It turns out that we don't have to succumb to the
addictive appeals of external absorptions in
entertainment and passionate distraction. We can
develop other habits that bring us back to that
elemental yearning inside ourselves for warmth,
stillness, and inner peace. When we sit with our
breathing, for instance, it is much like sitting by fire.
Looking deeply into the breath, we can see at least
as much as in glowing coals and embers and flames,
reflections of our own mind dancing. A certain warmth
is generated, too. And if we are truly not trying to get
anywhere but simply allow ourselves to be here in
this moment as it is, we can stumble easily upon an
ancient stillness - behind and within the play of our
thoughts and feelings - that in a simpler time, people
found in sitting by the fire.
Harmony
As I pull into the parking lot of the hospital, several
hundred geese pass overhead. They are flying high
and I do not hear their honking. What strikes me first
is that they clearly know where they are going. They
are flying northwest, and there are so many of them