Silence
It is silent in the middle of the river. And very peaceful...I paddled and gave thanks for many blessings, and especially for all those who came last night to my inaugural yoga class at my new home and studio.
I wanted to go down to the river early, but I had a couple of appointments, so I went around noon. It was overcast, and for a while there wasn't anyone else around on the river...
There were moments when I seemed in the flow - with the paddling, with the water, with the breathtaking scenery...We were one... On occasion, the paddling felt effortless - there was a gentle rhythm. I likened it to working on a yoga pose - sometimes for years - a pose like handstand which can elicit so much fear and be so difficult - until one day you nail it and then over time it becomes light and exhilarating instead. Perhaps some day, paddling would become like that...
I paddled upstream for a long time then floated - closed my eyes and delighted in the silence. I thought of Thomas Merton, who wrote:
There is so much noise and so many distractions in everyday life and people get so caught up in it, and life just passes one by. Silence enables us to hear more deeply. Silence enables us to connect with God. In fact, Yogananda often wrote that God loves silence and the more silent we are - the more the Divine approaches and penetrates us.
These beautiful words from a Vasant Lad poem from his book, Strands of Eternity also came to mind:
In the silence - in the middle of the river as I floated downstream my heart felt pregnant with God and one with everything...
I wanted to go down to the river early, but I had a couple of appointments, so I went around noon. It was overcast, and for a while there wasn't anyone else around on the river...
There were moments when I seemed in the flow - with the paddling, with the water, with the breathtaking scenery...We were one... On occasion, the paddling felt effortless - there was a gentle rhythm. I likened it to working on a yoga pose - sometimes for years - a pose like handstand which can elicit so much fear and be so difficult - until one day you nail it and then over time it becomes light and exhilarating instead. Perhaps some day, paddling would become like that...
I paddled upstream for a long time then floated - closed my eyes and delighted in the silence. I thought of Thomas Merton, who wrote:
"In the deep silence,
wisdom begins to sing her unending,
sunlit, inexpressible song:
the private song she speaks
to the solitary soul."
wisdom begins to sing her unending,
sunlit, inexpressible song:
the private song she speaks
to the solitary soul."
There is so much noise and so many distractions in everyday life and people get so caught up in it, and life just passes one by. Silence enables us to hear more deeply. Silence enables us to connect with God. In fact, Yogananda often wrote that God loves silence and the more silent we are - the more the Divine approaches and penetrates us.
These beautiful words from a Vasant Lad poem from his book, Strands of Eternity also came to mind:
"Your heart is a womb
that longs to become pregnant with God...
Become pregnant with God.
Do not look outside yourself.
No one can enlighten you.
Even the guru is just a mirror...
God is beating in your heart.
God is breathing in your lungs.
God is feeling through your mind.
God is working in your body at every moment,
but you are not aware...
You and God are inseparable..."
that longs to become pregnant with God...
Become pregnant with God.
Do not look outside yourself.
No one can enlighten you.
Even the guru is just a mirror...
God is beating in your heart.
God is breathing in your lungs.
God is feeling through your mind.
God is working in your body at every moment,
but you are not aware...
You and God are inseparable..."
In the silence - in the middle of the river as I floated downstream my heart felt pregnant with God and one with everything...
Comments