A Misty Morning Musing

    In the woods of northern Michigan there is a lake where I frequently take my dog (Godot) to retrieve bumpers (We don’t hunt but he loves to retrieve!).  Come rain or shine - weather doesn’t matter much when retrieving - we hit the lake in the early morning hours.  This morning the scene was exquisite! There was no wind, so the water was smooth as glass.  A few sparse rays of brilliant sunshine managed to peek through the evergreens across the lake to strike my awestruck eyes.  And, a fine, angelic mist had settled upon the water (“And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters...”)  All of this was sporadically punctuated by the sacred sound of geese singing their praises from the far reed bed.

    Splash!  Godot wasn’t taking in the scene but becoming part of it, already cresting the once still water.  Elbow deep, he turned to me with that particular stare he has that communicates, “Well, I’m waiting?  Isn’t this why we are here?!”  Before doing my duty I had to take an extra moment to absorb it all.  Godot traipsed impatiently while I watched this thought cross my mind: “It would be so awesome, actually to be in that scene myself, maybe standing in the midst of that angelic mist on the far shore, like Adam surely did innumerable mornings in Eden...”  [No.  I am not a creationist.  It’s literary license… ;-)]

    Then, with a few whirls to gain momentum, I let the bumper fly.  I love that moment of silence as the bumper arcs through the air, the magic of physics keeping it aloft just long enough to create a brief, meditative vision, until - another splash!  Off swims Godot and while he retrieves said bumper, my mind returns to that Eden like scene.  And, just as quickly, I realize the absurdity of that vision.  I already am standing in the midst of that angelic mist on the far shore, like Adam surely did innumerable mornings in Eden!  I had simply failed to see it because of my perspective.  And what perspective was that, pray tell?  It was the dualistic perspective we all inhabit when we are ego identified.
    It is natural to be identified with our egos but when we are, we are also trapped in a false, dualistic perspective.  That is, when ego identified I experience myself as subject and everything that is “not me” as object.  Hence, I, the subject, did not experience myself as being part of this morning’s exquisite scene - the object.  Such dualistic perspective is the cause of our perceived alienation from life, which in turn is the cause of a great deal of our suffering - on which more in some future post.
    However, once I realized the absurdity of my Eden like vision I was able to become free of the false, dualistic vision of the world I was experiencing.  With a simple shift of attention I became unified in a seamless whole, as in that Eden like state wherein Adam and Eve walked in union with God - until someone told them they were naked (yet another post for another time, or, if you wish, you can catch me sermonizing on that topic here on YouTube.)
    What I am speaking about here is what is called "advaita" in the Eastern mystical traditions; the unity of Being beneath appearances.  This is a vitally important theme, both for the mystical experience and for the ethics that it entails.
    If this is all starting to wax too philosophical, consider Hafez’s simpler, more humorous take on the same theme:

“I laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty.”

Namaste,

Alex