mOmentOm yOga. . . steady, cOmfy, happy, yOga. . .

Now we will count to twelve
and we will all keep still.

For once on the face of the earth,
let's not speak in any language;
let’s stop for one second,
and not move our arms so much.

It would be an exotic moment
wthout rush, without engines;
we would all be together
in a sudden strangeness.

Fishermen in the cold sea
would not harm whales
and the man gathering salt
would look at his hurt hands.

Those who prepare green wars,
wars with gas, wars with fire,
victories with no survivors,
would put on clean clothes
and walk about with their brothers
in the shade, doing nothing.

What I want should not be confused
with total inactivity.
Life is what it is about;
I want no truck with death.

If we were not so single-minded
About keeping our lives moving,
and for once could do nothing,
perhaps a huge silence
might interrupt this sadness
of never understanding ourselves
and of threatening ourselves with death.
Perhaps the earth can teach us
as when everything seems dead
and later proves to be alive.

Now I’ll count up to twelve
and you keep quiet and I will go.


. . . Pablo Neruda



I think perhaps Neruda practiced meditation? That seems what he is talking about.
Are we all guilty of purposely "making our lives busy" so that we can ignore our inner search for peace, meaning and connection? If you have been avoiding the confrontation with this "sadness of never understanding ourselves", then stop now, keep still, observe and be aware. I want to cry everytime I read the lines "would put on clean clothes and walk about with their brothers in the shade, doing nothing. " I think of the "terrorists" and "counter-terrorists" and think about them as they are, ordinary folks like you and I who have the same wish for happiness and fulfillment in their lives and how it has all gone so wrong, being mislead by anger, hate, delusions. . . a wave of sympathy and regret arises for the lives which have been lost or corrupted by people who want to keep "moving our arms so much". Makes me more determined to encourage and teach all who would come, how to meditate and find the stillness and peace within that is the true self.