Feeling a bit sheepish by revisiting junior high school the other day, I spent time on the bus ride to work the next day in meditation - not too ambitious, following breath, inwardly repeating the mantra I got from reading Eat, Pray, Love (Om Namah Shivaya). I had recognized this was playing on a recording at my yoga class last Monday, and Holly (the wonderful yoga instructor) said it was directed to Shiva, which pleased me to hear. During the bus ride, I was conscious of the chant being praise to the Source, and also a means of accepting and appreciating the creation and the dissolution of everything encountered, inside and outside of myself.
The long and the short of it: things went better. I felt in synch with the day- I use the word "attunement," which brings up the image of the orchestra players at the beginning of any performance making sure their instruments are in tune with each other, with the music to be played. With no greater effort during the day, I was able to sense when to contribute to conversations and when to listen in (yet again) a meeting of fellow student services administrative types. I remembered to eat lunch. I noticed more of the flowing experiences around me, rather than being locked in my head. No great revelations, here, just a reminder of the need for rudimentary psychic housekeeping.
(The image is a crystal I bought at a rock show - I was searching the Web for images of meditation and thought, I should show something of my own. If you hold it just right, there are rainbows in this little orb - I think the picture caught that a bit if you enlarge by clicking.)
13 comments:
Oh yes, the enlarged image shows that rainbow quite nicely!
Attunement ... hmm - I think I understand the word as you mean it. I believe we all need that. And also - I believe we notice that most when we miss it... Glad to hear things went better, anyway. Now I wish for some attunement for that high schoolgirl from the previous post, too - I think she needs it badly.
How often that trip back to junior high occurs, even at the ripe old age of 70. I am going to try the meditation and see if helps me stayed centered over the next few days when I will likely be encountering some of this behaviour. Thanks for your timely comments.
Nice post.
Glad you felt more in tune. I'm still slightly out of synch, but suspect I'll get back to normal after the last exam this week. Hope all well.
Funny how often I'm back in my most insecure days of childhood and adolescence. Perhaps I should also develop a discipline to help me transcend those moments in which I often take on the role of my childhood tormentors as I bully and mock myself.
The word attunement brings to my mind mindfulness. An awareness of each moment. Taking the time to notice smells, sounds, tastes, sights. Nice analogy Mary Ellen. I, too, am glad you are in a better mindframe. Cheers!!
I also like the idea of "attunement", and it reminds me of the John Donne poem:
Since I am coming to that Holy room,
Where, with Thy choir of saints for evermore,
I shall be made Thy music; as I come
I tune the instrument here at the door,
And what I must do then, think here before;
Yup, it always helps to keep coming back to ourselfs - attuning to the inner light within.
I liked this. I have been trying to start each day with spiritual thought and meditation. I, too, finds the day goes better, even if I have not been able to "meditate" the way I think it is supposed to go.
Gadjo, that's just lovely! Thanks.
Chanting and humming clear the sinuses and the mind, bring calm to the heart. Ommmmmm shanti!!
And bravo.
I really enjoyed Eat Pray Love!! I passed it on to a girlfriend of mine, and she is currently swept away by it!
I also use a little Ommmm to quiet down my monkey mind, Mary Ellen! A little bit of peace can go a long way!! :)
The discussion here reminds me of a favorite saying:
Play the music, not the instrument
It has the force of a Zen koan for me. Intuitively, I know exactly what it means, but to try and put it in "different words" is nearly impossible.
It certainly does point to a truth implied above ~ that the point of tuning the instrument is to allow the music to flow through it without impediment.
That's what I'm going to try to do today ;-)
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