Vast Silence….

A poem today from the state of meditation. Cultivating presence through meditation practice is one of the most valuable things which any person who walks a path of service can do. This poem captures the experience of the meditative state well – although the practice of meditation is not really the point –  the effect is the point. The effects of meditation include increased capacity to self regulate, to direct and sustain attention where you chose, and expanded capacity for undistracted openness to life as it presents itself to you. And it deepens your encounter with the sacred in the ordinary. The blog will return to the subject of meditation, presence and  mindfulness next year. For now, here is the poem by Antonio Machado. It is called ‘Vast Silence’.

Has my heart gone to sleep?
Have the beehives of my dreams
stopped working, the waterwheel
of the mind run dry,
scoops turning empty,
only shadow inside?

No, my heart is not asleep.
It is awake, wide awake.
Not asleep, not dreaming—
its eyes are opened wide
watching distant signals, listening
on the rim of vast silence.

Antonio Machado