ABSTRACT
This chapter briefly explores being, being oneself, being with oneself, and being with another, in order to be able to continue, hopefully with the idea of being with in a clinical setting, which is the purpose of the exercise. An ability to discern the shift from being to doing is a good way of protecting oneself from compulsive action. Being a specific thing is more like doing or having because it requires temporal stability. Mindfulness has been described as maintaining oneself in the being mode. The chapter describes being with as being in the company of another. The importance of silence in being with becomes obvious when one considers its opposite. Condescension is a particularly noxious manifestation of the phony because it denies so utterly the subjective agenda and drama of being a child. Compassion is an important feature of being with. This almost goes without saying when one considers the origins of the word compassion.
