This is a 40 minute period in which two people sit facing each other, with one person acting as a listening partner and the other as the contemplating and communicating partner. Every five minutes the roles are reversed and the listening partner becomes the contemplating and communicating partner, and the contemplating partner becomes the listening partner. This continues back and forth for 40 minutes.

The fundamental endeavour in a CCE is repeatedly setting out to directly experience who you are (other questions include: What is another? What is life? or What am I?). As a result of such immediate contemplation, in which you are opening up in this very moment to experience yourself directly, something will come up. By “come up” I mean that some thought, feeling, idea, sensation, memory, or some sort of experience will fill the space of that openness. Or you will directly experience who you are.

Whatever comes up for you when you set out to directly experience yourself — no matter what it is — is communicated to your partner. You get it across to that person honestly, exactly as it is. The listening partner receives it without comment, without judgment, without any kind of feedback at all, subtle or gross. This gives you the freedom and space to communicate anything, without concern about its correctness, how good or bad it looks, or whether or not it will be judged.

When the communication has occurred, you once again set out to experience who you are — contemplating and then communicating what comes up as a result, repeating this process until your five minutes are up. At that time a bell will chime and you will be instructed to reverse roles; you will then become a non-judgmental, open, and silent listening partner for five minutes.