Increase pure awareness.

When you look and listen in this way, you will become aware of a sense of calm, stillness, and peace. When consciousness is no longer absorbed by thinking, this is inner space. The frequency and duration of those spaces determine your ability to enjoy life and to feel an inner connectedness with other human beings as well as nature. When you become conscious of these brief spaces, they happen naturally, they will lengthen, and you will experience joy with increasing frequency. The world around you then feels fresh and alive.

1. Choose an object close to you (a pen, a plant), and look at it with great interest.
   Avoid objects with strong personal associations that stimulate thoughts.

2. Be relaxed but alert, and give your complete attention to every detail of the object.

3. If thoughts arise, don't get involved in commenting, comparing, etc.

4. After a couple of minutes or so, let your gaze wander around the room, your alert attention lighting up each thing that it rests upon.

5. Then try listening to the sounds around you, also without interpretation.
   Relaxed but alert attention is the key.