Left town on Friday to hang out at my favorite condo in Imperial Beach for four days with friends.
It's wonderful to get back to the ocean, to walk on the sand early in the morning. It's cleansing and healing to listen to the waves as the sun rises. So peaceful and soothing after a hot and crazy summer, dealing with angry people, people threatening litigation and more.
As I walk, I pass people of all backgrounds and ages. Some are surfing. A few older people are fishing off the pier. Two children are building a sand castle. A father is collecting seashells with his children. It's a peaceful scene of people immersed in their lives, people living in the moment. While I can't see inside their heads, they all appear to be happily enjoying this moment of their lives.
As I continue along the sand, enjoying the morning, I reflect on what I've learned about living in the here and now - in this moment. And what the people by the ocean seem to be doing is enjoying each minute as it unfolds, oblivious to time. Exactly what I've been taught in the mindfulness meditation course I've been attending.
During my reverie, I begin to use another technique I've learned in my Vipassana studies, that of loving kindness. This is a practice where we sending loving thoughts to first ourselves, then our family and friends, then to even our adversaries, until our good wishes cover the entire world.
A loving-kindness meditation goes something like "May you be safe, may you be healthy, may you prosper, may you be happy, may you be free from pain, may you be peaceful..." and so forth. There are many variations to the meditation and practitioners can be as creative as they want. It kind of serves the same purpose as praying for those you resent, as described on page 552 in the AA Big Book. It helps soften the heart and to clear negative emotions.
And as I return to the condo after my walk by the sea I feel purged of negativity, having a sense of peace, of oneness with the world.
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