Tuesday, December 27, 2011

The Beauty of it


The Book of Awakening
By Mark Nepo

If al I have is Now, where will I look for joy.

Without hope for the future, without hope that things will change, with no hope of finding what’s been lost, and no hope of restoring the past, with only the risk to crack open all that has hardened about me, what will I do with what I have?

At first, this might seen scary or sad, but as a tired swimmer comes ashore surprised to find pearls washing though his legs, I lift my tired head again and again to find all I need is right where I am.

But being human, I stray and dream of lives other than my own, and soon I am busy wanting something else, somewhere else, someone else; busy imagining something just out of reach to strive for.

It leads me to say if you are unhappy or in pain, nothing will remove these surfaces. But acceptance and a strong heart will crack them like a shell, exposing a softness that has always been, exposing a soft thing waiting to take form. It glows. I think it is the one spirit we all share.

·        Center yourself, and with your eyes closed, imagine what you want.
·        Breathe slowly, and with your eyes open realize what you have.
·        Reverse the process. Close your eyes and realize what you have. Now breathe slowly and with you eyes open, imagine what you want.
·        Keep doing this until what you want and what you have start to become the same thing.

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