When considering finding harmony through movement one might think of the frenetic movement of a raging river after a storm or the business of a colony of bees getting the job done.  While there is certainly beauty and harmony in both of these examples, I was thinking more of a slow meandering river flowing with presence and peace. Clearly this river is not thinking of it’s past or future, where it has been or where it is going, it simply is.  This is the harmony I try to choose and think humanity needs more off.  Not the more you do, the more you accomplish, the more you achieve…more, more, more, more frenetic movement that leads to disharmony.   I am talking of movement that is aware of the underlying peace underneath it all.  Some say we love music so much because the movement of the melody points to the still point, the peaceful stillness where there is no music at all between the notes.

Honestly, this is what time in nature does for me, it truly helps me be present to the still point within, to the ever-present presence of God that we can only feel like the whisper of the wind on our neck when we are in present moment awareness.  Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche expresses this sentiment beautifully; All that we are looking for in life—all the happiness, contentment, and peace of mind—is right here in the present moment. Our very own awareness is itself fundamentally pure and good. Don’t forget to make space in your life to recognize the richness of your basic nature, to see the purity of your being and let its innate qualities of love, compassion, and wisdom naturally emerge. Nurture this recognition as you would a small seedling. Allow it to grow and flourish. . . .

Even as Rinpoche discusses the present moment, he expresses movement… making space, seeing the purity of being, nurturing this recognition and lastly the ‘movement’ that can be the most challenging… allowing, implying very little but still present movement, patience!   This is where we allow one moment to truly go as we await the next and what ever is unfolding in this new moment.

Rinpoche speaks of seeing the purity of being.  I like the idea of cultivating clear seeing and awareness, attentive listening more than excessive speech.  This resonates with me as a doorway to harmony, part of my new year’s ‘evolution’ was to try to speak less or practice mindful speech ..  to try to consider is it true, is it wise, is it necessary before speaking.  I felt like I used way too many words the past week or two as I spoke again and again about a current ‘issue’.  So, I have allowed less judgement, this includes judgement of myself and more awareness.  More seeing with a wider lens.  More allowing God to be in the story while I lean back and watch what he does! 

Fr. Richard Rohr speaks of a kind of seeing that moves beyond seeing just the physical, even beyond using the mind to understand the physical, he speaks of the way of the mystics, seeing with the third eye that sees with awe and mystery.  The mystical gaze builds upon the first two eyes (that of physical seeing and of understanding) – and yet goes further. It happens whenever, by some wondrous “coincidence,” our heart space, our mind space, and our body awareness are all simultaneously open and nonresistant. I like to call it presence. It is experienced as a moment of deep inner connection, and it always pulls you, intensely satisfied, into the naked and undefended now.

No disrespect to Fr. Richard, but I believe in another life time he was a yogi!  I am honestly in awe of him and his teachings and how he points to the basic truths that are found in all faith traditions and he isn’t ashamed to speak of this.   He reminds us of a basic tenant of yoga that when our hearts, minds and bodies align we move into the present which is satisfying.  This place satisfies our basic need to be in God’s presence, we can create this by releasing our defenses, moving our bodies and truly seeing. 

Father Thomas Keating puts this idea very simply; God is only in the present moment.   Bishop Kallistos Ware writes on this same topic from the perspective of the Eastern Orthodox tradition in the Christian Church. Watchfulness (The Greek term is nepsis) means, among other things, to be present where we are – at this specific point in space, at this particular moment in time. All too often we are scattered and dispersed; we are living, not with alertness in the present, but with nostalgia in the past, or with misgiving and wishful thinking in the future. While we are indeed required responsibly to plan for the future – for watchfulness is the opposite of fecklessness – we are to think about the future only as far as it depends upon the present moment. Anxiety over remote possibilities which lie altogether beyond our immediate control is sheer waste of our spiritual energies.

I appreciate Bishop Ware’s term watchfulness.  So aligned with the Buddhist concept of mindfulness.  Watchfulness, another way of seeing and being that implies very slow movement and attention, a channeling rather than a burning up or a withering or wasting of our spiritual energy.

This mindful watchfulness involves not just watching what is going on around us but perhaps more importantly what is going on within ourselves.  I might have mentioned that this past few weeks have been a bit stressful as we dealt with a family illness.  It was interesting to step outside of the situation and myself a bit and witness how I was coping.  These types of things can be quite visceral and all consuming.  I felt the inner tremor, the rumblings of fear and doubt and to be honest, the wish that  I was using my energy elsewhere.  Yes, I acknowledge the human selfishness to not want to partake in the messy, to keep my movement and spiritual energy gentle and yes self-directed.  I saw it all, the impatience, the frustration, and the ill effects creeping into my body.  But I was watchful and self-compassionate.  I allowed these feeling for a bit and then watched them leave.  This is spiritual practice being present to whatever is! 

If we have done some spiritual work, we allow the movement of feelings, helped along by what ever practice we use as a buoy, we do not succumb.  We simply let one moment flow into another.  Today I am working on being truly present for my recovering beloved and finding so much peace and beauty in this process.  If the present storm had not come, I would not have taken the pause to slow the music and simply dance with my reality.  Fr. Richard Rohr says it best; True spirituality is not a search for perfection or control or the door to the next world; it is a search for divine union now.