Contemplate the mind;
This king of emptiness
Is subtle and abstruse.
Without shape or form,
It has great spiritual power.
It can eliminate all calamities
And accomplish all merits.
Master Fu (497-569) courtesy of dailyzen.com

The time that is spent in therapy is often subtle and abstruse. We sit for 50 minutes and reflect on the events and the concerns of the past week.Exploring and working through fears is a difficult task. The goal is always to contemplate the mind.The effort to do that is not an easy one. Calamities tend to elicit strong feelings,we are reacting to very serious situations and   we seek dramatic solutions to our problems. The decision to seek professional help happens when we are overwhelmed by the circumstances of our life. When we find a place to sit still long enough to tell our story the contemplation begins. By bearing witness to the pain and to the struggle  I am able to carefully slow the pace of my client's experience and allow the subtle and abstruse qualities to emerge in our conversations. This is the essence of active contemplation. We discover new possibities and new perspectives in our careful study of the presenting calamity.Change becomes a natural outcome of this work. To sit still and listen to our breathing helps us to slow the pace  of our experience and connect with a great power to work through calamities and grow stronger and wiser in the process.