This Sunday, I am reflecting on a quote by Canadian songwriter and musician Leonard Cohen.(1934-2016):
If you don't become the ocean,
you'll be seasick every day.
Written years before the Pandemic, Cohen captures the essence of the ultimate spiritual solution to the upheaval and anxiety of life in 2021. Though he remained faithful to the practice of Judaism his entire life, he never saw his religion as a block to deep appreciation of other spiritual traditions. He studied Zen for many years, including 5 years in seclusion at Mount Baldy Zen Center, and was ordained as a Buddhist priest. This little proverb is testimony to his years in Zen; yet points to a universal principle.
These years of Pandemic have been as tumultuous as any ocean storm, demanding that we interpret and personally process new information daily--not just regarding our personal or family health but the changing ground that impacts different streams of community and global conditions. While we can override the mounting stressors that toss and turn us, using the vast coping techniques modern life offers us--including daily spiritual practices--we can get caught in a mind set that spirituality is about managing our emotions, managing our anxious/resentful/despairing or resistant thoughts, and/or keeping our physical bodies healthy, tension-free and strong. These are all potentially useful goals, but they fall short of a larger spiritual awakening. We are treating the sea-sickness; when the larger reality reveals we are the ocean.
This takes us to the root of spirituality, Oneness. This is not an abstract, vague idea or belief in the unity of life. This is personal identification with the wholeness of life. You are that ocean that is tossing the massive ships and the people and things within them, up and about. To "become that" is not an act of will or choice or reasoning. You ARE that. The "becoming" is in the recognition. That is why it is called Awakening. (Susan Nettleton)
for further insight, follow the link to "Oceans" by Juan Ramón Jiménez: