Each morning my view is the same but always in a very different way. Some mornings, the sky is a sharp clear blue, providing a backdrop for the mountain range. Some mornings will look like that but there will be rolls of clouds settled in the valleys like huge cotton balls. Some mornings the fog is so thick the only things visible are the nearby trees. The view is a kaleidoscope of shapes, colors and patterns changing by the mirrors of light and movement over time. A wonderful toy for enjoying and appreciating the dynamic flow of life.
Rain on the tin roof,
Morning fog on mountain ridge,
Mediate as one.
This was another exceptional morning, quiet, with fog and gentle rain. I love the sound of rain on a tin roof. It brings good memories of my grandfather. Each drop, a musical note in a symphony conducted by Mother Nature; each symphony an original composition. While at the same time the overarching quietness, so present it strokes my skin, penetrating each layer as it reaches my heart. Once there the calmness of peace glows throughout my body.
When we first moved in this house the silence was almost overwhelming, deafening if that makes any sense. It was so intense for a couple of days that it was oppressive. The absence of white noise created by outside distractions meant the focus of my awareness came to rest, more and more, on me which confused my mind a great deal. This focus on self was not of the nature of self-centeredness but one of awareness of the relationship between myself and the environment. With less to distract me from the outside, there was more opportunity to know myself.
When I was young I read a lot. One of my favorite books was “Stranger in a Strange Land,” by Robert A. Heinlein. It is a story of a human who is raised by aliens and then returns to earth. Genetically he is human, but he is an alien in all of his behaviors and thoughts. Through this character, Heinlein, introduces the word “grok”. “Grok means to understand so thoroughly that the observer becomes a part of the observed – to merge, blend, intermarry, lose identity in group experience.” I have always loved that word and understood that he believed that we raised on earth could not “grok” due to the belief systems we start building at birth.
In my own human way I am working on incorporating this way of experiencing the world into my life. It is not easy as it means experiencing and accepting the world the way it is, not the way I believe it is, or want it to be, but the way it is. This includes acknowledging, understanding and accepting my interdependence with my total environment in the present time.
Becoming part of the fog, the rain on the roof and the silence is this process in action.
And the quiet is so quiet. That is the way.