"How do I Tend this Moment?"
I recently read a beautiful interview in the NYTimes* with Jack Kornfield, author and teacher in the vipassana movement in American Theravada Buddhism. His level of acceptance and compassion is palpable even in writing. And he asked the question, in response to the interviewer feeling both good fortune during this current pandemic and also feelings of guilt and fear, “How do I tend this moment?” Jack was encouraging David the interviewer to be present to and acknowledge his current circumstance and all of his feelings, and allow that to be used for the greater understanding of others as an example of being human.
I encourage you to read the article when you can as it’s uplifting and powerful, and I can’t do it full justice here. But for me it speaks to the concept of having a Simultaneous Experience. Sometimes, when we feel two seemingly diametrically opposed emotions, we short-circuit a bit and can even feel a sense of hopelessness, like we cannot grasp onto an answer either way and that can feel very unstable as our minds try to reconcile. But it is only our thinking mind that is trying to work out a problem and resolve. Our hearts are standing by ready to just hold the confusion in it’s steady beat, our souls are seeing the vast landscape of possibility that we cannot see with our limited thinking, and our human thread connected to Spirit can never be broken and isn’t even considering the issue as an issue.
**And Spirit says…
“Beloved, your breath is your life-force and on it and within it travel the molecules of surrender and knowing. Surrender to the greater story of humanity and the eternal breath of all life, and the knowing that the human capacity to strive toward understanding and peace is never-ending, and is the truth of our being. No matter what humanity does, or does not do, no matter how much creation and destruction occurs, the thread connected to that which is infinite and eternal will always weave itself into the fabric of life on every level, both physical and non-physical. Non-physical life is real, just as real as physical life. Expand the mind with willingness to seek peace with all of life, not just that which can be seen and felt with the conditioned human self. Now is the time to invite the veil to part and the truth to be seen. It has been here all along.”
It is a truly perfect moment to explore the potency of these moments as we rest more at home and process our experiences. May we all receive the blessings of greater wisdom and understanding, a most powerful and sustainable gift to the world, and to future generations.
Namasté (the new handshake), Melanie
* If you subscribe to the NY Times, or haven’t exceeded 5 articles, you should be able to access the interview here:
** And Spirit Says… is a compilation of direct spontaneous written transmissions I have received from what I call Spirit, in response to human and spiritual inquiry.