June 16th

Meditation

Sit still and disengage normal activities.
Draw energy from the earth,
Admit power from the heavens.
Fertilize the seed within;
Let it sprout into a flower of pure light.
And let brightness open the top of your head:
Divine light will come pouring in.
Your mind is empty,
Light seeps into your whole body.
Sitting cross-legged, with hands clasped,
As if trying to embrace the brilliant flood,
Your skin turns transparent.
How can a bag of skin hold divine magnitude?
Your last vestiges burn away in a torrent of infinity.

Only after indeterminate time do you return.
Flesh, blood, bone.
Were you gone? Or were you never here in the first place?
Where is the torrent?
It is not gone;
You've only closed to it once more.

Personal Interpretation

There are many misconceptions about the act of meditation. It need not last for hours at a time or involve elaborate ritual. The important thing is to regulate breathing and allow Tao to enter. We have to let go of our worries from time to time, disengage from all activity, rejoice in the beauty of solitude, reconnect with all that is. It is by letting go that we hold onto ourselves best in a world that is increasingly fast-paced and chaotic. There is genuine joy in quietude. It might take time to master, but in the end it will make us more capable of living our lives as we see fit.