Savor

          

"Savor every inch of breath in your body." ~Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

One inhalation is incalculable abundance. This breath is an influx of wonder that whispers more revelation that the Bible, the Qur'an, or the Vedas. In fact, this breath is the source of all scriptures. Every inspired text, every prophecy, springs from the stillness where this breath is born, and to which it returns. Here, in your chest.

To delight in this breath is the end of war. To delight in this breath is the end of consumption and craving. When I savor this breath, my needs are few. When my needs are few, I exploit no one. I walk softly over the earth, tasting every step in the present moment, the green spirit in the moss, the murmur of a tree frog. Walking this way, I am free. In a very spontaneous way, I can live simply, sustainably, without trying, without preaching, without a political party.

Wherever I stand is holy ground. I remove my shoes. I do not take this breath, I receive it. Just to breathe is worship. For the span of a single inhalation, which encircles the heart of eternity, I repose in true wealth. Then I offer it back to the giver.

To make conscious the unconscious miracle of ordinary breathing, is to sip the wine of the Spirit from the grail in each cell of this body. To breathe is my sacrament, my priestly offering. Each inhalation awakens Adam from the dust, and each exhalation creates a new earth. 

In Biblical Hebrew, the word for dust is "adamah." And Christ means "anointed." With this breath I anoint the dust, and transmute Adam into Christ.

Image: New blossoms right outside my window