Friday, January 8, 2010

Life's Path


Vowed religious and many solitary hermits have a rule of life. I have a path.

My life’s path

It was to arise with the alarm clock
To have a hot coffee
To study A Course in Miracles
To practice my holy listening.
The path was building a relationship with US.

It was then to get some exercise
To shape the core with Zen crunches
To shower and make my lunch
And to jump in the Prius (Fore-runner) and attend my profession.
The path was to ponder the hand of God.

It was to sit in front of a computer for many hours,
To pound the keys or reading
To produce safety analyses for extremely hazardous chemicals.
The path was to immerse my mind in the nothingness.

The path was to guide a bored or restless mind
To drink coffee.
To resist the vending machine, taking flat bread instead.
To attend meetings and lead discussions.
The path was to serve and teach and learn.

The path was to double back on myself
To jump back in the Prius and head for home.
To exercise some more.
To work on a Miracles project.
To make juice and eat salad.
The path was in silence and solitude.

The path was not of greatness in this world
Not of high intelligence
Not of admirable inspiration
Not of speed or beauty
Not of greatly visible purpose for followers.
It was just a quiet solitary thing, to be merely lived.

The path did not have a rule
Not borrowed from a saint
Not validated by an authority
In fact quiet the opposite
It was a path away from outside favorable consideration.

The path has weekends and free days of pondering and solo running.
Pondering spiritual studies.
Pondering the long slow distance running.
Pondering merely sitting alone, mind unoccupied.
It was to have a life detached and empty, shared with Something.
The path was now real.

1 comment:

Ultra Monk said...

I have stopped trying to get anything.