Quiet Hours

it's those moments right after meditation that I enjoy, and most especially in the morning, rising so early just to extend this quiet hours for as long as possible. Everything is so seamless now, spacious, as if silence is selective in what's allowed to reach my ears. I love to simply sit, breathing soft, listening as the morning unfolds, cherishing every subtle sound and how they're immediately re-embraced by silence.  There is no split here, no inner world of my own that's separate from the morning, there's an equal stillness to it all, a mindful extension of what belongs within these quiet hours of mine.

meditation is my joy, and if there's any measure found here, it's in the moments that always follow, that I hold a stillness well beyond the time of sitting, a gift of silence infinitely unfolding. It's not exclusive to the morning, but these quiet hours seem to best match their mood to mine, giving me the gift of such a silent world to enjoy a little further. I always smile when asked if there's a need to practice meditation for the point of awakening, does enlightenment follows from the time of sitting - and honestly, I have no idea, I suspect so, but meditation has no real point, nor purpose beyond the enjoyment of settling within those easy moments of grace, silence, and breath. Any and every benefit is a bonus, arriving as a gift for my commitment of enjoying the quiet hours of my sitting. 

and it's a gift that keeps offering itself throughout the day in so many subtle and different ways, how my mine will suddenly find itself in a place of stillness in the midst of hurried thoughts, simply quiet, filled with a gratefulness for each moment, spontaneous in its appearance. It's as if my early morning meditation time courts these gifts to arrive in such unexpected fashion, surprising me in the continuation of all its unfolding silence. This is why I wake so early, not only for the time spent sitting in the quiet hours of morning, but for those moments that follow after, as if a seed is planted every morning that grows in silent wonder through the day, and every so often...

I am gifted with its blossom.

~

Peace, Eric