Transition Meditation

The clouds above us join and separate
The breeze in the courtyard leaves and returns

Lu Yu

 

Change is all around us and particularly evident at this time of year when the energy of Spring is moving like a great current through the earth; even the air seems more alive. What does not change stagnates, but change can be painful. Separation can be painful. In times of grief, adjusting to living without someone we hold dear is very painful indeed. Change that we ourselves have instigated, such as moving house, or changing a job can be painful. Even success or unexpected good fortune can be difficult to handle. Transition through the menopause is a time of change; it is necessary to let go of something and to reach out to find new experiences and challenges.

Adapting to any of these things is a process, not a single event.

Spring is a period of transition that can be uplifting but can also be a depressing time. When a battery is very flat, it cannot take a charge. Something similar seems to happen to people in the Spring if their vitality is low. As the energies of the earth surge, the tide of life in human beings can falter, there is a feeling of being unequal to the energy around us and perhaps for this reason suicide is more common in Spring than at other times of year.

At times of change, the bigger picture may be overwhelming. Concentrating on the details can get us through a time of change, and taking pleasure in small things.

Meditation

Find a small stone and a seed that are approximately the same size.

Sit quietly by yourself when you are sure you won't be interrupted, and relax. Turn your attention to the breath, allowing it to become deep, even, slow, and regular.

When you are ready, take the seed into one hand and the stone into the other. Imagine that you can see or feel deeply into both. What qualities do they have; how are they different, how are they the same?

You may find the seed is quick and light. It has energy and the desire to grow. Given the right conditions to germinate, it will crack open to become a shoot. Even a seed has to sacrifice its perfect symmetry in order to grow.

Perhaps the stone is also on a path of change but is taking its time about it. In time it too will crack and break down into dust; only then can it be recombined to continue its part in creation.

The human life that starts with a small seed and ends with the body returning to dust while the soul embarks upon another journey, is somewhere in between the quick and ready life of the seed and the slowness of the stone.

When you have finished this meditation, plant the seed and put the stone nearby