Divine Onion
Vipassana means to see things as they are.
Recently I participated in a silent meditation retreat in the blue mountains. No talking, reading, writing, or exercise, but a lot of time to dive deeper within. Even though it got cut short for me I got what I needed. Not necessarily what I wanted, but so is life.
One day I went for walk in a bush, till I reached the border of the property. I was standing at the fence, looking over the mountains, listening to the rain on the leaves and on my raincoat. It felt peaceful. My gaze wandered around. They wandered over the fence post in front of me and there was one word engraved into the post. Love. I said it out loud and scared myself with my own voice. I hadn't talked in days and my mind started to become very quiet, after digesting my thoughts for days. There wasn't much left in my head. I have never been closer to my mind’s original silence than in this moment.
Everything that was left in my mind, my body was love, this word buzzing in my head. The goosebumps that overcame me at that moment must have lasted for minutes. This person that engraved love there, must have come to the conclusion that love is everything that is left when everything else has been thought about and that love is the only thing that matters moving forward. Like Augustine said: “Love, then do as you like”: nothing will come out of you but goodness. I believe that this is possible for all of us. That there is goodness in all of us, like a divine drop. It is already there. It has always been there. We don't need to go out and acquire someone else’s love to act well. All that is necessary for us is to remove the selfish habits that cover the good, the love, and compassion. Imagine yourself being like an onion. Goodness is at the center and to get to it we have to peel back the selfish habits layer by layer.
Looking at the engraved word in the post I was overcome by a deep sense of gratitude for all the love that I have in my life. All the beautiful people that have become part of my journey and helped me to be the person I am today. I also got excited for the people that I'm going to meet in the future and I made the decision that I want to act from a point of love when I meet them.
On my way home I turned on the radio in the car and one of the first songs that were played was “Where is the love?” by the Black Eyed Peas, followed by news of Russia declaring war with Ukraine. Where's the love? This question seems to be a harder and harder one to answer in times where things are often only seen as black and white... Next time you do something. It doesn't matter what, ask yourself if you're doing it with love and compassion. If not for others, are you doing it at least for yourself?
Inspiration:
Vipassana Meditation Center, Blackheath, Blue Mountains