One small moment of peace

The image of this still and quiet pool caught my eye this morning; I suspect it's because it reflects the difference between today's meditation and yesterday.  Yesterday I was simply trying to escape the relentless pounding of the surf outside my window; the thundering noise and the rattling of the house in response, and all the anxiety that provoked.

But today the seas outside are calm, and so the pool inside is calm as well.

I was reading this morning, in Interspiritual Meditation, a story Ed Bastian tells about having had to live in Varanasi for a year, and how disappointed he was to have to endure the constant clamor and insistent vitality of that noisy, holy, Indian city when he was engaged in such important spiritual work.

But as an experiment, he began, at the end of his meditation periods, to visualize the city and its inhabitants; its noise and its clutter; and try to imagine the peace of his meditation spreading out into that environment.  And what he found was that his own attitude toward the place began to shift.

Ideally that's how meditation should work for each of us: it should be more than simply a quiet respite; should enable us to carry what peace we find out into the world, for the health and happiness of others. I notice that's a should -- and I also notice that I'm not there yet.  But this might be an attempt: I find that peace inside myself, and offer it to you in the form of this peaceful image.

May you find health and happiness and some small moment of peace today -- and here's another something that might help...

Namaste.