Perspective
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
This morning I've opened my window in the zendo. While the forecast suggests it will reach 96 degrees today, it is currently a refreshing 66. Such a temperature is an invitation to open the windows and let the outside in.
This reminds me of our breath as we practice meditation. Our awareness on our breath is an awareness of our universe in process. It is also an awareness on non-duality. As the "outside" air comes in, at what point is it no longer "outside"? As our breath exhales, at what point is it no longer "inside"? The processes that occur "inside" our lungs allow outside to become inside and inside to become outside, yet, in truth, the more we sit with this, the more we recognize the arbitrariness of such a line. At this point, "inside" and "outside" become what they truly are, "one" and our duality resolves.
Appearances are deceiving. If we examine a photograph in a newspaper very closely, we see it is just a set a dots clustered close together, but dots, none-the-less. So too, our bodies: molecules in relative proximity, that with distance, appear to be solid. When looked at even more closely, the space between the atoms, and even more closely, the space between the particles, is vast, infinitely vast. We might say there can be no absolute "in" and no absolute "out", as even the "edge" of the universe has another side.
So, we might at this point say, so what?
We, if there in no inside, no outside, no absolute edge to anything, then where do we begin?
And if there is nothing but a relative beginning and this relative beginning is only a convenience of perspective, if suggests that there really is no "I" apart from "you" or anything else.
Again, so what?
If I nurture myself, who am I nurturing? If I nurture another, who am I nurturing? If I harm myself, who am I harming, if I harm another, who am I harming?
More directly, each of us is dependent on others for our existence. We all exist in relationship to each other. Don't believe me? Try to live without the assistance of others. That means: no food, no water, no bed, no clothes, no house, no car, no gasoline, no computer, no books, no puppies, no flowers, no rain, no sunshine. Regardless of the type of relationship we believe we have, it is still a relationship, and clearly, we depend on it for our very existence, even our awareness of ourselves.
So, the next time we consider war or peace or the next time we consider the food we are about to eat, we should consider where it comes from, what its purpose is, and how it might affect our relationship to others. Which means, ultimately, ourselves.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
This morning I've opened my window in the zendo. While the forecast suggests it will reach 96 degrees today, it is currently a refreshing 66. Such a temperature is an invitation to open the windows and let the outside in.
This reminds me of our breath as we practice meditation. Our awareness on our breath is an awareness of our universe in process. It is also an awareness on non-duality. As the "outside" air comes in, at what point is it no longer "outside"? As our breath exhales, at what point is it no longer "inside"? The processes that occur "inside" our lungs allow outside to become inside and inside to become outside, yet, in truth, the more we sit with this, the more we recognize the arbitrariness of such a line. At this point, "inside" and "outside" become what they truly are, "one" and our duality resolves.
Appearances are deceiving. If we examine a photograph in a newspaper very closely, we see it is just a set a dots clustered close together, but dots, none-the-less. So too, our bodies: molecules in relative proximity, that with distance, appear to be solid. When looked at even more closely, the space between the atoms, and even more closely, the space between the particles, is vast, infinitely vast. We might say there can be no absolute "in" and no absolute "out", as even the "edge" of the universe has another side.
So, we might at this point say, so what?
We, if there in no inside, no outside, no absolute edge to anything, then where do we begin?
And if there is nothing but a relative beginning and this relative beginning is only a convenience of perspective, if suggests that there really is no "I" apart from "you" or anything else.
Again, so what?
If I nurture myself, who am I nurturing? If I nurture another, who am I nurturing? If I harm myself, who am I harming, if I harm another, who am I harming?
More directly, each of us is dependent on others for our existence. We all exist in relationship to each other. Don't believe me? Try to live without the assistance of others. That means: no food, no water, no bed, no clothes, no house, no car, no gasoline, no computer, no books, no puppies, no flowers, no rain, no sunshine. Regardless of the type of relationship we believe we have, it is still a relationship, and clearly, we depend on it for our very existence, even our awareness of ourselves.
So, the next time we consider war or peace or the next time we consider the food we are about to eat, we should consider where it comes from, what its purpose is, and how it might affect our relationship to others. Which means, ultimately, ourselves.
Be well.