As in traditional silent meditation, the cultivation of the awakening factors, including but not limited to, mindfulness, tranquility, and concentration, is foundational in Insight Dialogue practice.
The six Insight Dialogue guidelines serve as the primary support for cultivating these meditative qualities of mind. Language and relationship can draw us into habitual ways of interacting and reacting. The guidelines—Pause, Relax, Open, Attune to Emergence, Listen Deeply and Speak the Truth— take the form of simple words that can be called to mind to foster meditative awareness even as we encounter the demands of speaking and listening.
The brief descriptions on this site will introduce you to the guidelines. Taken together they offer essential support for awakening amid the rich challenges and gifts of interpersonal relationships. They also foster the stability of the mind needed to deeply engage with the wisdom teachings offered in the contemplations. A one-page overview of the guidelines is available here.
Pause
Temporal pause; stepping out of habitual thoughts and reactions into experience in the present moment; mindfulness.
Relax
Invitation to calm the body and mind; receiving whatever sensations, thoughts, and feelings are present; acceptance.
Open
Extension of mindfulness from internal to include the external; spaciousness; matures to include the relational moment; mutuality.
Attune to Emergence
Attending to impermanence of thoughts and feelings; entering the relational moment without an agenda; “don’t know mind.”
Listen Deeply
Listening mindfully, with an awareness that is relaxed and open; ripens into unhindered receptivity of another.
Speak the Truth
Articulating the truth of one’s subjective experience with mindfulness; discerning what to say amid the universe of possibilities.