Fresh and New

Often we can feel that the 'spiritual path' is about reaching a destination in the future, where everything will be easy and smooth, and we will finally have the feeling of being complete and whole. Yet, as we move through the days of our lives, we find that this elusive destination we long for never comes, and we are often left with a feeling that there is still more for us to do, or somewhere else we need to go, before we can be where we already are. While it's true that we can have deep insights into the true nature of who we are, we soon see that these breakthroughs only lead to the mind (the voice in our head) trying to hold onto these insights and make them last, afraid that they will slip away (which they always do).

If you've meditated for awhile, surely you have had the experience of thinking that you now have it all figured out - only to find that - by the next day you feel confused again, and not quite sure of who you are. Or perhaps you have plunged into the depths of Joy during meditation, and feel that it can't possibly get any better, only to find that after a week goes by, not only does it get better, it also gets deeper and more vivid. This is because who we are is not a destination, or a place we arrive, nor will it ever be figured out by the mind. Who we are is like the eternal Now - flowing like a great river - fresh and new in every unfolding moment. When we try, in vain, to hold onto the beauty of the passing moment, it slips through our fingers like a dream, yet when we open our hands and surrender, we find renewed delight in whatever is happening right Now.

So it is with who we are - in simply relaxing with 'what is', we find ourselves swimming in the depth of who we are and actually arriving where we are, free of the thought that we need to go somewhere else to be more of who we are. In touching down in the eternal Now, we discover that each moment is a destination unto itself, where everything is constantly discovered as fresh and new, as joyful and acceptable, just as it is. In this constant arrival, we fall more deeply into the depth of who we are, where everything arises spontaneously and is experienced as the unfolding play of our own Awareness (the Tao).