The road less traveled

The beautiful, crisp days of November have beckoned me to the woods the past few weeks. There are hiking trails just a few miles from our house. Here on the trails, I can let the dogs run, and hike the path along the local lakes and deep trees of beech and oak. These paths are very familiar to me. I have come here for the past 8 years or so to surround myself with nature, and for a glimpse of serenity and quiet. On this particular day it was quite cold (not too cold for this Northern girl from Wisconsin). My feet just kept trotting along, and I soon the familiar dropped away and I was now in new territory. The beauty and depth of the landscape was stunning. Gigantic beech trees soared up to meet the pristine sky filled with cool, crisp air. Not a cloud was in sight. The autumn leaves blazed against the bright blue sky. It dawned on me that this walk into unfamiliar territory is much like meditation. Often when we begin a meditation practice, we sit and hear all the familiar thoughts, doubts, fears, incessant chatter, thoughts of past and future,that never seems to stop. Often times we don't take time to simply be aware of what's chinging around in our head, we just go with it, as if we don't have a choice. Meditation practice teaches us that we do have a different voice besides the one in our head. As we settle into meditation, we choose one focus of the mind. We can simply be with our breath. Is it simple? No. Meditation practice is anything but simple. It looks simple, but meditation challenges us to be quiet inside in the midst of chaotic and wild thought patterns. Meditation reveals a hidden dimension within our heart. Like the trail in the woods that led to more beauty, we have a capacity to open into the beauty that is within us. We have to trudge through the darkness and obstacles in our way first. They come in the form of self-doubt, criticism, irritation, and scattered thoughts. The thoughts just keep coming, and we continue to bring our mind to our breath, and the sensation of the body's receptivity to the breath. Once we stay and practice for a while, the fog clears, the trail leads to this expansive state of awareness. We settle into our essential and true nature. One that is aligned with the divine creator himself. We ride in the ocean of bliss, and feel within our body and heart this state of divine love, acceptance, and sense of wholeness. We feel a sense belonging. No matter where we are in life, we can practice this. No matter our budget, whether we ticked someone off or made someone's day, we practice. We practice not to become something else, but to align ourselves with our divine purpose. When we quiet our endless internal dialogue, we can then listen to the sensations and whispers of our heart. The practice of meditation is sometimes boring, uncomfortable, difficult. But it anchors us to a place where there is no language, and we listen to the pulse of universe, and it's calling to us. We connect to our divine desire, our hidden but magnificent light that guides us down the path we call our life. The comfortable and known territories that we trod can sometimes limit our growth. Can we learn to be curious and willing to become explorers and scientists of our own minds and bodies? Can we learn about our habits, and then soften into a kinder, more receptive way of living? I believe we can, and are always able to grow. That is why it is called meditation practice. Like Shunryu Suzuki says.."The secret is to just say yes! and jump off from here. Then there is no problem. It means to be yourself, always yourself, without sticking to an old self."