Monday, August 21, 2017

Our guests

One of the gifts of my yoga practice has been cracking open my heart to being aware of feelings and states of being, and trying not to judge/shift or ignore them.  To sit with them, notice them, as meditation teachers have intoned, "like clouds in your sky."

Sit with fear.  Sit with grief.  Sit with sadness.  Strive not numb out with food or TV, or whatever addictive substance or activity or thought pattern is your thing. 

There is a poem that I discovered in the course of my meditation process (Insight Timer app is amazing with all these cool guided meditations) that broke open my heart when I meditated to it.  In the aftermath of the election, filled with so many painful emotions, I meditated and wept, as the poem was read aloud.  It broke through the shock, the numbness. 

I share this poem with you, so perhaps you might find a glimpse of sitting with your guests too.  I would love to hear what you think or if you have another way to sit with kindness with your "cloud of sorrows."

The Guest House

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.
Be grateful for whatever comes.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

— Jellaludin Rumi,