you already know

The great teachings unanimously emphasize that all the peace, wisdom, and joy in the universe are already within us; we don’t have to gain, develop, or attain them. We’re like a child standing in a beautiful park with his eyes shut tight. We don’t need to imagine trees, flowers, deer, birds, and sky; we merely need to open our eyes and realize what is already here, who we really are.
Bo Lozoff

Anticipating the President’s words tonight, needing to turn off CNN, today, my mind keeps returning to peace. Wanting to just sit and be present to this need for peace. The need to share it and embody it. The need to send it out into the world. I came across the above quote and am thinking about how I often say, internally and to others, “…you already know.” We do know. It is in us. This knowledge lives inside us; we just have to be quiet enough to listen.

How do we do this? Find that space to sit in the quiet? One way is to let go of the fear. The fear of what sitting in the quiet might invite. The fear that we may not hear what we want to hear. The fear that we might not hear anything at all. The fear that we might have to change, grow, push ourselves. The fear that we will have to actually do something…something different…something difficult.

During two conversations with friends this week, I found my way to saying what was really on my mind when asked. I found myself being present and aware of myself enough to share who I really am. I found myself listening to my inner truth so that I could then share it aloud. This wisdom that is already inside of me, I am beginning to trust it as I begin to slightly let go of the need for disclaimers and the fear of judgement and just share the truth.

As I thought about these two conversations, I recognized that I feel lighter. I realized that in both instances, each party was coming from a place of peace and knowledge of their own inner wisdom. I sensed that I could trust the other person enough to share my own truth and they sensed that they could trust me. A conversation between two people who were simply open to wanting to know more, listen more, be honest more.

Sitting in the quiet and being open to the lessons that come from within…this is how we find our way. This is how we tap into the knowledge that we already have. It lives in us because we breathe it in with each inhalation, we tap into it with each turn of the earth, we open up to it with each step on our path. We just have to open our eyes, listen, reach out, breathe, and sit still long enough to recognize it.

Join me right now in sitting in the quiet for a moment, tapping into the peace within you.
Take a breath.
Then another.
Then another.
And then send the peace out into the world, remembering that it always lives within you.

a shower

One of my favorite places to be is the shower. I close the shower curtain behind me and close out the world. It sometimes feels like the only place where I am myself and alone. No email, no phone calls, no pulling from the rest of the world.

When I am in the shower, I brainstorm and think and think and think and sing and meditate and chant and let the hot water beat against my back and stretch and sometimes sob and remember and try to forget and think some more. I also, sometimes, allow myself to let go and simply breathe…to simply be present in the moment with the water streaming over all of me.

This afternoon, I found myself thinking about my yoga class tonight; thinking about the intention I want to bring to the class. My thoughts turned to chanting and I suddenly started chanting to Ganesh. A mantra chant to the elephant god who is the destroyer of obstacles and represented by Om. The sounds swirled around me as I chanted a bit louder with each repetition. My thoughts shifted a bit and it was as though I was chanting this for all the people I know. Then as I continued, louder, sound vibrating off the walls of the shower, it was as though I was chanting for the world. As I lifted my arms above my head, this chant that creates space in my body and helps me tap into hope and determination became a chant to create these things for the world.

The coolness of the water moved we away from my focused singing, and I slowly quieted my voice. I picked up the soap and turned it around and around, between my pruned fingers, until the suds were thick. I soaped up my body with the intention of cleansing anything that came up during my chant. Then I let the water rinse it all away.

An unusual shower experience, but one that brought me out of my head and into a new, peaceful space.