I’ve decided to celebrate the end of one career by spending some time at our cabin on an island in Lake Nipissing. The point was to do enough yoga and meditation daily to slow my mind significantly, to sneak a peek at peace, perhaps even to take a tangential nip off the edge of enlightenment.
So, five days later the tally is five hours of yoga and approximately 15 hours of meditation. (I’m with you if that sounds extreme. Intensity was the goal.)
I’m back in town to charge computer batteries, get more water and food, and any Susannah Moodie books the library has in stock.
I saw no concrete results of my meditation until i drove into town on Lakeshore Road this morning (speed limit 60km/hr). At some point i heard honking behind me. In the rear view mirror were six cars in a lineup, two of them honking. This alarmed me (where’s the fire? where are the flashing lights?), until i looked at my speedometer, which read 20 km/hr. I pulled over to let the crazy speed demons pass.
It looks like meditation works.
I’m going back out to the cabin for another week, by which time i might be faster walking into town.
Do you meditate? I’d love to hear.
Thanks, you crazy speed demons,
kristin
Kristin,
I’ve been meditating in one form or another since I was 16. I just celebrated my 49th. The past few years my meditation has evolved into a beautiful, calming and spiritual practice. Just as you were saying in this blog it spills over and brings stillness to the crazy world that surrounds us.
spending more time in solitude and silence this last year or so ,also…….absolutely necessary and wonderful. How can anyone hear truth without it??!!
This is the latest truth arresting me:
“The only true perfection available to us is the honest acceptance of our Imperfection!…..If we MUST have perfection to be happy with ourselves, we have only 2 choices: we can either blind ourselves to our own evil( and deny the weeds) OR we can give up in discouragement (and deny the wheat)…..BUT if we put aside perfection and face the TENSION of having both, then we can hear the good news with open hearts!” It takes uncommon humility to carry the dark side of things….and a kind of courage to carry the good side too. (>Richard Rohr)