Dear friends,
Welcome to this period of quiet reflection designed to remind you of the unique person you are.
Yes,
You are only one of the seven billion people on earth but understand this for certain,
You are unique and irreplaceable.
An opening thought.
I come into this place on the forming edge of my life,
To resist the headlong tumble into the next moment,
Until I claim for myself awareness and gratitude,
Until I take the time to look out into the great world around me and see in that world a community awaiting my unique person.
So just become aware of your presence in this room at this time.
Close your eyes,
Notice your breath,
Place your hand on your chest,
And just for a few seconds experience a feeling of gratitude for being here,
For just being here,
A feeling of thankfulness for these quiet moments.
Your existence here is something quite remarkable.
As you know,
You are composed of billions upon billions of atoms and subatomic particles which are in the form of atoms and subatomic particles.
As Bill Bryson in his book,
A Brief History of Nearly Everything,
Colourfully describes it,
If someone took a tweezers and removed atom after atom until all your atoms were arranged in a single heap,
He would still be left with a single atom,
Being or conscious,
But which in their previous state of togetherness went to make you who you are,
A living,
Thinking,
Conscious being.
So people are much more than the sum of all the atoms in the universe.
They are not only deeply,
Profoundly thankful.
So let us spend a little while in a state of gratitude for the wonder of this teaching to recall,
Thank you very Next it might be useful to realise that your combination of atoms listening to this and my combination of atoms putting this reflection together are,
Like all people,
Amazingly,
Totally and completely unique.
You are here now.
No one in the whole world is exactly like you.
No one has ever been the same as you.
And no one will ever be just like you.
You are truly a one-off.
No other person has your unique life experience.
No one has your exact talents,
Your skills,
Your feelings.
Your life and your unique existence is quite incredible.
So let's rest a while in thankfulness for the amazing fact of your uniqueness.
Our distinctiveness demonstrates the fact that no one can do exactly what you are able to do.
No other person can make the contribution to society that you are able to make in this short life during which your unique combination of atoms holds together.
This life represents your extraordinary popping into being and your chance to play your distinctive part in the whole history of this amazing universe.
As the late Mary Oliver puts it,
Tell me what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
Give a pause for reflection.
And just think of the combinations of couplings reaching back over centuries,
Over millennia,
Which finally resulted in you being born to your parents.
Any break in that sequence,
Any slight change in timing,
Any different sperm being the force to make contact with any waiting egg,
And someone else would be listening to this meditation,
Not you.
Of course any such change in history on my side would mean that no one would be listening to this particular moment of reflection because just like you I would not be here.
Our presence here is wonderful and to be aware of it is awe inspiring.
With all our faults we are special and with mindfulness we can hopefully minimise the less attractive aspects of our character.
Our closing thought today is from G.
K.
Chesterton.
Here ends another day during which I have had eyes,
Ears,
Hands and the great world around me.
Tomorrow begins another day.
Why am I allowed two?
Why indeed?
Why was I even allowed one?
Now what will I do with this one short amazing life?
Namaste.
