“365 Days of Mindfulness” [Day 68] Each Moment Is A Temple…

Do not brush past this moment in a hurry. Each moment is a temple.

Bow to the moment, and see it’s majesty. It is a center for peace, where possibility lives, it is sacred, it is not meant to be squandered or wasted.

How many moments have you lost because you were rushing on to do other things in your life? What would happen if you just took the time to take a deep breath and sit down for 5 minutes. Let the world go on whirling and swirling around you. If you are at home have a quiet corner that is your mindfulnes/meditation corner. You can set up a small altar with things that are sacred treasures to you. These things needn’t be religious icons. They could be crystals, a child’s drawing, the ashes of a beloved pet whom you always want to keep with you knowing that they are always near you in spirit, because truly they are. Add anything to your altar but have at least one candle. Sit down, light the candle, feel the beauty and the sacredness of the space, gaze into the candle flame, and breathe. Feel your breathe going in and out gently, slowly, and deeply. Never take your eyes off of that candle.

If you can take a little votive candle with you when you go to work, if you have an office where you can close the door, perhaps at your lunchtime, and before you go back to work light the candle, gaze into it, spend a few minutes breathing, and you will find yourself coming gently back to the present moment. It is truly amazing what this one act can do to change the whole tenor of your day.

I had a student once who did this, and one of her co-workers found out and asked, kind of shyly, if he could join her in meditation. She told him to come in at a certain time after she had had time to sit and eat her lunch. Then another woman wondered what was going on and she joined them. Before long others did and there were too many to crowd into Karen’s office so they got permission to use a conference room that was never used at that time. Before long they had 20 people and they each brought their own little votive candle and sat it on the table in front of them. Karen started bringing a little bell and rang it at the beginning and the end of their time together. She said in a matter of months the whole tenor of the relationships in their workplace had changed because even those who hadn’t joined them were affected by those around them who had. They were quieter, gentler, and the whole energy of the place changed. Eventually some of them started meeting at Karen’s house one night a week and when it got too crowded they rented a church hall. And so it has grown. And people invited friends and family and now they have their own center. It is not huge, but they are now doing charitable acts in their community.

And it all started because I encouraged her to take a single votive candle to work and spend a few minutes on her lunchtime doing a gentle mindfulness meditation practice.

Too often we have big dreams and goals and we want to jump right into them and then when they don’t happen right away we give up. You have to start with that one tiny candle for 5 minutes. The smaller you start the more likely you are to keep doing it it and in the process something often happens. The “Big Dream” you thought you wanted is transformed along the way and you might not need to go as far as you imagine. There are all kinds of jewels along the way you would have skipped over and missed if you had been able to jump from here to there. It really is true that it’s the journey that matters because if you live wholly in the present moment, if you are awake and alive wherever you are along the way, you will see things that you could never have imagined and didn’t know were there.

Each moment is a temple. Enter, sit quietly, light a candle, be very quiet, center yourself right where you are, and feel the holiness of the place. This moment is where miracles occur. There is magic here.