingram now teaches mindfulness, through silence, through shared lessons, and (even through the pages of this book) through her personal centeredness.
Seven topics are highlighted: Silence, Tenderness, Embodiment, Genuineness, Discernment, Delight and Wonder. Each is illustrated with lovely stories of Ingram and other seekers on the Path.

Particularly helpful for healing are suggestions for acknowledging the presence of an inner observer who is detached even in the midst of crisis and suffering; for treasuring each present moment rather than living in the past or future; and for accepting that we need not torture ourselves with guilt and remorse because each of us has a lifetime of lessons to learn – and each experience offers us opportunities to develop deeper compassion for others who have their own lessons and make mistakes that may impact negatively on us. We can fester in negative reactions to life that is past or in our anxieties about our future life – or we might just let go of the negativity and move on to the ever-present Now.

If we allow our pain to be felt and freed, our suffering does great work in softening our hearts.  It is, in the words of Trungpa Rinpoche, ‘manure for the field of wisdom.’ In fact, it is important to know that any difficult mind state is welcome to arise at any moment just as the sky welcomes whatever arises in it without resistance.  Our suffering, if we feel it deeply and allow its natural passing, makes us stronger and yet more tender.  We are whole not only despite what we have suffered but often because of it.  (p. 46)

I was surprised to discover this book was immediately helpful in finding a stronger connection with my own center of quiet awareness.

There is also a pleasant current of practical advice, such as:

Some years ago a young friend of mine, six years old at the time, walked up to me and said the following: “Pretend you are surrounded by a thousand hungry tigers.  What would you do?”

I gave it some thought, imagining the scary scenario and feeling more and more tense.  Would I pray?  Probably  not.  Would I run?  One doesn’t outrun tigers.  Anxiety began to take hold as I saw in my mind’s eye the tigers closing in.  I said to my young friend, “Wow, I don’t know what I would do.  What would you do?”

And he replied, “I’d stop pretending.” ( p. 127)

In the flow of collective consciousness discussed in the editorial in this issue of IJHC, it was also pleasant to find the following observations by Ingram:

If we allow our pain to be felt and freed, our suffering does great work in softening our hearts.  It is, in the words of Trungpa Rinpoche, “manure for the field of wisdom.” In fact, it is important to know that any difficult mind state is welcome to arise at any moment just as the sky welcomes whatever arises in it without resistance.  Our suffering, if we feel it deeply and allow its natural passing, makes us stronger and yet more tender.  We are whole not only despite what we have suffered but often because of it.”

In retreat, I began to notice similar descriptions spoken by people who had never been exposed to these ideas.  I have often been startled to hear perceptions and feelings described in nearly exact language by, for example, a person who lives in rural Scotland and one who lives in Hawaii.  I realized that this intelligence crosses time as well, that the awakened awareness of the Buddha, Christ, or Rumi is not distinctly different from that of our own.  People over the centuries have stumbled upon this inherent intelligence in countless ways and expressed it in art, poetry, music, science, and even religion.
(p. xix-xx)

I warmly recommend this book for a good read and re-read.

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