Greetings, everyone, from high atop the Colorado Rockies, and a Happy New Year as well! Wow … 2008. Seems like time is just flying by.
Hope Christmas was heartfelt joy for you and yours. I like Christmas and the holiday season; we seem to exhibit the better qualities of our human nature. During these times I hope we still teach our children the traditional lessons of "better to give than to receive." I hope that you, too, still find pleasure in giving of yourselves and the smile it puts on others' faces.
As for me and the missus, well, you just can't beat a Norman Rockwell-esque holiday season in Colorado (also included was two-plus feet of snow and subsequent shoveling—par for the course, of course).
One night recently I was up until 3:00 a.m., doing some reading and enjoying a little quiet time to myself. I turned out the lights to go to bed, revealing just the soft, glowing light from the woodstove downstairs.
I opened the bathroom window, and looked up at the now-clear sky and around at the heavy snow covering everything, lit-up by moonlight. It was quiet. So quiet.
Such silence has a presence, and as you become more aware of it, you become part of it. There was no sound at all, and it was more real than any thought. My awareness shifted; I was part of something immense. My mind was blank, and I was just there, in the window—a moment in time. In fact, there was no time.
A true Mountain Reflection, indeed.
It reminded me of words from the past; from forefathers perceived as "simpler" folk, not as advanced or "progressive" as us modern beings. Lacking the complications and distractions of our technologically-advanced and hurried existences, our predecessors often spoke of a connection with nature or the universe and its timeless importance.
American transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson spoke of his own relationship with the universe in Nature: "Standing on the bare ground—my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space—all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God."
'Tis true, thought I. And yet, still just words describing—or maybe, pointing towards—an event experienced at a level beyond words. But still he must try, as it seems more important than our worldly endeavors. Life seems to suspend as the reminder is given.
Even more powerful were the words of Marcus Aurelius in Meditations (you know, Russell Crowe's mentor who dies early in the movie Gladiator ).
"It is time now to realize the nature of the universe to which you belong, and of that controlling Power whose offspring you are; and to understand that your time has a limit set to it. Use it, then, to advance your enlightenment; or it will be gone, and never in your power again."
Wow. Now you're getting warmer, I thought. The wisdom of the ancients was mighty indeed. I wondered if Marcus stood outside one snowy night, long ago, gazing at the stars as the questions became low whispers and his mind opened up, experience replacing thought.
Maybe I could be poetic and wise, putting down in words such a wonderful experience. "Yes!" my thoughts said, beginning to emerge again. I'll—
But this was not to be. A dog barked in the distance, signaling the drawing of the curtain—the preview was over.
I closed the window and went to bed. I thought about it briefly as I lay there, trying to phrase my new wisdom, but let it go. I didn't want to turn it into something it wasn't. I experienced it, felt it, and now it's passed. There will be other moments, and I will live them as they come.
But it sure is nice to be reminded that I am part of something much bigger; a reminder that our lives are special—there are insights to be learned and paths we must walk. I feel its relevance, and find comfort and goodness in the cycle of life.
I hope all of you find a moment like this—the mental chatter, stilled—and experience the depth of existence and connection with the cosmos.
You can take it with you as you search for deeper meanings about life and the universe.
Until then, be good.
Feeds