February at long,
Long last.
The mornings are growing noticeably lighter.
Opening my senses to this morning,
I hear the sweet song of the robin.
It feels like he sings inside of me.
The sun is yet to make its appearance.
When it comes,
It will be behind the naked ash trees.
I watch and wait as the horizon begins to glow pink.
This experience is sacred.
Every morning is a birth bathed in birdsong now.
I feel alive,
Fully immersed in my world.
My Japanese cherry has blossomed.
I stop by it on my way to the car for yet another busy work day.
I look at the delicate beauty of the petals and it fills me with such joy.
The flowers are so fragile.
They look so ill-equipped for this still,
Frozen world.
Gratitude is a wonderful thing to practice.
It's seen as the best way to bring joy into one's life.
I don't single it out as a practice,
Very often,
Because I don't feel the need to.
Coming alive to the beauty that surrounds us,
Mindfulness meditation evokes a feeling of gratitude so naturally.
When we're grateful,
It's for what's already here.
I'm inspired by a lady,
A Buddhist master,
Called Deepamar.
Her life was one of such loss that in grief,
She almost died from the despair.
Born in Bangladesh,
Married at the age of 12.
Two years later,
Relocating to Burma to be with her husband,
Who worked there as an engineer.
Unable to conceive,
And as a result,
Suffering great betrayal from her in-laws,
She finally gave birth to her first child,
After 20 years of trying.
Sadly,
Her joy wasn't to last.
She lost the child.
She gave birth to a second child,
A girl,
Deeper.
Then tragedy struck again,
As she lost her third child,
A baby boy.
Then her husband died of a heart attack,
Leaving her isolated in Burma,
With one surviving child to care for.
In the space of a decade,
She experienced the death of two of her three children,
Her husband,
And her both parents.
Close to death herself from the weight of such tragedy,
She literally crawled on her hands and knees into a temple.
From here she was taught meditation,
And became a master,
Quickly progressing through stages of awakening,
Becoming a being who radiated pure love.
Often when I feel uncertain,
I remember her words,
Knee-deep in grace.
They become a soothing mantra to me,
A reminder of what a blessing life is.
She understood,
That irrespective of how life treats us,
We are knee-deep in grace.
If Deepamar can go through all of that tragedy,
And through it,
See that we are surrounded by such grace,
We all have reason for deep gratitude.
Tomorrow I'm going to share a little of my life,
And how it shaped me.
Don't forget to join and comment in the group here on Insight Timer.
It's called Everyday Stillness,
And you can find it on my profile.
Have a mindful day,
Filled with gratitude,
And remember that you are walking,
Knee-deep in grace.
See you tomorrow.
