|
Near where I used to live was a small pond, maybe an acre at most. I liked to visit the pond every now and then because some of the neighborhood eagles would hang out there; plus, there were red-winged blackbirds who had the gall to try to chase the eagles from the prime perches. And there were salamanders, and dragonflies. And mayflies.
The mayflies would spend almost all of their lives as larvae and nymphs under water, and then hatch in large swarms, clouds, when the time was right. They'd fill the air and cling to everything. They'd mate, lay their eggs in the water, and die on the water's surface. All in one day.
I used to wonder about them: did they sense how short their airborne lives were, did they have any sense of continuity with the rest of their lives spent in the pond as larvae and nymphs? Did their short, day-long airborne lives seem as long and full to them as our lives do for us? Are our lives in reality as short as the mayflies', and is it only our internal persistence of memory and duration that fills our lives out into something more? |
|
|
Have you ever seen a slow motion movie of a lightning strike? Most people think that lightning hits the earth wherever it wants, hitting the highest point in an area, or the best conductor, or whatever—in any case, it's the lightning coming out of the cloud and hitting the earth—the lightning strikes the earth, the earth just sits there. However, if you watch a stop action movie of a lightning strike the whole event looks very different: way before the lightning comes down out of the sky and strikes the earth, the earth sends up what's called a ground leader—you can't see it with your naked eye, but you can see it on a video/movie. This ground leader reaches up from the earth to the sky, and if it's strong enough the lightning "senses" it and connects with it. What you see with your naked eye is only one-half of the event. I wonder if the earth has a desire to reach the sky and sends up the ground leader, and the sky has a desire to reach the earth but can't until a ground leader goes out?
|
|
Mirrors are strange things to me. Whenever I look in a mirror I'm always surprised to see anything there. And when I look in one mirror that's reflecting me from another mirror, I'm even more surprised.
Quite a few years ago I used to do a meditation practice in which I'd sit and gaze at myself in a mirror—not staring, non-blinking—but just looking softly. After a short period of time I'd notice that my face would start to change into other faces, faces I didn't recognize, people I didn't know. If I kept going and didn't get lost in the faces I would eventually see no one in the mirror, as if there were no one looking in the mirror at all. I'd see whatever was behind me; I'd see the room reflected in the mirror as if I weren't there at all, as if I were completely transparent.This would last for several hours afterward, so that I would walk by a mirror and not see anything in it except for the reflection of the room.
|
|
The heart: everything resides there, comes from there, and returns there. Last week I woke up in the middle of the night looking into my heart space—like I was looking into a pool of water—I could see the ripples on the surface, the reflection of the sun, and all of this life moving below the surface—all life moving below the surface. Then I noticed the reflection of the sun on the water once again, and realized I was seeing my own reflection, and laughed. |
|
By pure, infinite unconditional love, I don’t just mean some kind of infinite emotional state, or being in the mood to hug anyone and everyone you meet. To me, pure, infinite unconditional love is the ground, the source and the sustainer of all of creation on all levels. Pure, infinite, unconditional love is the creative force of the Absolute. It is the Absolute being self-aware, it is the Absolute being self-conscious, it is the Absolute interacting with Itself as Itself. Even your awareness of these words, your awareness of sitting at your computer reading these pages, even your self-awareness of these simple things, is the Absolute being aware of Itself. And this whole process is grounded and sustained in pure, infinite, unconditional love.
This is how I experience myself in all aspects of my being: from being the infinite presence that interacts with the Sri Chakra, causing it to vibrate with the Om that manifests all creation, to the guy who still needs to wash last night’s dishes, I am aware that I am the Absolute being aware of Itself. And so are you. It’s my greatest wish that you, and all beings in all worlds, become aware of yourselves in this way. |
|
|
|
|
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 Next > End >>
|
|
Page 1 of 3 |
