Einstein said,
There are only two ways to live your life.
One is as though nothing is a miracle.
The other is as though everything is a miracle.
Taking a moment to settle into presence,
Closing the eyes or softening the gaze,
Aware of your posture,
Sitting or lying in a way that allows the breath to be easeful and to flow freely,
Relaxed yet alert,
Bringing to your mind's eye the image of the room or space you are currently in with as much detail as you can,
Behind closed eyes,
See what's in front of you,
What's behind you,
On either side of you,
Below and above you.
Now zooming out,
Expanding the image in your mind to include the whole building,
What details can you make out of your whole building?
Expanding a bit further to include the neighborhood or area of the city or countryside.
Without too much effort,
Notice how many details you are still able to discern,
And then expanding again to include the whole state,
Then the country.
How many details can you clearly see now?
Continuing to zoom out,
Seeing your continent,
Your hemisphere,
And out further and further until you are above the earth,
Looking down.
What do you notice around you?
Drifting here among the stars,
In the blackness of space,
How far can you see?
What details can you make out?
Out here,
Everything is expansive.
There is infinite space.
Enough room to hold everything imaginable.
The individual details are of little importance.
Out here,
Everything merges into a beautiful balance of dark and light,
Blackness punctuated with swirls of blue and green,
Dots of yellow and red.
Breathe in the freedom of this spaciousness.
The liberation of endless opportunity.
The miracle of the universe.
Now returning gently to the earth,
Through the ether,
Through the atmosphere,
To your country,
Your state,
Your home,
Or the space in which you are sitting.
Feeling into your body in this space,
And then zooming in this time,
Feeling into the organs of your body,
The rhythm of your heart gently beating,
Your lungs softly breathing,
The blood steadily pulsing through your veins.
Imagine if you could sense into the spaces between your nerve cells,
The synapses that catch your neurons' microscopic whispers,
And then feeling into the spaces within your cells,
The volume of which upholds the cell walls,
Feeling the stability this space creates,
And then visualizing the organelles inside the cells,
Each cell its own miniature system,
Delicately packed together,
Collectively maintaining each organ,
Integral to the functioning of the whole body.
From this place deep within,
Every detail has its place,
An orchestra of minute significance.
Resting for a moment in appreciation and awe for how effortlessly these complex subtleties dance together to fuel this living body,
And to make this experience of life possible.
The miracle of being.
Now seeing if you can hold the imagery from zooming out,
And from zooming in simultaneously.
On one hand,
Feel the expansiveness,
Infinite possibilities,
No need for small details,
Untethered and liberated by openness.
And on the other hand,
Feeling the intricate magic of your inner world,
The magnitude of every small detail,
Divine coordination and cooperation,
Whole by the sum of all parts.
Both of these are always true.
Zooming out,
We see that in the grandness of creation,
There is space for everything.
Our mistakes and accomplishments,
Our regrets and dreams,
Pain and joy.
Surrendering to the bigger picture,
The harsh edges blur and melt into the vastness of what is.
And yet at the same time,
Every little aspect matters.
Just as every molecule is essential to your wellbeing,
So is each person inherently meaningful.
Every thought,
Every kindness,
Every action or inaction,
Each blade of grass and drop of water,
All creatures,
All expressions of life,
Crucial,
Everything down to the fractions of cells within us,
Brings unique gifts and graces to our collective prosperity.
We sit eternally,
Delicately balanced in the midst of it all,
From the microscopic to the boundless,
Breathing it in with every breath,
The miracle of everything.
