Suddenly

Dear Friends,

Last week, our group opened to a radiance that touched many of us.  We could try to go there again, but in my experience it is unwise to return too soon to the same terrain.  

We are still interested, though, in the twin themes of effortlessness and becoming-the-image.  They belong together, because the degree to which we can manifest effortless and joyful participation is the degree to which we can allow the image to transform us.  This may require initial gestures of self-remembering and self-creation.

Today we'll approach this theme from quite a different angle.  We will bring to mind and discuss moments of immediate change or realization.  The key to such moments is often the word "suddenly."  Suddenly you got the joke and burst out laughing. Suddenly your heart melted and you forgave them. Suddenly you had the energy to do what you'd been avoiding. Suddenly you saw that the toaster was not plugged in: hey, maybe that has something to do with why the bread isn't toasting! Suddenly the world looked new.

These are examples of positive transformation.  We can touch on negative ones too, but the point is that understanding comes in a flash.  With whatever slow and effortful preparation, when it finally arrives it is always instantaneous and effortless.  And when we understand anything, we become it, as it becomes us.  The meaning we understand is itself the "image" that imprints us.

So please come prepared to share a concrete example of sudden realization, of whatever kind, humble or grand, positive or negative.  Our central meditation however will focus not on the immediacy, but on the ease: 
 

Understanding is effortless.

How is such effortlessness even possible?  What kind of universe is it in which awareness itself is given?

As so often, we will dedicate the good of our practice to the well-being of this very planet. Just before rising to end the hour, we'll gather our energies and in a single gesture collectively touch the earth.

with love,

Michael