Every day I wake to new surprises resulting from meditation and mindfulness. My world is evolving from black and white to rich, vibrant color. And it isn’t over yet.
I wonder why it took me seven decades to find this out, to find out that the world is so rich, deep and wonderful. I spent more than a decade as a contemplative monk, and I remember hearing nothing about this enlivening way to experience the world. There was, of course, the occasional reference to mystics. But they were weird, odd, maybe out of touch.
I think I may be getting a little weird, a little out of touch with the world I have been accustomed to. I am experiencing a different world that has been there all the time, and I hardly knew it. I don’t remember anyone telling me about it, except perhaps in some indirect, obscure way.
Now I want to spread the word, but that may not be easy. Encountering mindfulness is a little like an altered state. For me, it has been like waking up and discovering that I’ve been dreaming. It is a little like the first europeans who saw Yellow Stone. They had a hard time convincing people that wondrous place really existed. I know it only because I have been there.