Day 20 (Sunday 7.10.22)
If I were a marathon runner.
Which I am not.
This would be the moment in the race where everything is burning, like mile 20 or something wild like that.
When all I want to do is stop running because I'm tired, and this thing (the 26 miles, the 40 mornings, this moment of life, still with all its uncertainty!) is so long.
But I MUST keep going.
Because there is no alternative.
In fact, it's a deep privilege to keep going.
So I turn to my breath — this breath that is supporting me like nothing else, through all my training, through all moments, through this entire, endless race.
And I listen...
So hum.
Ham sa.
This, this is the sound my breath.
Listen to yours to find it...
The sound of the inhale ... Sooo
The sound of the exhale ... Hummmm
The next breath in rises ... Hammmm
That breath out falls ... Saaaaa
In Sanskrit, the language of Yoga, these words,
So Hum, Ham Sa
Mean "I am that, that I am."
This, this essence you seek, this connection, this source is right here, riding the wave of the breath along with you.
Today, all you must do to practice is listen, carefully, attentively, curiously to the sound of your own breath to hear it.
So Hum...
Ham Sa...
So Hum...
Ham Sa...
You're practicing, right here, with each breath.
Each breath, a practice.
This, this is your meditation hall.
YES.
Keep going.
And your meditation, the last official day to dissolve, is right here for you.
Cath
p.s. If you’ve fallen off the band wagon and feel bad about it, I mean it when I say: HOP BACK ON! I love these words from Rumi and borrow them often:
“OURS IS NOT A CARAVAN OF DESPAIR. COME, EVEN IF YOU HAVE BROKEN YOUR VOWS A THOUSAND TIMES. COME, YET AGAIN, COME, COME.”
You are welcome back in, exactly as you are today.