Friday, April 30, 2010

There is no end to this ocean ...


Give Me Some Fresh Air !
Originally uploaded by Ben Heine

I read a passage in my teacher Jason's book this morning. He eloquently captured the essence of the Serenity Prayer and the Big Book's emphasis on accepting life on life's terms in one simple story. It goes like this:

"In true nonduality, we understand that a fish never leaves the water. The fish never comes to the end of the water, even if it is an explorer fish, swimming this way and that. It never comes to the end of the ocean because its nature is to be in the water. The fish and the water are one. As long as we think ' Here I am whole and there I am not' , we think there is an end to the ocean of self. But truly, there is no end to this ocean."

Jason goes on to explain this with a powerful statement:
"There is no life but this one."

When we stop questing for some life that we believe will be the better one or the one to save us, we actually can transform the life we have, making the courageous changes we need to while accepting those things we cannot change, just as the Serenity Prayer so gently guides us. I can feel the "wisdom" in knowing the difference, in a much more palpable way. There is no other place to be but in the present moment when each word of this prayer is really felt in the body.

There is no life but this one.

There is no end to this ocean.

There is no moment other than this one.


I can feel the currents of life like a gentle undertow in my being, no distinction between my body and the heartbeat of the Universe.

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