The great blizzard of 2011 has hit here in Illinois, and some are calling it Snowmaggedon. Forty mile an hour winds with four to five foot high snow drifts!
As I sat in meditation last night, I could hear the wind howling as the blizzard moved in with incredible force.
I tried to be mindful of how connected I was to this event that was outside, yet I was fully aware that I was safe and warm inside my home.
I became aware that the storm outside was not so different than the storm I had inside my mind. I could see that this storm will pass, just as my thoughts will pass. I realized too, that once this storm is gone from my area, it is not gone from existence. I accepted this, and could see that many others in different towns will likely soon feel the effects of this storm. Acceptance, connection, impermanence, were all coming to mind in this moment. But most importantly I was being an observer. I cannot control or stop this storm. I cannot keep it from effecting so many others. I can only be mindful and accepting of this reality, this nature.
This too I believe is our nature, my nature.
Storms come and go, temperatures may be freezing cold or sweltering hot. But this is nature, and how are we any different?
We are only different in that we suffer the illusion of thinking we can change or control the nature of anything.
Learning to observe ones own nature, as it rises and falls. Without desire to control or change it. This is mindfulness; this is the cessation of suffering.
So I say, let it snow! Let it rain, let it shine, let the winds blow. I am alive, I am happy.
What a wonderful day to be fully present.
May you be warm, safe, well happy and peaceful.
