The in between times !

 

I noticed  few birds perched in in different locations of our garden for longer time than usual. They stayed on, although I would have liked to watch their next move.  

The pauses between the flight movements or hunting for food are common for birds. Those in between times are their habits, to guard  their wellness. They exist in an open space with everything around them beyond their control. Amidst such an uncertainty and tentativeness, the avians take time to wait, sense and move. 

I heard about a report on an experiment of recording the pulse rate of professionals at work. During the working pace the heart rates goes up beyond eighty per minute, while the heart rate fell into the seventies after pausing for five minutes. A cardiologist who mentioned this to me suggested that a pause of ten minutes once every three hours helps  the body to return to a resting phase. 

I remembered reading about the practice in a Benedictine monastery where a bell rings every three hours to allow three minute of silence. Those at work of any sort, takes that time to be still and to return to be present to themselves.  

A depth psychologist and retreat leader mentioned to me that when we engage in any work we become absent from us, as the external presides over our consciousness. He too suggested that short breaks are occasions which reconditions us  to stay centred in our inner being, which then qualifies our outward presence to be with enhanced awareness. 

In the book, The Intuitive Way, A Guide to Living From Inner Wisdom, the author Penny Pierce, suggested that three levels of our mind (p22)-

The superconscious mind, The subconscious mind, and the The conscious mind. 

The superconscious mind 'knows no fear, no blocks, no ignorance. It is part of you that contains higher purpose, the God's Eye View, where all experiences are simultaneous and omnipresent. We might equate the superconscious mind with soul's awareness'. The author defined Soul as 'the function of consciousness that interconnects individuality and universality'. According to the author, 'The higher mind sees the interconnections and mutual inclusiveness of everything that exists in time and space...'. This is a state of heightened consciousness. I recall how there is a heightened attentiveness while auscultating the heart, during clinical examination to listen to any adventurous sounds during the beating of  the heart. 

The Subconscious mind 'contains memories of all experiences in which you were reacting from survival instinct and made decisions in partial awareness of your true self, not understanding the whole situation, not seeing the superconscious God's Eye View.... The subconscious mind contains wealth of knowledge about physiological origins, but it also harbours a darker side since it is the home of negative emotions' (p23). We normally access our subconscious thoughts and feelings through our dreams. The dreams bring to us an awareness of condensed or intense view of experiences, which when processed through rational approach to dream interpretations, brings us  an integrated view of life and living.  

The conscious mind is a sense of 'awareness, you sense of "I am", the viewing point, or the eye of the soul. The conscious mind is also the agent of your free will, a moving point of choices and personal identity-it gives you the experience of being an individual' (p24). As the conscious mind is relational, it creates associations, connections and reflections. We think and act on the informations we receive. Its interpretative sense helps us to comprehend ourselves in different roles- a man, professional, husband, father, grandfather, composer, athlete...!  ' The limbic cortex, in the midbrain gives us the sense of self'!

I happened to read the text above on the day, when I watched the birds in their prolonged quiet pause. The birds take time to become present, sense and choose the next move. It seemed to me from the bird behaviour of several pauses, like the above, that birds live with a consciousness of what is around them. 

The gift given to humans is this inwardness of a mind of super consciousness, sub consciousness and consciousness. The in between pauses we take shall renew this integrative consciousnesses. 

This is the antidote to impulsive behaviour, angry reactions, revengeful attitudes and selfish pursuit at the cost of harming others. 

We process what is going in our conscious level during such in between times. A habit that we find from the narratives about of Jesus of Nazareth is, His alone times, in the mountain in the early hours of the day. It was during one such occasion, that He sensed that His disciples were caught in a storm in the sea, while crossing over in a boat. He reached them walking on water. He took in between times in silence, when confronted with life questions. When He found a woman about to be stoned for adultery, and the crowd seeking his permission, we find Jesus looking down, silent and writing something on the ground. Emerging out of that silence, Jesus said: He who is without sin, let him cast the first stone ! The  crowd faded away sparing the woman her life!

The prospect of a new or revised perspective emerges during such in between times of silence. We are enabled to travel beyond the emotional, impulsive, or habitual thoughts to receive from within insights that can bring wholeness and healing to ourselves and others. 

Watching birds brings a spectrum of thoughts and insights. I realised today that more than fifty percent of my blogs since I began writing  in 2012, have a reference to birds and the messages I received. I feel overwhelmed by the gift of awareness which birds bring to awaken me!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)