Early one morning, I went down to the shoreline, settled on a large flat rock and watched the play of light on the water, and the dancing reflection on the stone. Mesmerized by what I saw, I began to listen…
What you observe must never be in frozen isolation. An array of different elements are always ‘at play’ in anything you witness. The rock is not impervious to the ribbons of light dancing on its face like an alive musical score. It has been a dawn-greeting stone for millennia, through high and low water, its face never exactly the same, though swift appearances would dictate otherwise.
The ability to be present to the interplay between the elements is a form of alchemy. Attentive awareness adds an element of participatory aliveness to the entire scenario. Can you maintain your breathing attentiveness with an ever-expanding lens of soft presence to include the slight chill of the breeze, the movement of the plants near your feet, the gentle lift of the water over the stones beside you, the slight shift to where the crickets are singing now? Everything is literally in-touch with everything else. Your presence and wide-angle attentiveness puts you in touch too. From this place, your breath is a blessing.
