Exploring Ourselves with Jackie McKinley, May 15, 2022

Exploring Ourselves

With Jackie McKinley

May 15, 2022

Zoom online

Jackie was facilitating this meeting from the UK and was joined by fourteen more participants for a “dialogue” concerning the nature of consciousness and our particular expression of it. She began by noting that there were three people present who were new to dialogue, which led her to ask the question, “What is dialogue?” We are not here to just talk about what we are thinking about, but more to observe the psychological and energetic movements that arise in us as they arise. She asked, “Can we be actually aware of these movements and not just conceptually aware?”

After some moments of silence, Jackie commented that a quality of silence is needed to observe. Everyone present is responsible for the atmosphere in the group and we are all in this attentiveness together, a broad attention towards all that is transpiring. Within such attention there is space for any serious question. The first question arising asked what we notice about our state of mind when we are present within a group. Jackie then asked if the question needed further elaboration or clarification. Another questioner inquired what the difference is between our state of mind and our thoughts. There was a response, a wondering if we were looking for answers. Jackie asked if we can hold a question and let it deepen our perception. There was then some discussion of thoughts vs. the observing of thoughts and the importance of being aware of our thinking. The dialogue unfolded to fill the two hour time slot and was judged to be interesting and worthwhile in its content and in the insights that became available to the group.