You Can Slow Down Now

So many details in modern life–so much to do–so little sense of time to freely enjoy. So much of the major disease of our times–hurry and worry. We are almost completely divorced from quiet time and slow, healthy, one-step-at-a-time living. Basically, it’s all too fast for the natural harmony and flow of Life to be experienced. We get nervous, we have so much to do, we have forgotten how to live. And then there is the stupid t.v., to invade our minds and remove life even more from the Reality which we are.

Well, a little bird (a thought from the higher part of ourselves) sang to me. “You can slow down now, Richard. You can slow down now–this is the time and place, this is the space–you are that for which you seek.” And the echo of that refrain keeps repeating itself like a natural mantra–a spiritual practice whose purpose it is to protect the mind from its own restlessness.

You can slow down now and be present with this gift called Life and not allow the mind to become entangled in thoughts. Away with them! Say to yourself, hundreds of times each day, “I am here” to remind yourself to be present with the Presence called Life. I can slow down now, I am here, I am that which I seek, I am Life and God and Love, and Peace and Joy are no longer separate. I now have time to be wholly (holy) present with Tao. I allow all hurry and worry to dissolve, I am present with the wonder of Life–the miracle of Life and the power of not-knowing.

I, we, can slow down now and taste the food that we eat (eat slowly), to do each thing with gentle awareness and sensitivity. I, we, can slow down and experience ourselves and our loved ones, friends, for the first time–without ideas or conclusions about them or ourselves. I, we, are brand new creations–and because I have slowed down–I now have time to see it all new. It’s terrifyingly wonderful.

All of this is T’ai Chi in Life, and practice is our daily reminder that helps to embody these spiritual realizations. When in doubt, LOVE!

– Richard Brier
Mill Valley, CA