Today's
Quotation:
One does not need to fast for days and
meditate for hours
at a time to experience the sense of
sublime mystery
which constantly envelops us.
All one need do is to notice
intelligently, if even
for a brief moment, a blossoming tree,
a forest flooded with
autumn colors, an infant smiling.
Simon Greenberg
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Today's
Meditation:
Can
we keep our eyes and minds and hearts open enough to see the
marvels of the world that surround us all the time? If
we can do so, how will our lives change for the
better? Somehow, we tend to think that seeing beyond
the "day-to-day ordinary" things is an ability
that's reserved for those people who have dedicated their
lives to spirituality and meditation and prayer, but nothing
could be further from the truth. Life tells us all the
time that it's deeper than we see on the surface, and all we need to do to start seeing beneath that surface is
to start paying attention.
Sometimes
I stare at one of my hands or a finger, and I start to think
of the muscles and tendons that are in there to allow it to move. Then I think of the blood
vessels-- the arteries,
veins, and capillaries-- that bring blood to it so that the
flesh stays alive. Then I start to think of the
electrical impulses that come from my brain and travel
through my central nervous system that allow me to bend my
fingers and open and close my hand to any degree that I
wish, at almost any speed that I wish. And then I
think of the free will that I have that causes the thoughts
that make me want to do those things.
When
all is said and done, the whole process is so amazing that
it's almost overwhelming.
We
are surrounded by beauty and mystery, and it's patiently
waiting for us to notice it and to learn from it. We
can do so by paying attention, by gazing intently and
allowing the object of our gaze to be what it is, not what
we expect it to be or think that it should be. Life
gives us plenty of wonderful gifts, and it's up to us to
notice them and enjoy them and learn from them how wonderful
life is.
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