I look behind and after
And find that all is right,
In my deepest sorrows
There is a soul of light
---Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902)
Here yesterday, the sky was overcast-- a cool but gray day, the morning with a slight mist. The dark clouds were followed by a portend of autumn, progressing to a foreboding Pandemic winter. This cloudiness, supported with a weary dose of morning news, spread sluggishness to my thoughts. The news was highlighting tragic stories, mainly of the Covid-19 surges and an array of conflicting opinions, with a tiny sprinkling of encouragement. Yet on a short walk, I found people out and about, friendly and commenting on the refreshing weather! Then it hit me what a blessing this weather was: the cool, humid, cloudy day offered protection where a year ago, fire had exploded and began to creep down the mountain. Elsewhere in the state, firefighters that had battled last year's fire and won, were now expending all their skill and resources to save other communities. I had missed the obvious gift of the weather, while tangled in the Pandemic mood.
I sat down for an hour of meditation to reconcile all this on the inner level. After 47 years of meditation practice, I know the key for me and the key is choice. It's not easy to describe and I think it is better to not describe, especially for those who are new to meditation practice. If you invest the time in practice--by whatever technique--meditation will begin to function and essentially teach you. Too little consistency and that process will dwindle. Too much adherence to technique will sap the natural movement of the process, forcing it along unnatural paths. For me now, meditation involves a shift from 'ordinary, in-the-world consciousness' to 'expansive conscious' (although to name either is misleading), and this shift, as a practice, is a choice. There are other circumstances where choice is not the right word, but for daily practice it is. Yesterday, I teetered between the gloomy morning and the morning of grace, until I was ready to let go of the world's struggle and accept the grace of the moment.
In the Buddhist Sutras, Buddha gives advice to the monk Sona, who is struggling with monastic spiritual practice. Buddha compares the effort as being like the musical strings of the Indian vina, which are sometimes too tight and sometimes too slack. Buddha: “Now what do you think, Sona. Before, when you were a house-dweller, were you skilled at playing the vina?” Sona: “Yes, lord.”
Buddha: “And what do you think: when the strings of your vina were too taut, was your vina in tune & playable?” Sona: “No, lord.”Buddha: “And what do you think: when the strings of your vina were too loose, was your vina in tune & playable?” Sona: “No, lord.”“And what do you think: when the strings of your vina were neither too taut nor too loose, but tuned to be right on pitch, was your vina in tune & playable?” Sona: “Yes, lord.”
Buddha: “In the same way, Sona, over-aroused persistence leads to restlessness, overly slack persistence leads to laziness. Thus you should determine the right pitch for your persistence, attune the pitch of the faculties, and there take up the object [of meditation].”
When I finished the meditation, the day was lighter. I decided to write this post for Sunday. When I finished this, I looked out to a clear blue sky. (Susan Nettleton)
(gratitude to Bodhipaksa and "real Buddha Quotes")
