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meditation
June 2009 
Under the Banyan Tree 30
Posted on Aug 24th, 2007
by 
Harshada
Harshada
Get it While You Can
This week, those of us on the East Coast got a kind of wake up call from nature. Suddenly the weather turned unseasonably cold. At first it felt like a relief from the sweltering August heat. Then, as the day extended to days, it began to feel like the end of summer. The end of Summer. Ugh. The weather has turned warm again today so I went out for my usual morning walk in the north woods of Central Park. Near the end, I stopped and looked up into the green luminous canopy of the trees. The sun was gentle and golden and the leaves were so green- so luscious. The Summer bugs were chirping, everything was alive. As I looked at all this freshness, my mind flashed ahead a couple of months and I saw the cold leafless branches rattling in the freezing rain. As I thought of the months of late fall and winter when I and so many New Yorkers long for the green, the shorts, the summer bugs, a clear voice poked through, "Get it while you can." I felt really grateful for the days of cold and rain. It was just enough to snap me out of the "dog days" mentality- complaining about the heat and humidity- the social schedule of summer, etc.
This immediately made me think of meditation practice too. I hear from so many people who are in crisis- they're divorcing, their business is tanking, they are having a health crisis. And they want to get relief from their stress and panic and anxiety. Of course, I do help them as best as I can. Of course the practice of meditation does have the power to create miracles in people's lives and inner beings. But once you're in crisis- usually the nature of the crisis is that you don't have time or energy to do things like learn meditation or attend a retreat or take meditation lessons. When you're in crisis, your attention is consumed with "the urgent" instead of "the important".
The message the Park revealed to me this morning "Get it While you Can" was about people getting into meditation when their life is relatively good. Get into lessons or attend a retreat or buy a great book or cd when you have the luxury of time and energy. Focus on what's important while you have a break from the emergencies. Learn the method of meditation when you have less to contend with. For sure, there will come a time when you don't have so much extra time and energy. Then you will wish you had spent the time when you could.
This week, those of us on the East Coast got a kind of wake up call from nature. Suddenly the weather turned unseasonably cold. At first it felt like a relief from the sweltering August heat. Then, as the day extended to days, it began to feel like the end of summer. The end of Summer. Ugh. The weather has turned warm again today so I went out for my usual morning walk in the north woods of Central Park. Near the end, I stopped and looked up into the green luminous canopy of the trees. The sun was gentle and golden and the leaves were so green- so luscious. The Summer bugs were chirping, everything was alive. As I looked at all this freshness, my mind flashed ahead a couple of months and I saw the cold leafless branches rattling in the freezing rain. As I thought of the months of late fall and winter when I and so many New Yorkers long for the green, the shorts, the summer bugs, a clear voice poked through, "Get it while you can." I felt really grateful for the days of cold and rain. It was just enough to snap me out of the "dog days" mentality- complaining about the heat and humidity- the social schedule of summer, etc.
This immediately made me think of meditation practice too. I hear from so many people who are in crisis- they're divorcing, their business is tanking, they are having a health crisis. And they want to get relief from their stress and panic and anxiety. Of course, I do help them as best as I can. Of course the practice of meditation does have the power to create miracles in people's lives and inner beings. But once you're in crisis- usually the nature of the crisis is that you don't have time or energy to do things like learn meditation or attend a retreat or take meditation lessons. When you're in crisis, your attention is consumed with "the urgent" instead of "the important".
The message the Park revealed to me this morning "Get it While you Can" was about people getting into meditation when their life is relatively good. Get into lessons or attend a retreat or buy a great book or cd when you have the luxury of time and energy. Focus on what's important while you have a break from the emergencies. Learn the method of meditation when you have less to contend with. For sure, there will come a time when you don't have so much extra time and energy. Then you will wish you had spent the time when you could.
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