BE STILL LIKE THE MOUNTAIN, BUT FLOW LIKE THE RIVER
“Be still like the mountain but flow like the river.
Lao Tzu”
I hope you are well and enjoying the sights and sounds of Spring, a season of change and growth. We're all spending more time outside, working in our gardens, planting, weeding, cleaning up the patio, going for walks and planning our summer trips.
Everyone is so "busy." I've been promising myself that I would not use that word any longer, but the feeling persists when one has -indeed- lots of deadlines and things to do.
Every time I feel "busy," I remember a lesson from one of my Buddhist teachers during a Dharma talk at Wat Pasantidhamma.
One attendee was very frazzled because she had so much on her plate, so much to do and so little time, and she asked the monks:
"What is the best meditation technique to be more efficient and productive?"
They were very quiet and, finally, one of them answered:
"Meditate more."
She looked at him in disbelief:
"But you dont understand, I don't have time to do all I have to do, so there's no way I can find more time to meditate!"
He smiled at her and repeated:
"Meditate more and all will be accomplished."
When we are running around feeling overwhelmed, the best thing we can do is indeed stop and be still like the mountain. And from that stillness, we will reconnect to our Source and flow like the river. Because, instead of acting from a place of fear and scarcity, we will be guided by peace and ease. It's the forcing that wastes our time and energy.
Now, whenever I'm feeling overwhelmed with deadlines and to-do-lists, I make a point of grounding myself into stillness, scheduling quiet times or moments with people who ground and calm me. This is what connects me to my source, deep inside my sacred mountain, and from there I flow and trust that everything that needs done will be done.
When we become still, time takes a dimension of its own and molds itself around the course of our life.
Effortlessly.
When you go with the flow, you're surfing life force.. —Danielle LaPorte