My Life as a Meditation

Zazen (sitting meditation) was never my forte. Yes, I know it is at the center as a practice for most eastern religions. Yes, I did try and I had some interesting out-of-body like experiences.

But, by far, my most cherished meditative moments have happened when I was not even setting out to experience anything of the sort. For many years is would run 5 miles or more every day. After a while I began to notice that time was disappearing during these hours while I was gone and yet I could remember perfectly every step. For me an hour seemed to have been compressed into a few minutes.

I am always gratified when spiritual teachers point out that doing chores like washing dishes provides an opportunity to be in a meditation as this has been my experience.

In this moment-to-moment waking meditation, the sights and sounds that make up my experience are not intrusions into my private space but an integral part of all that is. In this state of consciousness I too become part of this intricate tapestry of experience that unfolds anew out of nothing into existence each moment.

As my attachment to the belief that I can know and control the future dissolves away, my feelings of fear and concern are replaced by wonder and awe at the vast limitlessness that I am. Seen as part of eternity, no concerns are worth dwelling upon, no moments need be spent in dread or upset. It is only my belief that the future is determined by the past that has anything persist in my reality.

For the eternal present moment is the only place where I can truly be alive. It is the only place where you and I can truly meet.

As with any meditation practice, my mind will wander, not just for minutes or seconds, but also for days or even months as fears and doubts creep in and I insist on having life be the way I want it instead of accepting it the way it is. I will need to gently, and with love, put myself back on the path, come back to re-experience the I AM-ness that dispels the darkness and the illusion of separateness.

This is what my life looks like as a meditation.