Hello,
My friends.
To begin this meditation,
I invite you to be still.
And when I say be still,
I simply mean to close your eyes and relax your body.
Notice that with that simple act of closing your eyes,
Your mind naturally gets quieter.
And when I say be still,
What I do not mean is to focus all your attention on not moving a muscle or concentrating really hard on suppressing all thoughts.
If you need to reposition,
Simply reposition and get comfortable.
And if you have a distracting thought,
Simply see it and let it go without judgment or admonishment.
I invite you to enter this space with an attitude of gratitude and non-judgment,
Especially toward yourself.
And embrace a heart and mindset of peace and loving-kindness.
It's around 4 BCE in ancient India.
It's a dark starry evening.
You are a servant with your Lord Gaspar outside his bamboo hut.
As usual,
He's looking up at the stars in the clear,
Beautiful night sky.
You feel the sand beneath your bare feet,
Still warm from the sun beating down in the heat of the day.
By contrast,
The light,
Gentle draft of the cool evening breeze,
Is a welcome and pleasant feeling on your face.
You take a moment to simply feel the warm sand between your toes and the refreshing breeze on your cheeks.
Gaspar brings you back to the task at hand by muttering something from the Vindanga Jayatisha,
An ancient Vedic text of Indian astrology.
Despite this being a very common activity for you two,
Looking up at the stars in the evening sky together while Gaspar quotes scripture,
There's something different about tonight.
Perhaps it is how especially starry the night sky is tonight.
There's something else,
Though,
Something you can't quite put into words or fully construct a thought.
Something in the air.
Gaspar seems to be concentrating more than usual,
Even more than usual.
And instead of quoting scripture to you,
As he often does,
He seems to be muttering it to himself,
As if he's trying to make sense of something.
He usually seems so sure of what the night sky is trying to tell us.
The stars in the night sky,
Gaspar says,
Were given to us as signs.
The night sky is a map to guide us in the journey of life.
As you get a waft of the comforting smell of Gaspar's eye,
You ponder these words.
The night sky is a map to guide us in the journey of life.
Suddenly,
Gaspar snaps you out of your ponderings by proclaiming,
We need to leave now.
We have a long journey ahead of us.
He says it as though you had already made plans,
And know exactly where you're going,
How long you'll be,
And how many supplies you'll need.
My lord,
Wouldn't it make more sense to leave in the morning,
In the light of day?
You hear yourself saying.
Normally you wouldn't contradict Gaspar like this.
No,
He answers.
We must journey in the evening.
We must follow that star.
He points to the biggest,
Brightest star in the sky.
You're not sure if that star is in a different place than usual,
Or if it's a new star,
Or if,
Somehow,
You just never noticed it before.
At any rate,
You don't know how it's possible you didn't notice it until he pointed to it.
As you and Gaspar begin to pack for this long,
Mysterious journey,
Your head swarms with a thousand questions.
You ask simply,
Where are we going?
There has been an awakening,
He says contemplatively.
We are going to witness the birth of Vishnu.
This statement feels like it borders on blasphemy to you,
Although it is not your place to question,
Lord Gaspar.
What is the purpose of our journey,
My lord?
This is the best way you can think of to get more clarity without sounding disrespectful.
He answers with one simple word,
Hope.
At that word,
The thousands of questions rattling around in your mind seem to disappear.
The answers will reveal themselves.
For now,
You simply look forward to the journey.
You look forward to the prospect of meeting the divine in human form.
Could it be?
Could it be?
For now,
You are filled with hope.
For now,
You are filled with hope.
This journey is a journey of hope.
Thank you for sharing this tender,
Sacred moment with me today,
My friends.
May grace and peace,
Light and love,
And hope be with you.
