WEEK 2: Practice in this new way three times this week. Begin as in week 1. Continue to maintain your state of one-pointedness while observing any thoughts that may enter. Along with your thoughts, you may now become aware of any feelings that emerge. Often people are afraid to sit still because some feelings they have been running from for ages come into awareness. This is possible. The great thing about this is that, if you allow yourself to feel the feelings for a few minutes, way into the depths of them, rather than ignore them, they will diminish in intensity and begin to ripple way. A new-found peace will be in their place. That is not to say that if you feel the feelings they will never return. It does mean, however, that we are always in a state of change and that, rather than running from what we might be afraid to feel (which in itself is exhausting, unsettling, debilitating, and immune suppressing), it is easier to face the feelings whenever they emerge, thus reaping the repeated benefit of the ensuing peace. There are ever-greater possibilities in this process: The hope of utter silence within, bliss, a deepening sense of oneness with the universe, and a feeling of boundless delight. A new dimension of the self can present a reality more comfortable and peaceful than any on this plane. It is a chance to dance into the infinite with the absolute. Once our fears surface, we can deal with them; in many cases, they go away altogether. Fears come and go as the undulations of your belly in labor, as the rhythmic risings of your uterus.