Bountiful: Metta Returns

Have you ever had one of those days when you felt like shouting, “I want to go home!”

Well, I had one today, and I was at home. Fancy that!

“Where is home?” I asked.

I didn’t know.

Hence, I pulled my loving-kindness practice out of my tool kit, and kept thinking, ‘May I find home, may I find home, may I find it now!’

Then I reflected on past readings and audio talks about what are called the “Divine Abodes,” one of which is loving-kindness.

Ah so! It’s more than just a practice; it’s a place to abide, to dwell.

‘Hmm. This sounds like home to me,’ I concluded.

What followed was, ‘May I dwell in loving-kindness,’ repeated, over and over, and pretty soon I felt much better, and very at home indeed.

Then, I was able to get on with things.

And so, if you are looking for home, it’s probably right here.

It’s so good to be home again. (I wonder how long I will stay this time, and when I will ever learn to just stay home!)

Boundless: Mind Expanding

Today I had an appointment, and they kept me waiting almost an hour.

This was an interesting test of all the skills and practices I have learned to date.

Luckily the chair was fairly comfortable for me, but even so the pain began to creep in, and so did the muscle tension response, and the irritation.

I directed myself to be patient with all of this, and I did some stretching every twenty minutes or so.

The best strategy of all, however, proved to be my reflection on how all the discomfort I was experiencing was but a grain of sand on an infinite beach. I contemplated on what else was happening. From where I was sitting I could see that the sun was going down, but somewhere else in the world I knew the sun was rising. Still elsewhere, it was high noon, and someplace else again it was midnight. Winter is coming on here; spring is blooming there, and in the southern realms summer solstice is on the way. Trillions of beings are being born, growing up, getting old and dying. The earth is rotating on its axis and orbiting the sun. The sun is moving through the galaxy, and the galaxy is rotating with other galaxies, and the universe is expanding at tremendous speed. All of this, and so much more is going on, and I am part of it to too; yet, what I had locked in on before was dis-ease, pain, and muscle tension.

Oh, what a relief! Whenever I can stop identifying with and getting caught up in whatever is happening in ‘little me,’ I can be so free. When I let go of that, I see that there’s really nothing that I need to hold onto.

But then I forget again, of course, and it starts all over. It such a challenge, but I just keep going, one foot at a time.

Bottomless: The Place that Mind Forgets

Thinking, thinking, thinking,
What a way to spend my time.
If I’m not thinking I’m planning,
Or rehearsing, or preparing.

After a while it becomes too much,
“Stop!” I say.
And I stop,
But then start up again
When I’m not looking.

Soon after I wake up,
The mind wants to flit about
Like a child at play;
It can be amusing to watch,
But it can be
Difficult to be mindful,
Amidst the every day.

I get lost in my musings,
Or lost in activity,
And sometimes consumed by
Both simultaneously.

I forget what I’m doing
In the middle of a task,
Or lose track of
Where I’m going,
Or what I’m after when I get there.

This mindfulness business is tricky
There’s no doubt about it.
Just when I’m sure I’ve found it,
I realize I’ve misplaced it,
Or overlooked what else is happening.