Every morning is darker.
My eyes flutter open and I can’t tell if it is still night or early morning.
What is 5:24?
It must be morning, because I am excited to begin this new day, a whole new day of life, even before it breaks.
I creep out of bed, finish the glass of water on my nightstand, pet Betsy, who is also excited for the day to begin, and find my way to my meditation cushion.
In darkness, I light a candle.
I om.
I sit in silence…
on a date with the Divine.
My meditation practice has ebbed and flowed during my adult life. At times it receded so far, I couldn’t catch sight of it. But just as a tsunami swallows the ocean before releasing a tidal wave, it has returned with power and awe. Right now my practice flows. It gushes. It rushes. It waterfalls all over me until it soaks me through and though.
In short, I am in love.
What I mean by that is not that I am having a love affair, although there is that aspect too: the blushing anticipation, the candlelight. What I mean is that through meditation I am inside of Love, the universal energy connecting us all. Let me tell you, it is a spectacular place to be.
Every morning when I wake, I choose to place thoughts of worry, concern, and strategy to the side. There is a time and place to address problems, but when I fail to practice meditation, my problems tend to be everywhere all the time. Sound familiar? It is a wasteful energy drain that doesn’t bring solutions any quicker than a more measured approach.
In setting my thoughts to the side, I set myself free. I open my heart and mind to that ever-waiting, always present, universal energy. I allow myself to connect with what I sometimes call the Divine, or God, or the Universe. Whatever the name, it feels the same. It is the underlying current of Love I have felt since I was a child.
It is bigger than me. It is me.
It is bigger than life. It is life.
A few weeks ago the incredible kirtan musician Krishna Das, posted this message on facebook:
Through this practice, the things that we need come to us, and the things that don’t benefit us, leave. ~ Krishna Das
Those words have already manifested themselves in my life in numerous ways. Ideas, inspiration, opportunities, and even much-needed cash have plopped into my life in a miraculous way. A midnight hour solution out of the blue saved the closure of libraries in my community, something that had deeply troubled me. Anger, impatience, and stress seemed to have silently dissolved when I wasn’t watching. The problems I set aside in order to meditate each day are suddenly solvable, not overwhelming.
More and more I see our society turning away from spirituality. We look to psychology to understand our feelings, neuroscience to understand our thinking, medicine to solve what ails us. In our day-today life we use practical, problem-solving, management techniques to help us make sense of our messy lives.
Our problems would be better addressed on the spiritual plane. Our hearts feel broken, because we are disconnected. Our lives seem broken, because we are disconnected. Our society seems broken, because we are disconnected.
Do you know how the Catholic Church defines hell? Not as a fiery destination, but simply as separated from God.
There is wisdom in that.
The times in our life when we despair the most are the times when we have lost our center. We feel adrift and afraid. We have lost our connection with the Divine. Ordinary people can suffer outrageous indignities, but remain intact human beings when they stay connected to the Divine. Privileged people can live lives of luxury with deep veins of unhappiness when they are not connected with the Divine.
I know it doesn’t look like much of a solution to world and personal crises to just sit down, be quiet, and breathe, but how is scurrying around and screaming our heads off any more productive?
Important activities take place on the subtle level. When we are asleep our bodies heal and our brains process new information into concrete knowledge. When we hold a fussy baby in our arms, she calms down. Eyes communicate silently before words ever reach lovers’ lips.
The subtle world is just as real as the gross world.
Let this be your invitation:
Come, sit, and breathe.
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