Michael Singer describes the inner field as a play of energy — thoughts, emotions and deeper impulses — that the practitioner can learn to watch as movements within consciousness rather than identify with. He frames this witnessing as the natural next stage of practice once the mind learns to keep its head above water.
Transcript
let's talk about something very very deep tonight in fact about as deep a conversation as we could have if you get this and I know you will and do you understand the whole path and how to walk it you understand the highest technique that could possibly exist and how to apply it that's a fair amount to know so what is this depth you will notice if you dare to there your inside whether you like it or not you're in there and you will notice that while you're in there there's a lot of changes and activities that go on in there with you all kinds of energy shifts all kinds of thoughts all kinds of emotions just a lot of activity takes place inside of you eventually you will naturally not through teachings but naturally come to use the word energy for all of these things even your thoughts will just look like energy patterns they're just energy they have force they have form they have substance and intention but they're just energy that formed that way it was sort of like in a stream there's bubbles there's currents there's spray there's foam tall water you got it there's this water that manifests different ways due to physics what's a bubble but water with Aaron there's water forming a certain way so your thoughts will start to look like energy the activities of your heart will just appear to be energy you'll just start to see it all as movements of energy when you watch these energies long enough and it does take a while to be able to stay centered while all of this is happening in front of you but for the purpose of this deep discussion we're having tonight we're going to assume that you're there I know you've been there or at least a few seconds where you're just seeing that this is stuff that's going on inside of you imagine if you stayed there that's where you were you were inside and you were seeing but bubble called Chuck de velas the play of consciousness the play of shock it's manifesting inside of you in these different forms thoughts emotions and energy itself drives urges impulses discomforts they're not even thoughts or emotions they're deeper than that they're just new energy and from now you're in there and this is going on inside and you're aware that you're in there and that this is going on inside now what now you're ready for the next level of your growth once you can catch your breath and keep your head above the water you start to take inventory oh there's water I was drowning so I just really didn't catch I just knew I couldn't be in it and there's land over there the distance and if I tread a certain way my head goes up and if I don't it goes I you know you just start getting your bearings that's what's called getting your bearings while you're in there because you're not overwhelmed well what you will see is as follows at the outside world has nothing to do you it just is happening all the time it's just out there and it's busy and it's busyness never asked your opinion never did the world come up to you and say how do you want me to be today it just bees how it is and it's very busy isn't it it changes all the time it's constantly doing something it's costly saying something making sounds making movements coming going people places things weather my god there's a constant unfolding of stuff that has nothing to do with you it's happening by itself what you will see amazingly enough once you get as centered as I just put you is that that movement of that stuff outside affects your inner energy big time here inner energy thoughts emotions movements drives urges could be in a certain state say it's maybe somewhat okay rare but let's say it is and then the outside starts doing stuff somebody starts walking up somebody starts saying something something doesn't walk up so it doesn't say something doesn't your insights change if they walk up to you to talk to you or if they don't walk up to you to talk to you don't they you see them walking by they stop and turn to you and start to walk that way what's your changes do you see them walking by they don't stop and turn and talk to you watch your changes you lose both ways in other words there's so much effect of what's going on out there on what's going on in here that's gonna blow your mind once you get clarity it's almost as if every little thing that's going on out there causes something big to go on in here and so you start seeing you don't have much stability inside it's really loose like trying to walk on air it just keeps shifting and changing and have you noticed that if your thoughts change your emotions change and if your emotions change your energy flow changes and your energy flow changes your thoughts change it's unbelievable how interactive it isn't it they loose in there and that looseness gets kicked up by the slightest thing I swear you just kind of wake up if somebody whispers and says something a word to Soph you can't hear it watch what happens inside of you if they say it too loud so it sounds like they're yelling watch what happens inside of you it doesn't matter your big trouble that's what you're gonna find out that you got all this energy going on in here that is extremely unstable and stable with like you know atomic fuel looks stable compared to this stuff even polonium-210 alright net and you're in there and it's terrible it's a mess and the slightest drop of anything from outside causes it to go and once it starts going you just keep going in the morning somebody raised their voice when they were talking to you at 3:00 in the afternoon it's still affecting you the thoughts come back and the heart freaks out and then you get upset and then this is just like that's what it's like to live in there and then stuff comes back from three days ago and stuff comes back from five years ago then stuff comes back from what might be three years from now Wow and it just keeps affecting everything you're just in there and all this juice this energy these shifts these thoughts these emotions are just shifting all around that's your next level of realization first you realize you're in here and there's all this stuff in here with you look at the environment you're in it's unbelievable and then you realize that the outside is affecting that environment and then you notice the following once you see all that then there comes this sense that's very very deep it's almost like behind all of it which is what do I do about it this underlying sense I gotta fix this I gotta get this right I got a fair way to get this stable what do I do how do I make sure that nothing happens outside that causes it to get weird inside how do I keep the thoughts from scrump the heart hard to keep the heart from screwing up the foot what do I do in here to get control of all this so that I'm okay that's the next thing you see that oh that is so prevalent have you seen it he's seen that underneath it all there's this drive this urge it's almost like the mother or father of all drives psychology drives anyways that says what do I do about this really what it says is how do I fix this how do I fix this how do I get what it is I think I need to get so that it's not all disturbed in here or so it won't be all disturbed in here or so that it wasn't all disturbed in here how can you make it so it wasn't all disturbing I get someone to apologize even trying to make it so that which happened before didn't happen well you can't but if they say they're sorry it makes it better than if you point out to him what they did wrong and so they'll never do it again it gets quieter doesn't it you're still trying to fix already happen and you're trying to make sure that it doesn't happen and you're trying to fix what is happening it's all about fixing it you gotta get very clear to see that see what you do see if I were to say to you you always wanted to get a relationship you're always wanting to get more money you're always wanting to get people to be nice to you that's how you decided to fix it that's not the core the core is how do I fix it and you said well I gotta have children you said I gotta get married you said I gotta find someone who loves me you said I gotta lose some weight you said I gotta look prettier you said I got to get this got a move I got what are those things those are the things you decided needed to happen as how you're gonna fix it but when you go deep that's not where you hang out that's just surface noise there's all this energy inside and the slightest theme from outside drops in and like a leaf falling into a lake that's still it creates all these ripples and then the ripples hit the ripples and you're not okay and then underneath it all becomes this underlying Drive urge impulse to fix it to fix it to fix it you