Living A Life Of Gratitude: 21 Prayer To The Sun

Learn why experiencing the cycles of the natural world, in all the ways we can do this, reminds us of who we really are. As we journey from life's beginning to sacred end, we will experience both suffering and radical heart opening. No matter what is happening in your life, when we focus on gratitude for every little thing—the good, the bad, the all of it—we can experience soul awakening.

Transcript

Welcome to Living a Life of Gratitude. I'm Sarah Wiseman. Prayer to the Sun. On Kauai, We take our bikes out early, Maybe as early as 5 a. M. I don't know. The roosters have awoken us. They are everywhere. Chorus of cacophony, Noisy and wild. They wake us up and we collect our bikes and collect ourselves and head out onto the long winding path above the sea. It's unimaginable to be in Kauai up at 5 a. M. Already riding a bike. I have awoken so quickly and I am so utterly and suddenly awake that my stomach almost reels from it. We ride out toward the high cliffs. The better to watch the waves, The better to watch the whales that spout and cluster at this time of year. There are dozens of them, Perhaps many more, Migrating past the islands and even the fact that we are there so early in the half-light still does not preclude us from catching a glimpse. Even now, There is the exhale bursting like sudden foam on the water. Even now, We can spot that. And the light, It is also lifting. We continue to ride and soon we are not the only ones. Already, The surfers are up arriving in their cars before work. We ride past. They are greeting each other. They are carrying their boards. They are standing before the water for a perfect, Gorgeous second before plunging in to paddle out to the waves and the sea in one giant, Joyous breath. And then as we round the curve, Surfers bobbing like ants on the sea, Everything changes. The sun is rising. The sun is rising. The sun is rising. It's rising in the east like a prayer. Here on the path, We are paralyzed with the view, The early orb rising right before our eyes. On the beach, The race to the waves continues, The view for the most forgotten, For it is only the sun rising. This is something that happens every day. A single man stands in reverie. He's in his 50s, 60s, Or 70s. It's hard to tell from here. He's not a surfer. He's not here to swim. He's just here to greet the sun, An ordinary man on an ordinary day, Wearing an ordinary t-shirt and shorts. He stands motionless on the beach as we stand motionless above on the cliff. And then the sun is moving up from the horizon and we see that it is not one man on the beach, But there are suddenly many of us, Witnesses to this unutterable moment when the sun rises from dark rim of sea, Light pours from infinite horizon, And radiance beams into the world. I am so awake, I am no longer aware of myself. My heart, My heart, It is captured within the very soul of the sun. This miracle happens every day. Wherever you are in every part of the world, Light emerges from dark. We receive the blessings of the universe as the sun births from night. Get up before sun, Face the east, Witness the miracle, And claim it as your own with thanks and awe in your heart.