A couple of weeks ago I wrote in my newsletter, “If compassion is the noun, cherish is the verb.” I also linked to a post in this blog, To Love and to Cherish.
That prompted a man named David Cicia to write. I’m impressed by what I learned of David and his work, so I’m sharing part of our correspondence here, with his permission.
Molly,
I am pleased that you had such a nice experience with the Cherishment exercise. That inspired me to put it up on my website. I hope you don’t mind that I included a quote from what you said. I didn’t mention your name or where the quote came from.
This is just a taste of the fuller experience that I am now teaching. Just this past weekend I did a phone session with someone, and she reported such an astounding opening that (with her permission) I put her account of her experience on my website, to give people a taste of the experience. Her writing about it is that vivid and clear. That is here:
http://www.blissofpeace.com/experiences/experience1.html
Yes, you may share the Cherishment exercise in your blog. My website is www.blissofpeace.com I am still developing and testing programs. The whole thing is such a recent discovery that I don’t quite know right now what to do with it. I don’t really even know how to talk or write about it so that it communicates well. That is why I so much appreciated that person’s writing of her experience.
If you think there is anything worthwhile that your readers might be interested in on my website, go ahead and reference it if you want to. As I said, I have something, and I think it is very special, but I don’t quite know what to do with it yet. I seem to be more oriented toward creating than toward reaching out.
Thanks,
David Cicia
On Mar 17, 2006, at 9:33 AM, David Cicia wrote:
Molly,
You wrote “If compassion is the noun, cherish is the verb.”
I was struck by your focus on “cherish” in your newsletter because I used to have a whole section on a former website of mine on creating a deep integrated feeling sense of cherishment in yourself, and letting that spread to your whole being, producing a kind of soft subtle ecstasy that illuminates all of your life. My feeling is that cherishment is one of the central elements in creating joy and ecstasy, transcending negative and painful emotions by its force of expansiveness and gentle power.
I don’t have that site up anymore, but there is a way to make Cherishment, or any feeling, into a deep inner feeling quality that stays with you. This is from an email course I am currently giving from my present website – not to promote my website but simply as a response to what you wrote. (See below, if you are interested. )
Thanks,
David Cicia
Pure Feeling Qualities Of Consciousness
1. Everyone knows what a feeling is. Joy, love, caring, pleasure, floating, streaming, falling sensations, happiness, contentment, etc. etc. They are more quiet than big emotions like anger, rage, grief, etc. And they usually have some connection with some object that we think is their cause, such as seeing your best friend who you haven’t seen in years brings you joy. So, just notice that you have such feelings.
2. What is less known is that we can have these kind of feelings apart from any person or thing that we might think causes them. We can experience pure joy, pure love, delicious streaming sensations through our body, or contentment without a reason for it. It is just there. If you can, just notice that you can feel certain feelings without there being a cause for them.
3. If you can’t feel these kind of pure feelings, such as any of the above feelings, without a cause, then start with a cause. For instance, the example of the best friend I mentioned above, or any other that you can think of that would evoke a specific feeling. Think of that person, thing, event, or whatever, in whatever way you usually do (not necessarily an image, if you don’t think in images, but it can be in images.) Then feel the feelings that that thought evokes in you, however you feel feelings (which will also be unique to you, to how you experience feelings.) When you have that feeling clearly and steadily, put your attention on the feeling alone while turning your attention away from the “cause.” (This is a simple act of selective attention – meaning that you can use your attention like a flashlight to point in any direction, at any selected spot in your field of experience that you want to. In this instance, it is turning it toward the feeling while away from the “cause.”) This will be a pure feeling.
NOTE CAREFULLY – IF YOU USE A MEMORY, IMAGE OR THOUGHT TO GET TO THE FEELING, BE SURE TO DROP THAT AND JUST FOCUS ON THE PURE FEELING ALL BY ITSELF. THE MEMORY, IMAGE OR THOUGHT IS JUST A TEMPORARY MEANS FOR GETTING AT THE FEELING. THE PURE FEELING ITSELF IS ALL WE USE.
4. Using either #2 or #3 (#2 is best, if you can) create for yourself the pure feeling of Cherishment.
