Today is kind of cool and over-cast. A wonderful day to relax, take in the silence and meditate. So I sat down 20 minutes ago to meditate expecting a silent and relaxing sit.
Well, about 1 minute into sitting a car drove by the house at an alarming speed (we live on a busy street) and I found myself annoyed. Then a thought popped into my mind, "I should use the noise of all these passing cars as reminders to breath deeply!" So every time during my meditation that I heard a car wiz past I breathed deeply and sent love and thanks for the driver for allowing me a great opportunity to breath deeply and relax!! It worked so well that I think I am going to incorporate it into my daily sitting practice as I have been frustrated for too long with the "interruption" of these cars in my meditations (as if I expect my meditation to be perfectly silent! That is me trying to refuse the idea of impermanence!! Which is a little like refusing to acknowledge that the sky is blue or that the sun is shining).
I think that I am also going to weave this noisy car reminder into my daily routine as well so as not to be so rattled by the noise. Now everytime I hear ANY noise that use to "annoy" me, (lawn mowers, barking/howling dogs, bass rattling cars, etc.) I am going to use them as reminders to "just breath" and remind myself that all is right with the world no matter what "noise" might be going on.
Then the usual chit-chat of the ego started in. The ego was bored as usual and keep trying to think of all the things that "we" should do later in the day and just be it's usual child-like self. So, instead of trying to just force them out of my mind, I let them in and allowed them some "air time." I'd acknowledge the thought and then said while breathing in, "That may happen" and then breathing out I said, "That may not happen" and you know what? Those "What ifs" just evaporated with my breathing.
I breathed in silence then for about 10 minutes and then a Grackle showed up (and ironically as I type this another one just showed up and is "talking" to me). The Grackle is a form of Black Bird and they have a not so "pleasant" way of singing/talking. They make various noises but none of them could probably be considered "beautiful." The "worst" one is what sounds like a rusty gate swinging loudly in the wind. So instead of getting upset and annoyed I just tried to think of them as no different from the lovely, peaceful songs of the finches. I held them in my concentration and reminded myself that all things are beautiful--even (and especially) the "annoying" and "obnoxious." All are apart of us so for me to be annoyed with the Grackle was to be annoyed at myself!! So I sent the Grackle love and not only did it bring relaxation to my meditation but it also brought love into my heart!! What a blessing these noisy Grackles! They are flying lessons on the true nature of inter-dependency. :) We are not just inter-dependent with the "beautiful" things but also with what the ego deems (and trys to shun) as "ugly" and a "nuisance."
I couldn't (and of course didn't want to) keep the smile from my face from then on as I sat in perfect bliss with the unity of all things. Whether it was the "noisy" cars, the "noisy" Grackles or the "Beautiful" finches. All was "beautifu"l and the true nature of the Self shone through.
I send you all this love and light your way too!! May it find you peaceful and relaxed and if not, may it help to bring you some peace and love back into the chaos.
PHOTO CREDIT: Sidney, Australia
-Peace to all beings-
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