The Saturday Ritual

I began today the same way I do each Saturday. I wake up at 5am and wander into the kitchen to make the coffee and wait until about half a cup is brewed. It's the thickest, oiliest, most potent portion of the pot (and the tastiest!) I pour it into my cup on top of a splash of creamer. Yes, I love my coffee so strong it could walk on its own! I head for the living room and open the blinds to the east-facing window. I sit down in my favorite armchair in the dark and absolute silence to await the growing sunrise. It's my favorite time of day; I'm alone with my thoughts, my coffee, and the rising sun. For an hour or two the world is still slumbering and it's quiet and serene. In those few hours my mind is clear and I am thoughtful in ways that remind me I am a living, breathing part of a living, breathing planet. That harmonious "oneness" is palpable and profound in its simplicity. The sunrise gradually kisses the room with a warm, orange "Hello!" and I begin the journey into my day unencumbered, mindful, and enlightened. 

The Connection of Thunderstorms

Sitting in my dining room listening to the channel Spa on Sirius XM eating my dinner. Out the window I can see the sky darkening from the approaching thunderstorm and I can hear the thunder rolling. Birds, trees, grass, butterflies, worms, rabbits, lichens on rocks, and even microbes on the ground; we will all experience the same thunder, the same rain, and the same wind, but in our own, individual way. That may sound crazy but this gives me a deep sense of comfort. It makes me feel connected.

Kensho, Satori, Working Out, and Oneness

Kensho, sometimes interchanged with the concept satori is generally defined as an insight or awakening. A glimpse into deeper understanding. I like to think of it as a flash of epiphany or "oneness". A connection to a deeper cosmic harmony. I was at the gym this morning listening to "A Stream With Bright Fish" from the album "The Pearl". I've been doing what I call "mindful workouts" lately. Totally focused on the rep and the connection between mind and muscle being worked. Slow, deeply focused repetitions. Not sloppy form, but form that really gets deep into the muscle. As I finished one set and that song was playing I looked out the window at the clouds floating by. In that flash of an instant everything was in synch. The floating clouds, the music, my workout, and my presence. It was all a brief nanosecond of profound harmony and sense of belonging with everything.

It was a great and profoundly serene moment. Everything around me fell away and it's just me in tandem with everything I mentioned.

I've had this experience two other times in my life. They were much deeper and profound than this one, which is not to minimize or take away from the one this morning. The one I had as a teenager I was walking off the football practice field. I literally, for a nanosecond, "felt" the Milky Way. I could see it from the outside. I could feel its rhythms and felt as if I was in all places at the same time.

In relating this to my friend Dan thinking it sounded a bit crazy. He commented, "It doesn't sound crazy at all. I have had two, one on a the lawn I have 5, and another in my grandmother's house when I was about 20. I was alone, looking at a fan rotate."

The sensation almost defies words when it happens. Mine have always been just a second or two. But within those few seconds is a vast expanse of time, I sense. My friend Dan says he sustained his for several minutes, and I told him I wished I could learn to sustain mine for that length of time. But I got to thinking, maybe I'm not supposed to sustain it. Maybe it's fleeting for a reason. A taste, so to speak, of the larger harmonies.