It is a paradox that we encounter so much internal noise when we first try to sit in silence. It is a paradox that experiencing pain releases pain. It is a paradox that keeping still can lead us so fully into life and being. Our minds do not like paradoxes. We want things to be clear, so we can maintain our illusions of safety.
Certainty breeds tremendous smugness. We each possess a deeper level of being, however, which loves paradox. It knows that summer is already growing like a seed in the depth of winter.
It knows that the moment we are born, we begin to die. It knows that all of life shimmers, in shades of becoming-that shadow and light are always together, the visible mingled with the invisible. When we sit in stillness we are profoundly active. Keeping silent, we hear the roar of existence.
Through our willingness to be the one we are, we become one with everything. Works on paper, mixed media on paper, 42x30 cm or 60x42 cm, Meditation is the emptying of the mind of all the things that the mind has put together. If you do that - perhaps you won't, but it doesn't matter, just listen to this - you will find that there is an extraordinary space in the mind, and that space is freedom. So you must demand freedom at the very beginning, and not just wait, hoping to have it at the end.
You must seek out the significance of freedom in your work, in your relationships, in everything that you do. Then you will find that meditation is creation. The origin is nameless; the origin is absolutely quiet, it is not whirring about making noise. Creation is something that is most holy, that is the most sacred thing in life, and if you have made a mess of your life, change it. Change it today, not tomorrow.
