Have you ever felt that sense of being part of something much vaster than yourself?
… listening to your favourite music, feeling swept up to another realm of harmony, beauty and perfection …
… witnessing giant ocean waves crash over rocks, feeling this stupendous power surge through you …
… gazing into the night sky, feeling at once the inconceivable distance and intimate closeness of each star to your own heartbeat …
… running through the forest, feeling you could run forever effortlessly, your feet turned to wings soaring with the wind and the pure joy of birdsong …
… drinking in the sunset from a mountaintop, feeling profound peace as sky farewells the day and earth surrenders into the arms of night …
… observing something tiny – caterpillar on leaf, dewdrop adorning a blade of grass – feeling the entire universe held lightly in this moment …
Stop reading for two minutes. Close your eyes and re-live one such moment in your life. Recreate every detail in your mind’s eye, open every sense and breathe in that fullness of feeling. Surrender, become the moment. Find one word that expresses your feeling in this moment.
After these two minutes, chances are you will feel lighter, brighter, uplifted, clearer, happier and more complete than before. If not, try again more sincerely…
Now go back to your “magic moment” for another minute. Re-live it once more, its thrill and fullness. This time, ask yourself one question: not – what am I feeling in this moment, but – what am I thinking?
Stumped for an answer?
Most people respond: “Nothing!”
This is meditation: a moment of pure feeling, a glimpse of pure being enabled by a brief pause in our mind’s activity. These are life’s most precious moments, and pure meditation.