Day 27: Vipassana…Bless You! Need a Tissue?

You never know whose life you will touch or where your footprints will land. You just never know… and therein lay both the beauty and the mystery of it all. Everything and everyone has and creates an impact. Yes you, even you - especially you. Each word, each deed, each gesture, each conversation another ripple on the pond. If you don’t think you matter, you are wrong. We are all here, angles in disguise, to help each other remember how to fly. The question is... are we paying attention? Are we open enough to hear it or notice it when it comes? Apparently I was, as mine showed up in a chance meeting over sushi and a miso soup.

A couple of days ago I met up with a friend of a friend whom I had never met before, and had one of the best conversations I have ever had. It was like meeting an old friend. And even though I don’t remember the whole conversation I do remember two very clear messages I got that night. Have Faith. Vipassana. The first I understand. Surrendering and trusting that you will be taken care of…that everything will be ok. Vipassana on the other hand sounds like a sneeze.

What I learned from our conversation though, was that Vipassana was exactly what I have been searching for - a way of self-transformation. And what is even more exciting is that it has been on my vision board for the past two years and I didn’t even know it.

So I am taking the plunge. I decided today that I am going to do the retreat and will be doing it starting on my 31^st birthday this July. I figure that this would be the greatest gift I could possibly give to me….the gift of self. And as weird as this sounds, I am actually looking forward to finding myself within myself.

For more information on Vipassana and event locations (which are free by the way), you can check out the following link: http://www.dhamma.org/en/bycountry/na/

In the meantime, please enjoy this daily meditation quote I received this morning which relates perfectly to today’s topic. If you too would like to receive inspirational quotes every morning, you can find them at this address:  http://meditation.org.au/dailymeditation.asp.

“Through self knowledge you begin to find out what is God, what is truth, what is that state which is timeless. Your teacher may pass on to you the knowledge which he received from his teacher, and you may do well in your examinations, get a degree and all the rest of it; but, without knowing yourself as you know your own face in the mirror, all other knowledge has very little meaning. Learned people who don't know themselves are really unintelligent; they don't know what thinking is, what life is. That is why it is important for the educator to be educated in the true sense of the word, which means that he must know the workings of his own mind and heart, see himself exactly as he is in the mirror of relationship. Self-knowledge is the beginning of wisdom. In self-knowledge is the whole universe; it embraces all the struggles of humanity.” - Krishanmurti