No Other Time, No Other Place

I recently came across the following reflection in William and Nancy Martin's book The Caregiver's Tao Te Ching: Compassionate Caring for Your Loved Ones and Yourself. It seems somewhat appropriate for the season of Advent, a time of "active waiting" for that which is already within and around us; a season, therefore, of "blessed paradox."

This reflection by the Martins is accompanied by the above image of "Joseph W" from Elska's magazine's May 2016 "Taipei" issue. I chose this image as it seems to me to beautifully represent the "in the moment" message of the Martins' writing. It also represents for me a sense of "piercing the veil," that ancient spiritual metaphor that's all about entering into a new dimension of insight and consciousness in the here and now.

Oh, and in seems I have a thing for windows! (See also, for example, here, here, here, here, and here.) I suppose this shouldn't be surprising, as windows too are powerful symbols of spiritual enlightenment, of new ways of seeing that which is already here – the presence of the sacred within and around us, for instance. Any and all ways of seeking and seeing that lead to positive transformation (of both the individual and society) greatly interest me.

______________________________

We Are Missing Nothing

Our conditioned mind tells us
that we are missing something grand.
Images of delightful experiences
dance seductively in our heads.
"If only we had time," we sigh,
"life would be so good and happy."

And then our attention returns
to the fullness of the moment.
And we realize we are here
and there is nothing else to do,
and nowhere else to be.
All the textures of life
are here to be experienced now.
There is no other time.
There is no other place.

– William and Nancy Martin
Excerpted from The Caregiver's Tao Te Ching
p. 121

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• An Advent Prayer
• Advent: The Season of Blessed Paradox
• Active Waiting: A Radical Attitude Toward Life
• The Centered Life as an Advent Life
• Called to the Field of Compassion
• The Source is Within You
• The Most Sacred and Simple Mystery of All

Image: Joseph W (from Elska's magazine's May 2016 "Taipei" issue).