Every Day Samadhi

Experiences of Oneness that are both ordinary and profound

Hello friends. Today’s bit of writing comes from an exercise I did with our Mentorship group to begin this year’s spring session. I asked them to share when it is they feel most alive and at home in their bodies, in the world.

Sometimes described as a flow state, it’s a feeling of Oneness that is samadhi — the highest state of mental concentration. When we are so thoroughly engaged in the now that we lose all sense of self and seperateness.

Profound and magical moments that are also quite ordinary. Which makes them also easy to miss. The times we feel whole can slip us right by.

Noticing is the first step to re-membering.

So that was the group’s homework: to describe samadhi as experienced. And the following is what they came up with:

Swimming in the ocean, dancing in waves,

Feeling a river’s current run through me.

Playing in waterfalls,

Gliding on snow.

In water, I am absorbed.

Birdsong in the morning,

A winter night sky.

Being in wilderness —

I am the mountain, the eagle,

the rock, and the fox.

In all forms of nature,

It is my face I see.

Bike rides in spring.

Yoga before anyone is awake.

Hiking, skiing, climbing and swimming,

dancing to my favorite song.

I am the movement,

and the movement is me.

It’s the sowing and growing,

the knitting and purling,

the painting and making,

and doing-by-hand

that connects me to source

and helps me re-member myself.

Sometimes it’s the smell of my husband

or the baby suckled at my breast,

but a love that is visceral and primal

enters and posesses my body.

Intimacy is union in other forms, too.

Cooking and sharing meals,

holding hands as we walk,

a chat over tea.

And with dogs — they know which ones,

a love that is boundless and eternal.

And then there are numbers and spreadsheets,

especially those that tell stories.

I feel that rush of energy

in whatever problem, puzzle,

or challenge at hand,

it is invigorating.

Magnetizing, even.

I do not mind the work; I do not mind the struggle.

Whether studying a new language

or finding meaning in art,

it’s this passion for learning that is my true north.

I reach and bow,

inhale and exhale,

and chant daily prayers,

as rhythm takes over and harmony prevails.

There is magic in repetition.

And magic in emptiness, too.

In the silence of morning,

with nothing to do and nowhere to be,

it’s the absence of doing

that leaves me utterly fulfilled.

This is samadhi.

Sacred moments of Oneness.

glimpses of what is eternal,

a rising of the ecstatic,

found in our day-to-day.

If you would like to add to the group’s montage, please feel free to share in the comments below. I will read every one.

And anyway, isn’t sharing how we also join and connect?