In, Out, Above, Below

After meditation this morning, I wrote:

In-breath nourishing my heart with love, 
I am fully present. 
Out-breath cleansing my mind, 
I am grounded, planted in silence. 
Thank you Sky for filling each cell of my flesh. 
Thank you Earth for rooting me here.

An hour later, a dear friend shared with me this fragment from a Chinese scroll of the Chou dynasty, 500 BCE:

"Inhalation must be full: 
breath should be held and gathered. 
If gathered, it becomes magic. 
If it becomes magic, it descends and quiets down. 
If it quiets down, it solidifies. 
If solidified, then it germinates.
If it germinates, it grows. 
If it grows, it returns upward. 
Returning upward, it reaches the crown of the head. 
Reaching the crown, it still presses up, 
for the secert power of Heaven moves Above, 
and the secret power of Earth moves Below. 
He who follows this will live."   

Time and space are fields of Presence. Our connection is all.