Ease

The temperatures are climbing ever so slightly, approaching 50 degrees fahrenheit. Things seem settled - the trees, the plants, the air.  "A good day for rituals and asking for blessings", says the pocket Chinese almanac.  It's Saturday.

The morning began with a wake up at 4:13 a.m.;  went back to sleep and had a dream that brought color, many people, sharing of food.  Must have been a remnant of the week's activities in which there were lots of colorful moments and sharing - food and stories about what is happening in life. This reminder of how people engage was the portal to a peaceful re-entry into the day's waking.

When struggle is all that one sees, it is not a surprise that the relief arrives in the form of a different reality that comes in the dream state to balance the energy of fighting.  At some point there must be a transition so that in order to go on, the struggle becomes a pathway to a way of moving into greater ease.  

From outside, others just see what they see in the moment - and it may look quite effortless.  The one being observed however, knows that there has been much effort, discipline, failures before the thing seen by others appears as ease.  This is something that should always be remembered - what you see is not the whole story.  There is much more than meets the eye or encounter in a single moment. And how one chooses or not chooses to recognize all that has been brought into that moment, is what will determine one's depth in this lifetime.

Mostly, there are no words to explain.  Each one must have the ability to recognize, then do what they will with that recognition.

Meditation offers a space to clear the judgments, the thinking, the deliberative mind so that something beyond knowledge can be attained.  The practice is startlingly simple, and struggle is part of getting to a state of natural and true clarity.  If there is too much effort, one can get injured.  Plenty of stories of the anxiety and fear that arose once quiet prevailed in minds that were constantly engaged in chatter about things that really didn't matter, couldn't be changed, or kept moving as "success" appeared at hand.

If there is too little effort, one is wasting time.  There needs to be, as in all things, a balance to get to the place where finally, there is ease in entering the stillness and quiet.  Arriving at that state may appear to be nothing notable.  This is what might be called an "appearance of ease".  But again, the reality is that in order to get to that place took much time.  What looks so effortless, in fact, is the outcome of much work, discipline, persistence, and many attempts that fail.

Then, one day - poof!  Something happens.  For each, that "something" is different - it may not even be the thing that has been nurtured - just a switch that flips, "Ah yes!".