We are living in extraordinary times where every day we’re hit with one shock after another. Surely this reality invites us to seek refuge in our practice, not as an escape but as a counterbalance to the enormity of our times.
Always open for ways to inspire practice, I’ve found that poetry provides an abundance of possibilities for reflection. One such treasure appeared for me in the following lines: “Everything is so beautiful and I am so sad. This is how the heart makes a duet of wonder and grief,” from the poem Adrift by Mark Nepo.
Wonder and grief: how often in meditation we experience a duet of extremes – restless to calm, distracted to focused, anxiety to trust. Rather than judging ourselves, we can bring curiosity and kindness to the play of the mind and accept that these very extremes invite our caring attention and can become an illuminating part of our practice.
When looking at wonder as part of the duet with grief we can open to what we’ve missed because of not being fully awake to the moment–something beautiful in nature, the sound of children playing, a cloud formation in the sky. There is also wonder in recognizing the infinite play of one’s mind as endlessly creative as it is.
As for grief — that vast and tender topic — through practice we begin to allow its power to touch the heart. We open and feel the sadness until eventually the moment shifts; the heart breaks open and softens our isolation as we begin to feel our connection with countless others also experiencing grief.
Finally, when contemplating the subject of truth, we invariably find the presence of polarities — the extremes that challenge us in meditation practice and our lives. Returning to the image of being adrift between the polarities of wonder and grief, the poet adds, “It is there I am adrift, feeling punctured by a holiness that exists inside everything.” Though it may be counterintuitive to see the holiness in what challenges us, the possibility of that perspective is always here. It’s an invitation to see how our practice leads to a more accepting, loving view of ourselves and the world.