Over the history of earth’s cultures most every nation of people has dealt with disaster, disease and destruction. We have enjoyed a time of relative peace while in other places so much conflict and suffering continue. Beauty is often wiped out in the world by disasters. People begin to struggle with their circumstances.
All through these times all people whether it is suffering they face or the abundance of choice and material wealth, they continue to make choices, either to nurture what is important and eternal or to hold onto desires and feelings that enslave them. Some endure intolerable pain over long periods of time, some excruciating pain in moments, some never experience contentment and are always wishing they had more. Our current COVD struggle exacerbates all that is out of balance, all that arises from bad thinking, driven by fear, greed, anger and everything that makes us lose our way. Body, mind and heart can suffer from disassociation caused by losing one’s center.
The body can start to crave foods through stress that lead to stiffness, tension and discomfort. The mind can reach out and clutch at opinions, beliefs, to stave the discomfort of uncertainty. The heart can shut down and navigate life in a smaller and smaller arena of feeling.
Peace nourishes sound thinking. All throughout history those who strive towards an enlightenment, the eternal, a connection with the universal intelligence regard the breath as a door, a pathway to liberate the heart, the spirit from the impermanent fluctuations of desire and ego. The real core of certainty is felt in a complete and perfect accord with the universal intelligence.
It is a gathering of one’s energy, turning it inward to concentrate. Singing, breathing, dancing, cooking, walking. When it is done with the whole being it is an act of meditation and connection with the present. It nurtures the spirit. It builds a momentum of energy that flows into an ever-expanding capacity to connect with the source of intelligence. When there is no certainty in the outer world, turning inward, connecting with the breath, with music, with art, with movement re-engages the inner compass toward peace and contentment. It helps us navigate the challenges in this world in a much more balanced way.
It lets us move beyond belief and opinion into experience and knowledge. Knowledge of who we are.
Gathering, accepting, encountering the immovable and unsustainable attachments we have lead to self- awareness and out of dark places. When we are with ourselves, when we are in connection with our breath, our movement, our feeling, in peace, we can navigate better through the impermanent sirens of the ego and desire. Losing ourselves in the mirage of life leading to a thirsty death of the spirit is our choice. Or finding ourselves again through breath, through identifying the elements within us that attach us to negative behaviors and making the choice to let go of them and seek the positive way to be is our choice.
