With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
In the time it takes to take a breath we are at peace. I often draw a breath and release it slowly, deliberately, experiencing the universe as myself. I do this so often, that nearly every breath is so. My Little Honey, when she notices a moment of breath practice, thinks I am zoning out or even sleepy, but just the opposite is in fact the case.
In the time it takes to touch a page of the book you are reading, the paper you are handling, or the desk you might be sitting at, you are experiencing the universe. When we experience the trees, the sun, the rain, the many hands and many lives that are right there coursing through our fingertips, we are One and at peace, even in the midst of conflict, challenge, or change.
In Zen, we practice to make these small awakenings a constant flow of consciousness. In Judaism, we are taught to be awake, to recite a blessing at new sights, at the taste of each type of food, and at the experiences of living throughout the day. Some say we should recite a hundred such blessings a day.
We experience through our practice that "Big Mind" or "Universal Consciousness" or "God" is always present in every particle of the universe. This includes the "Small Mind", the "particular", or "relative" universe, the universe of the everyday, the mundane or as we sometimes say, the "profane". In short, there is no space or time where the Absolute is not. Our practice is to expand our awareness of this experience, to open our perceived duality and experience our interconnectivity in each and every moment of our lives. This is a challenging practice.
Be well.
