I did not want to get out of bed at first this morning. The sharp claws of dawn’s chill air raked across my skin under the gap at the edge of my quilt. Huddling quietly in a fetal ball, stretching my strained back, I contemplated my world. What is this thing called “my life”? A flowing river of changes, challenges, opportunities, of meetings and partings, pleasures and pains, gains and losses, praise and blame.
A plane on final approach passes overhead. People in the sky, and everywhere around the planet, are on the move. I wonder how many of them are happy? Truly happy? Do we wake up in the morning thinking about money? Or obsessed about the person or situation we are going through a difficult transition with? Feeling fear and dread of the future? I’ve stumbled through all of these dark passages – and still do at times, though my navigational tool kit has all the technology needed to soar above the clouds into the sea of love and light. I only need to remember to turn it on, to keep converting information and knowledge into wisdom.
Practice. With every breath, we can practice. Practice being aware of the preciousness of life, the opportunities to expand our heart, experience peace, and share that with others. This current life story merely labelled I, me, Jordan, will end one day – could be today, or in fifty years, I don’t know. But it will end, that much is sure. And when that moment arrives, the number of toys, relationships, and ego-experiences I’ve accumulated won’t matter. The only thing that will matter is the tranquility and clarity of my mind. Think about that. Does it make sense? Because if it does, this truth holds radical implications for how we live our lives in this present moment (the only moment that exists). This message is buried beneath our cultural conditioning in the high speed, consumer oriented 21st century lives we mostly lead.
I release myself from my fetal ball and my low back breathes a sigh of relaxation. The warmth of my quilt is still enticing me to curl up, but I know it will bring into focus my spiritual horizon if I get up and sit in meditation for a while. Meditation is both a practice of stilling the mind, but also, bringing into focus our spiritual goals, and contemplating the deep truths that help us live in harmony – like the truth of a universe of constant change. Our bodies, our thoughts, our world – everything is in motion.
When with your eye of wisdom, you behold the still-point at the center of this motion, then you are on the path of perfection. Acupuncture is one method to realize this stillness in motion. The breath is another. Life is full of opportunities to wake up! May all beings realize the truth of non-duality and share their enlightened heart with all sentient beings.