In the silence of a new day being born, I sit on a lakeside perch under a layer of clouds lying low like a warm blanket covering us. “Us” meaning all of us: the lake, the trees, the bases of the mountains in the distance, the birds, the buzzing and curious bugs that seem so loud in the silence, the fish beneath the mirror of the water’s surface, and the chipmunk chirping across the reflection in the forest on a far shore.
Across the lake a large stretch of trees are brightened by the first rays of sun peeking through a hole in the clouds. I can almost hear the trees stretch and sigh a lovely sigh as they wake up to the day. Moments later the bright sun on their leaves lightens and fades until it’s gone. The clouds drift back together forming a soft and full cover again. The trees snuggle back in under their cozy blanket of clouds to rest once more on this lazy Sunday morning. Yes, it seems trees love a Sunday snuggle too.
I wrote these first two paragraphs while in a space of stillness and presence… that space that lies beneath all that we think and the noise that is our humanness. Now it is another day. I am outside with nature again, hoping that something flows through my fingertips and on to the screen… anything to continue the story I began under the blanket of clouds. I’m waiting and wishing… In a way, aren’t we all?
In the last few days I had conversations with two people who wanted the same thing. They both wanted: to feel free, at ease and in flow. Monks have been retreating to caves high in the mountains in attempt to reach this space for centuries. Extreme athletes often do what they do to be in a similar space. In essence we all want the same thing.
While wanting and waiting for the words to appear, I checked my email and clicked a link: It was a video with Anita Moorjani… I was listening to what she was describing and agreeing with pretty much every bit of it. Although, something she said struck me deeply.
In her unique way, she was describing what I also see to be true about life and the fact that everything just Is. Everything is perfectly orchestrated. Often we can’t see the entire tapestry when we are zoomed in and experiencing living the life of a single thread. I was listening to Anita and thinking: “Yes, that’s it. This is one of the best descriptions I’ve heard…” She was describing was the flow of life, which we are. We often have no clue why things happen the way they do because we can only “see” what we are experiencing- a finite note (our human life) in this infinite and beautifully orchestrated symphony (all of creation).
Then Anita said “We don’t know this while we are living life…” and it struck me like a blow to the chest (at 4:21 in the video) . Reason being: That statement doesn’t seem true.
What if we can know and experience the symphony while we are alive? What if we do get glimpses of the grandness of everything?
There is an audio recording of an exploration that dovetails this conversation beautifully. It’s a deep exploration of a poem by Rumi (a 12th century Sufi poet) by a group Coddiwomplers. There were fourteen of us that met once a week to see more together about life and living from a space of the unknown, a place of peace and beautiful feelings. Take a listen, it is quite a unique and enlightening conversation.
“[This poem] speaks to me of that deep space we all share. The silence where no words can convey the feeling, where there is no-thing, but presence and healing and love and no words are necessary, where words are just a distraction. It reminds me of that moment in time we shared that space”. – Scott James
How might we know this while we are alive? What I’ve seen is there is a knowing (akin to a trust or a faith) there for all of us to live in. Sure, we are experiencing our life: a note in the symphony. Though the moment we become aware of more, there is a gentle shift. The symphony is infinite and beautiful beyond anything we can imagine.
What might happen when we surrender to what is? In surrender we can live a beautiful life as the note, yet We are the symphony? Could just the mere knowing that we are the symphony, takes us to places we could never dream of? …It seems to me the answer is yes.
What I’ve seen that has helped me experience more of the symphony is: surrendering to what already is, living in the ‘now’, and knowing we can’t get it wrong.
We are all the symphony. When we live from this space, freedom abounds and we come alive. Take a listen to the group audio and hear what you hear.
Back to what I mentioned early on in this article (the two people I’ve spoken with in the last few days that wanted to experience this knowing more deeply): With one I had the treat of actually watching her sink into a place of freedom, peace and beautiful feelings. It was gorgeous… What if that space of peace and beautiful feelings is closer than we think all the time? It seems the more we see about life (the symphony) and how simply everything works, the simpler slipping in to that space becomes. It’s there all the time… even when we are alive.
The vastness of the symphony is unimaginable. It is all that Is: The birds, the buzzing bugs, the trees, the clouds and all that is beyond imagineation… everything.
Wouldn’t it be great to soak in that space more and more while we are alive?
… until the next revolution.
Treat Yourself
If you haven’t yet, give yourself the treat of listening to the Coddiwomple Audio. It is worth the listen and in the last 4 minutes we deeply explore living from this space and realizing we are ‘the symphony’… and how this all relates to knowing that we can’t get life wrong. This knowing changes everything.
Explore More
Would you like to join in and see more? The Coddiwomple Group Program has attracted people from all walks of life and the last group of the year begins in just two weeks: on August 20th. We meet 1 hour a week by video or phone for 10 weeks.
In the last group we explored many different topics (including the poem in the audio), but the point of each call is to continually expand our understanding of life and float deeper toward the space we are all looking for: More peace, freedom, joy and love… from this space there is so much possibility. Everything changes and how we experience life can all shift in an instant: relationships, finances, business, health, family, careers, retirement… every part of life. If you are curious, check it out… for the price of a pair of shoes, your life could change forever: Coddiwomple Group Program.
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