Examen For Open Mind, Open Heart, and Open Will

The examen is an ancient form of prayer popularized by St. Ignatius. Typically prayed at the end of the day, this prayer invites us to review our day, drawing back the curtains on, and allowing us to savor times in the day in which we lived from a place of connection. This prayer also alerts us to, and offers healing awareness for, the times of the day in which we were held within the illusion of separation.

I encourage you to choose just one intelligence center—mind, heart, or will—on which to reflect for your time of prayer. You can choose another one next time!

GETTING READY

Choose a place where you won’t be interrupted, and begin by taking a few moments to connect to body and breath. Feel your feet planted firmly on the ground. Feel your sit bones fully supported in the chair beneath you. Enjoy the support of your breath.

Next, consciously place yourself in the Beloved’s compassionate gaze. Notice how that feels in your body. Invite the Beloved to compassionately look at your day with you.

Step 1: Review your day

Beginning at your bedtime last night, re-play the events of this day. Think of it as a movie playing in your head, and invite the Spirit to watch this with you. Observe your day, from last evening until now, from your releasing your activity last night to rising into a new day this morning to the moment you arrived for this class. Begin with when you went to bed. Remember the feelings present as you drifted off to sleep. Recall how the night went for you, if you slept soundly, or were awake. Recall any dreams that visited you. . . . .Then remember if you woke feeling well rested. . . . Note what you ate for breakfast, or if you ate breakfast. . . . Think about your first encounters of the day with another. . . . What was your morning activity. . . . Remember who you were with and how that felt. . . Move through the day into lunch. . . . You may notice times of the day you cared for yourself or didn’t. . . . Times of the day you cared for another, or didn’t. . . . Notice what made you happy, what made you stressed, what confused you, what surprised you, or shocked you, what helped you be more present, or awake.

Step 2: Identify a moment of consolation relative to Opening Mind, Opening Heart, or Opening Will

The first noticing is noticing where the mind was Opening. An Open Mind listens beyond what it already knows and remembers God is for you.

Ask Divine Presence to bring to your mind a moment —let it be just one—in which you were awakened, a moment in which you trusted the Primary Flow. It can be something mundane, like a statement someone made that stopped you in your tracks, or finding yourself trusting a meal preparation was all going to work out even though the timing was different than what you’d imagined, or something more profound, like noticing the voice of the inner critic or the voice of judgment directed at another and then just dropping it, or noticing that you’d entered into a new way of seeing yourself, another or part of Reality. Was there a moment today when you engaged your curiosity? Where you could receive life as a Mystery to be lived, rather than a problem to be solved? Where may you have expanded your mind to hold the paradox of yourself, another, or reality?

Whatever moment rises, taste this experience again, savoring it in all of its goodness. Receive life again from that moment. Feeling how the Flow carried you. Notice how it felt in the body. Current neuro-science teaches that we need to savor a good experience for 11 seconds for it to imprint on our cells. So, take your time. ;)

OR,

The first noticing is noticing where the heart was opening. Open Heart embraces all of our own belonging, others’ belonging, and the belonging of Reality itself and remembers that God is with you.

As the Innocent and Beloved Child to bring to your mind a moment —just one— in which you became a conduit of the Primary Flow, receiving or releasing love and compassion for whatever was present within or before you. You might also think of this as a moment in which you really experienced the Primary Flow, regardless of whether it felt pleasant or unpleasant, a moment in which you accepted whatever was present as something that belonged. It could be something simple like really allowing yourself to receive a compliment or the warmth you offered a loved one when they entered the room. Or, it could be something more profound, like offering yourself the space you needed to really feel some difficult feelings, or offering forgiveness for another’s or your own failure. It might be the heart swell you felt at the beauty of a sunset.

Whatever moment rises, taste this experience again, savoring it (for at least 11 seconds) in all of its openness. Experience again the life of that moment. Cherish how God was with you in that moment. Notice how it felt in your body.

OR,

The first noticing is noticing where the will was opening. Open Will takes the next step into a new way of being and doing and remembers that God is within you.

Ask the Spirit—The Creative Instigator— to bring to mind a moment —just one— in which you surrendered into and/or rested in the Primary Flow. It may have been a moment of release, in which you let go of an old identity or name for yourself. Or, you let go of the need to control yourself, another, or a situation. Or, it may have been a moment of commitment, engaging or remaining present even when something was difficult. It may have been a moment of owning your vulnerability or claiming your strength.

Whatever it was, taste this experience again, savoring it in all of its openness. Experience again God’s presence within you in that moment. Notice how that felt in your body.

Step 3: Identify a moment of desolation

The second noticing is becoming aware of where the mind was Closing. A Closed Mind is stuck in its own small orbit of knowing, based on a limited view or hyper-focused view of what is present right in front of us, or an illusion to which we are deeply attached. A Closed Mind has forgotten that God is for you.

So, ask yourself, Where in the day did I restrict my view of myself, another, or Reality? Where did I insist upon my ideal rather than being present to what is? Where did I rely on my own knowing, rather than opening to the perspective of another? Where was I unwilling to entertain paradox? Where did I become anxious and obsessed about having it all correct? Where did I become obsessed with safety, or seeking out danger? Was there a time today when I was compulsively futuring or refusing decision in order to keep my options open?

What has blocked me today from seeing things as they are?

Re-visit this moment. Feel again what it felt like in the body. . . . Noticing all that is present. . . . Welcome the felt-presence and your awareness of it. Whatever is present has shown up to receive compassion. So now breathe infinite compassion into this felt sense, the place in your body where you are remembering this moment. There’s no need to fix or change or even heal what is present. Just come close to yourself, allowing Divine Presence to come close to you. God is simply being present for you in your misery and empowering you to do the same. Open yourself to receive and participate in God’s infinite compassion. Can you sense it? God is for you, and invites you to be for you, as well. Allow this part of yourself to be bathed in compassion, using the breath to carry it to this place in your body. Stay with this until you feel infused with compassion, or until this feels complete.

And, finally, invite a sense of curiosity to emerge, beginning with the words, I wonder. . . What wondering of the Open Mind may be springing forward. . . . Just stay with this for a few moments.

OR,

The second noticing is becoming aware of where the heart was closing. Closed heart isolates itself and responds to unexpected or unwanted reality as an enemy. Closed Heart distrusts motives of another or oneself or Reality itself. It divides the world into us vs. them, and divides oneself in parts that belong and parts that don’t, parts that have value and parts that don’t. Closed Heart has forgotten that God is with you, as you are.

So, ask yourself, where in the day did I not welcome a part of myself? Another? Or reality? Where did I see myself or another as separate and so not extend compassion? Where did I get stuck in pride? Where did I get stuck in shame?, feeling as though I was unworthy of connection? Where was I preoccupied with approval? Where did I exempt myself or another from communion?

What blocked me today from experiencing connection?

Re-visit this moment. Feel again what it felt like in the body. . . . Noticing all that is present. . . . Welcome the felt-presence and your awareness of it. Whatever is present has shown up to receive compassion. So now breathe infinite compassion into this felt sense, the place in your body where you are remembering this moment. There’s no need to fix or change or even heal what is present. Just come close to yourself, allowing Divine Presence to come close to you. God is simply being present with you in your misery and empowering you to do the same. Open yourself to receive and participate in God’s infinite compassion. Can you sense it? God is with you, and invites you to be with you, as well. Allow this part of you to be bathed in compassion, using the breath to carry it to this place in your body. Stay with this until you feel infused with compassion, or until this feels complete.

The second noticing is becoming aware of where the will was closing. Closed Will is competitive or completely unengaged. Closed Will maintains control (which can be abdicating control) at all costs. It is inflexible and repressive of feelings of vulnerability. Closed Will maintains a rigid attachment to its own or another’s identity. Closed Will can be driven or frozen. Closed Will has forgotten that God is within you.

So, ask yourself, where in the day was I like a bull in a china shop? Or, where did I dig in my heels? Where did I get pushy in words, emotions, or actions? Where did I shut-down or become over-accommodating? Where was I inflexible? Where did I cling to old ways of being or doing? Where did I resist receiving or offering healing?

What blocked me today from participating in and resting in the Flow?

Re-visit this moment. Feel again what it felt like in the body. . . . Noticing all that is present. . . . Welcome the felt-presence and your awareness of it. Whatever is present has shown up to receive compassion. So now breathe infinite compassion into this felt sense, the place in your body where you are remembering this moment. There’s no need to fix or change or even heal what is present. Just come close to yourself, allowing the Beloved to come close to you. God is simply being present within you in your misery and empowering you to do the same. Open yourself to receive and participate in God’s infinite compassion. Can you sense it? God is within you, and invites you to be within you, as well. Allow this part of you to be bathed in compassion, using the breath to carry it to this place in your body. Stay with this until you feel infused with compassion, or until this feels complete.

CLOSING AND GRATITUDE

And now, call to mind again the person or persons to whom you are dedicating the benefit of your work, and imagine now how your fidelity to this work may benefit them.

Let your mind, heart and will rest. Connect again to the breath, as it is, and rest in Divine Inspiration’s movement into you and out through you. Remain here as long as serves you.

Finally, connect once more with your breath and fill with gratitude for this time of reclaiming connection, with yourself, others, and the Divine.

Not to be copied without permission of the author.

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