For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. ~Matthew 5:45
A friend swims several times a week, not only for exercise but also as a time of meditation. She told me that recently while swimming and meditating on her blessings, she became aware of the other people in the pool. All of them were in the water together. She realized, she exclaimed, that “the water is for everyone.”
Simple...and profound. All of them in the same pool of water, there for their own reasons, thinking their own thoughts, yet connected to each other by the liquid that surrounded them all and held them up.
Like the air we breathe and the ground we walk on. There for all of us. So generous.
I thought further about the people swimming together in the pool. Maybe strangers to each other yet in relationship. Each swimmer mindful of where others are nearby. Each movement creating currents through the water, interacting with the currents created by others. There is no such thing as an isolated action with no impact. The dance of life.
We are not islands, and the bell tolls for thee and me alike, calling us not to death, but to life, together, to the love that surrounds us all and lifts us up, like water.
Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone - we find it with another. ~Thomas Merton
related posts: So Generous; Mushroom Experience; There Is No Them
Dear Galen,
ReplyDeleteLove this! In metaphysics water is often a metaphor for emotions. Interesting to contemplate that we are all connected by emotions floating around and between us too.
This also reminds me that I've been thinking about you quite a lot lately, and you probably don't even know it. We are connected to others whether they know it or not...
I read your earlier post about being spoiled and thought so long about my comment that I never got around to posting it -- hah! That was a pretty profound post. Also, the photo you used was PRICELESS ;-)
Also, I've been thinking a lot about your recent comment on my post about friends and 'special relationships' -- I am writing a blog post in response.
Thank you for all that you are, Galen! I'm happy and grateful to be connected to you through cyber-space, thoughts, emotions...
XOXOXO
Linda, Since you are one of my favorite people, I'm delighted to know that I am in your thoughts!
DeleteI've been thinking about your response to my comment about friendship (I wrote another comment in response to yours!) So I very much look forward to your blog post.
Thanks for the reflections on my posts. I'm also glad and grateful that we are connected. And thanks for posting this comment before you waited too long!
Yes! No man is an island. I always marvel at how we are all different, yet equal in the larger sense of the word! :-) Lovely thoughtful post, Galen! Hugs and happy Mother's Day to you!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Vidya. I appreciate your comment.
DeleteOh, what a beautiful reminder that we are all connected, all bound together by love. Yes, simple, but amazingly profound.
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Galen!
Martha, When she said it, we both looked at each other and realized that she was onto something! Thanks for commenting.
DeleteHi Galen
ReplyDeleteWhat a perfect way to put how we are all connected, whether we realize it or not. We are all like ripples on the water. Of course some are like giant waves, engulfing us with sometimes more than we wish! We can never really survive alone as independent as we like to think we are. All the folks we pass by each day can either be a ripple or a test to see how well we can stay afloat.
Happy Mother's Day
Mary
Mary, So true. Once I started thinking about it, I realized that there is much to learn from this simple observation my friend made. Thanks for your comment.
DeleteThe water in the pool analogy works so well to remind us of our connections to each other. We really are in this together. If only we can remember that.
ReplyDeleteI remember years ago my mother telling me this story: My father was a farmer, and one year his crops didn't do very well. Another person in the community told him maybe he wasn't living right, and that was the cause of his poor crops. He was probably at least half joking. But my father quoted that verse from Matthew to the man.
Tina, Thanks for sharing the story about your dad--that's great!
DeleteI enjoyed the analogy. We are all connected. Each action is like throwing a pebble into a pool of water. It ripples outwards.
ReplyDeleteWe never know how our behavior affects others. Say I give a stranger a compliment and it makes their day, which in turn they are nice to someone else and it makes their day and so forth. If I am mean to someone and it can wreck their day and they pass it forward.
The world is interconnected. WE all need to work together.
www.findingonespath.blogspot.com
Sebastian, That is a great example, and a positive one, too! Thanks so much for commenting.
DeleteWonderful analogy here Galen. Swimming in water with other people does represent the grander scheme of things and how we are all interconnected in life. Thanks for the reminder. It is one that can never be repeated enough. Take care and Happy Mother's Day to you.
ReplyDeleteCathy, You're right that it's a great analogy. My friend and I was amazed that it was right in front of us like that. Thanks for the good wishes and your comment.
DeleteA lovely post, to read at the end of a wonderful Mother's Day! Your last quote will long linger on my mind and inside my heart! (Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone - we find it with another. ~Thomas Merton) this is so very true.
ReplyDeleteKaren, I'm glad I found that quote--it seemed perfect. Thanks for your comment.
DeleteHi Galen,
ReplyDeleteThis was a lovely post and a wonderful reminder that indeed we do need other people, just as other people need us. It's useful to remember this, particular during those periods when we might experience loneliness. As you stated, we aren't islands and are on this journey of life together.
Thank you.
Hiten, One technique I learned from a Buddhist teacher is to remember, when we are feeling an isolating emotion like loneliness, that millions of other people in the world are feeling just what we are feeling at that exact moment. We can connect to them through our heart energy. Thanks for commenting.
DeleteI made have shared this with you before Galen, but I just have to put it up again on this post. It is my new favorite joke and I have been ending my meditation with it every morning this month - here goes:
ReplyDeleteWhat did the Buddhist Monk say to the Hot Dog Vender?
"Make me one with everything."
patricia, Yes, you did share that joke. Very funny!
DeleteWhat a powerful quotation at the start of this post. That is "impartiality" in essence, true love and compassion.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful image of love surrounding us all!
Sandra, It is a good reminder to me to not judge. Thanks for commenting.
DeleteWhat lovely thoughts and a wonderful analogy. We do indeed need one another in this dance of life. I loved the quote by Thomas Merton.
ReplyDeleteThanks and blessings for this lovely post!
LeAnn, Thanks for your kind words. I'm so happy that we are dancing together in blogworld!
DeleteHi Galen,
ReplyDeleteI love this post. Your post reminded me of something I read somewhere about "water." This is not it but similar:
Waves are not separate from the Ocean,
rays are not separate from the Sun,
You are not separate from
Existence-Consciousness-Bliss.
This is a reflection of That.
--Sri H.W.L. Poonja
Angela, What a lovely addition to the conversation. Thank you for sharing it.
DeleteExcellent message; it's a we life, not a me life!
ReplyDeletedarlin, Short and sweet! So true--thanks for commenting.
DeleteLove this unifying post. Love the quote from Thomas Merton. I think this is the miost powerful thing to keep in mind...
ReplyDeleteJodi, I was so pleased when I found that Merton quote. It seemed to capture what my friend experienced while swimming. Thanks for commenting.
DeleteThis is the first I have heard: swimming and meditating at the same time. It sure sounds therapeutic! Focusing on the strokes, being in the moment, no where else but in a seamless fluid dance with the other swimmers in the ocean of life.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing!
Evelyn, I had not heard of swimming meditation, either, although it makes sense. I've practiced walking meditation before and, as you said, swimming has a rhythm to it that would lend itself to meditation. Thanks for commenting.
DeleteGreat analogy, Galen. Also got me thinking about the wonderful freedom you feel in water. I guess true freedom comes in knowing that we are all part of a whole.
ReplyDeleteCorinne, That's true. Once my friend and I got to thinking about it, there was so much meaning to be found in her experience. Thanks for your comment.
DeleteThere is a reason that water is so highly symbolic and archetypal in literature. Study water and learn about life.
ReplyDeleteJJ, Bruce Lee used water as an image in his martial arts. "Be water, my friend," he advised. Thanks for commenting.
Deletethis is awesome....it is really an awareness among the people....we everyone need to know that water and air is not for a special human, it is for all the humans....there is no permission require to use it.....this thing is really great explained by you.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Shubham!
DeleteThis is an awesome post!!! I know that I am a year late. But GREAT post. the water is indeed for all of us! Please feel free to visit my site www.brich4life.com (My purpose is to help others find their purpose)
ReplyDeleteI believe that you can indeed reach your dreams!
-B.Rich
Thanks, B.Rich. I looked at your site--very nice.
Delete