Nocturnal Works

 Last night, just as I was about to sleep, I considered my intellectual life. I have spent my adult life reading everything I could find - history, philosophy, theology, literature . . . There are currently a dozen books on my bedside table and shelves down in my office with all sorts of new things to read.

I had meditated before bed. It is great to get back into meditating after having COVID for the last couple of weeks. When I meditate, my mind changes - quite quickly since I have been meditating for decades. As I laid in bed, I considered the Buddhist idea that the truth is inside of you. Sometimes this is referred to as your Buddha nature. There is a knowing stillness that is your deepest self.

For the first time, I seriously considered that I don't need anything else. That all of these books are just thoughts of others and distractions. I can honestly say that 40 years of reading hasn't created a new me - that I have never come across a significant idea that I haven't already had myself.

So, I am going to take my explorations into a more experiential phase. Less reading and more being.

Aroha nui,