Over the past few months, we’ve been exploring some pretty big topics— love, life, and purpose. And how these all come together. If you missed any of those posts, please catch up using the links above.
One With Life
“There are three words that convey the secret of the art of living, the secret of all success and happiness: One with life. Being one with life is being one with now. You then realize that you don’t live your life, but life lives you. Life is the dancer, and you are the dance.” Eckhart Tolle – The Oneness With all Life
I spent most of my life walking past the roses without bothering to smell them. From my earliest memories until just a few years ago (and that’s quite a long time), I was always busy. Now, don’t get me wrong. I love flowers, especially roses, with my favorite being the ‘Double Delight.’ I loved admiring them in various settings, but I never took the time to stop and get close to them.
E.T. says, “When you look at it and behold it and let it be without imposing a word or mental label on it, a sense of awe, of wonder, arises within you. Its essence silently communicates itself to and reflects your own essence back to you.”
Thankfully, busyness has changed now. I’ve become more attentive to life around me in every sense. I notice the people around me, nature in all its forms, animals, birds, insects, and I enjoy the weather, regardless of how it’s behaving. Several events in my life led to this change, too many to mention all here.
One of these events was watching my wife work in our back garden. Gardening is her passion, and she tends to our 30×20 m backyard with deep love and care. She also loves all the birds and insects (especially the bees) that visit throughout the day.
Another was reading E.T.’s “Power of Now” and keeping the “Power of Now Journal.” Over the years, these two aspects of my life have brought about significant changes. I should also mention that exploring the world of ‘Mindfulness’ has greatly illuminated my thinking and living.
After publishing my E.T. journal entries on this site and reading his works for a couple of years, I worked on applying the concept of living in the now to my life. I struggled to introduce this philosophy into my daily life, but with little success. It was in reading Gill Thackray’s little pocketbook on mindfulness that I discovered mindfulness was simply living in the now!
You might be wondering, “What does this have to do with my life?”
Let me answer that with a little story.
Once upon a time, way back in the year 1383, a monk and his young novice were walking together on a journey to another town. After a while, they reached a ford across a river. Standing by the river was a young girl, anxious and afraid to cross because the river had swollen overnight due to rain. The monk invited her to climb on his back and carried her across the river.
The two continued their journey. The monk noticed the young man looked worried. “Does something trouble you, young brother?”
Speaking softly, with eyes lowered, the novice responded, “Yes, Master, I have a question to ask.”
“What is your question, young brother?”
“You have taught me the rules of the brotherhood, which say we must never touch a woman. Back at the river, you touched a woman.”
“Young brother, you have misunderstood in two ways.”
“Helping a person who is afraid to cross a river, whether a man or a woman, is not the same as touching them. To touch a woman suggests wrongful thoughts about her. To carry her across a river is to save her from danger and is an act of love. Remember the scripture where Jesus explains his allowing Mary Magdalene to anoint Him? So, go and do likewise.”
“Thank you, Master. I understand. What of the other way that I misunderstood?”
“All this while, you have been living in the past, however recent it might have been. If you had been living in the now, you would have questioned me after the river crossing. Yet, you chose to live in the past, allowing your thoughts to grow roots of misunderstanding. I put the girl down on the other side of the river, but you have carried her for many miles in your thoughts, growing roots of misunderstanding.”
The value of living in the now, or living each moment mindfully, cannot be overstated. Living in the past can bring great pain and suffering, and as science has shown, even death as a result of psychosomatic symptoms. Living in the future can also have negative consequences, though different ones. This leaves us with one option: live now in every changing minute of each day – it will bless your life.
Next month, we will examine the effects of living in the future. We will also look at some practical ways to live in the now.
Love and blessings,
Peter-James Pienaar
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Until next month
Peter-James Pienaar
Oh, and by the way – Always expect a miracle.
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