After reading "Changing gears" (my last writing), a friend asked what it meant when I used the quote, "If you only have five minutes to meditate, make sure it is a universe of it's own." She did not know what "universe" meant in the context of meditating and I sensed she felt it was out of reach. Not wanting her to give up, I replied, "It is like swimming, you can't jump off the side of the pool, not knowing how to swim, then say, "Oh shoot, I give up, I can't swim. I'll never get the feel of it." She laughed and said, "Write it."
Indeed, you can't learn to swim by looking at the water, no matter how hot the day, nor can you learn to meditate by not meditating. To swim a person needs to experience the feel of their body in the water, the feel of how buoyancy works, then learn and practice the strokes repeatedly until one is in another "universe" called swimming, quite different from standing on an edge of the pool and looking on.
Swimming is not hard, in fact, it is easy and ordinary after you learn -- so is meditating.
However, one does have to jump in to get the feeling, practice the strokes, take the time to stop, breath, quiet oneself, and try not to think of the daily jobs waiting. En route spirit grows, silent resonance begins, feeling is evoked, then arrival -- meditating, a sacred place.
photo source: fotolia.com
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