Something Happened - It Was Nothing

Something happened yesterday. I barely moved… didn’t read or listen to much of the CD's I checked out of the library. I didn’t write either. I just sat. I watched yet another storm roll in. The thunder clapped for a continuous ½ hour. I meditated, and meditated some more. I listened to the rain turn to hail pinging on the roof and watched the lightening forage through the darkness for the perfect place to transfer its powerful energy. Everything seemed to drop away for a few hours. No desires, no wants or longings. No fears.

Then, as if in synchronicity with the bolt of lightening, a lightening bolt went off inside. This is it. This is what I came here for. Not to read Bernie Glassman or listen to David Whyte or draw or paint or do yoga or stretch with my various colored bands of different tensions. No. None of that.

I experienced what called my soul here. No explanation is adequate or warranted, so I will not attempt to define it any more than I already have. Suffice to say, being, fully exists in not being anything... it exists in everything and it is really nothing at all. (Oh, I can see my Zen teacher now, hand to chin, and an almost audible, hum…)

So a few tears -- a moment of ananda – Sanskrit for bliss… an open heart and a long walk in the light drizzle that persisted for 2 more hours, and then, the unexpected walked across my path. The most elegant and gracious Buck I have ever seen. He paused. Looked me in the eye. Stood his own ground and allowed me the gift of a few pictures.

I realized that the unexpected is worth a thousand words and in the silence... it is even more welcome.

Today, I truly see with new eyes through a lighter heart.

24 Hour Review

Shifts in perception are also known as miracles.

Desert animals prepare for the storm of the day.

The unexpected can be quite refreshing.

Don’t try to be spiritual. Be present.

With eyes of wonder, even a faucet can turn you on.

Even with a heavy load, in nature, you can bear the weight.

Use less toilet paper. Pledge to make conservation your commitment.

No matter where you are, you’ll be somewhere else… now!

No Tivo Radio

While driving on the local Interstate, listening to a great NPR piece by Judy Martin on Flex Time at Work, I became distracted by a billboard. That's nothing new. My thoughts travel faster than a speeding bullet. The Buddhists would say I suffer from "monkey mind" -- my rabbi would say I have an evil inclination that lurks in the mind of the lower soul known as the Nefesh. A wandering mind doesn't make me a bad person... it makes me human.

So along with this being human,come desires. And along with desires, come materialism and all the wonderful advances that technology affords us.

Toying with the idea of getting a Blackberry, a part of me screams... "No, don't get so connected." But isn't that exactly what we are seeing -- to be connected to the source -- to reclaim our divine nature -- our essential identity -- and some peace of mind.

The Course in Miracles tells us that we have never really separated from God or our Divine Source. We are always and already connected. We suffer from the illusion of being separated due to our egos and our individualized identities. Well, knowing it doesn't make this being human any easier.

I love Bob Dylan's line "I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now." Seems the more I know, the more I know -- I don’t really know anything at all. Except-- when I was traveling along the local Interstate the other day and I was distracted by a billboard while listening to a great piece on NPR, I thought, no problem, I'll just rewind.

That's what I do when I TiVo American Idol, I rewind the great songs and fast forward the others. So here I was, readily conditioned in rewind mode, I reached for the radio dial and to my dismay... I realized... I don't have TiVo radio. Do you? Oh well, I always have my mind to keep me occupied...or I can listen to me on Be You Radio. And so can you.. on demand 24/7. You too can fill your mind --- only this time, it's with inspiring interviews with yours truly, Liz Sterling. Check it out!