069 Meditation: Resting in your Illuminated Heart

Dear Listeners, I have a small snowy tale to share — one that, only after I was nearly finished shoveling, revealed itself as a lesson in the difference between pain and suffering.During New York’s most recent blizzard in late February, I began shoveling the night before in hopes of getting ahead of the storm and clearing a few pathways. By Monday morning, before starting work, I was back outside with the shovel. Instead of doing yoga or attending my usual morning class, I chose to listen to the Bhagavad Gita being chanted — recordings I have access to through a teacher. I listened to the first ten chapters while I worked.What I noticed was simple and striking: I became focused on the action itself, rather than my feelings about the storm. I could tell many feelings were readily available. I had just finished navigating them the prior week or two in work. In the Northeast, we endured unusually cold temperatures after an additional major snowfall a month prior. The cold was oppressive and somehow felt personally challenging. By the time this storm arrived, most of us were simply exhausted.As I shoveled, my mind turned toward the timelessness of the earth and the rhythm of the seasons — how snow comes and goes, how temperatures rise and everything melts into water, the grass returns, trees grow, and birds begin to sing again. Eventually, the grass will need trimming and they will be the new ‘problem’. It struck me as a living example of how a situation such as this storm may be painful, and even physically grueling… yet suffering remains optional. Because my mind was settled on the singing of the Bhagavad Gita there was space to notice these thoughts pass as I worked.I could see thoughts float by and pass- Here we go again, Why does this keep happening? Not caught in frustration about inconveniences or delays, the theft of my morning or personal disciplines I was building upon… Instead I was simply shoveling snow.Another thing I noticed was the generosity of neighbors. Even in the city, people were helping one another clear sidewalks. And then, unexpectedly, a neighbor’s husband arrived with a gas-powered snowblower — like a mechanical angel that graced us all.. He cleared the entrance to our driveway: an eight-foot-wide, four-foot-deep, two-foot-high layer cake of snow. I had looked at that mound earlier and thought, I’m not doing that today. I didn’t know how or when it would be cleared. And then, it was.It was a gift, which had I been lost in the suffering, might have been tougher to appreciate. And really, you should have seen the guys face... He was happy too.Today’s meditation is about letting go and understanding that life may have situations that are painful, however suffering which is due to our interpretation of that event, is optional. It is about meeting what occurs or ‘what is’ without resistance, and receiving help with an open heart. While freeing ourselves of suffering can take more time than this simple story when the experience is complex, the process which delivers us remains the same; in which we learn to let go and accept what is. Enjoy the meditation, and take care of yourself. SL For more reading* an article from insight Timer on how non-attachment allows you to be more adaptable.* A personal story from an author at University of Virginia School of Medicine, discussing how suffering is defined as wanting things to be different than they are. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit evolutionmedicine.substack.com/subscribe