One
awakens in the early morning to the songs of
the birds in the trees. One remains lying down,
just listening to the greetings of nature. There
are thoughts of a hundred chores that try to
interfere with this listening, but one recognises
that this is the ego-self trying hard to assert
its phantom existence. One smiles and continues
listening, enjoying the full-throated calls
of different birds, of the squirrels, and in
the deep background, the orchestra of the crickets.
One gets up, splashes cold water on one’s
face, and enjoys the tingling sensation. One
then goes out for a walk, often accompanied
by one’s spouse, or perhaps child, or
a friend. One greets the other with a genuine
sense of joy, and maybe touches the other’s
hand, or caresses the face. During the walk,
words are sparingly used. One breathes in the
fresh air of the early morning, takes in the
sounds and smells of nature, as one observes
the changing hues in the surroundings with the
coming of dawn. Mental noise makes its appearance
now and then, and one allows this to happen
without controlling.
As
one walks, one feels the pleasantness of the
earth beneath one’s feet, and the softness
of the breeze caressing the skin. There is a
spring in one’s gait, and one feels the
lightness of being. One observes flocks of different
types of birds, flying or gliding effortlessly
in the sky. The sky itself looks wonderful,
lit up with changing hues that look like liquid
brush-strokes of a magnificent painting, one
that is alive. The blueness of the sky, viewed
through the dark branches and green leaves,
emphasises the beauty of the trees. One has
seen this spectacle several hundred times before,
but every time it is new and fresh and original.
The leaves on the trees, some of them glistening
with the morning dew, flutter and wave continually
in the breeze, and one acknowledges the greeting
that nature seems to be sending out, and waves
back.
In those moments of unalloyed joy, characterised
by the complete absence of the ego-self, one
truly experiences a kind of sacred state of
being, of aliveness and oneness with everything
else.
