Is there a purpose to meditation? One major action comes to mind: to take the peace derived from the practice and take it with you wherever you go, whatever you do and be.
The life of a meditative focus is to simply embrace the ordinary and mindfully step and breathe until the next time you sit and breathe, recite a mantra, or gaze into the flame of a candle.
Do you mindlessly or mindfully open or close the door? Do you slam books, throw papers, scream at the dog?
Do you ever slam a door?
Get back to the meditation cushion and start again. Enjoy the cascade of flow from one task to the next.
Our Western society is obsessed with sex, money and power, the ultimate distractions from the inevitability of our final breath, we know not when. If we imagine the potential for transformation, we may think it will happen for someone else, and never for ourselves.
As Krishna Das said upon meeting Ram Dass, “I knew what I was searching for was in this world. I may not find it but I knew it was there.”
Look no further than the gentle nature of life itself. When Thich Nhat Hahn witnessed Thomas Merton noiselessly shutting a door, he said Merton was a true monk.
The wisdom of humor and detachment is paramount to a maturity beyond one’s years, bridging duality. This week’s impeachment trial is a case in point. The lies and ignorance that brought us to this point can only allow for a greater acumen to take its place.
As for me, I allow the battle to remain on the battlefield. How many impeachment’s must we endure before we move on to an ethical benevolent political system? OM
