In the course of a single day, each of us experiences a barrage of thoughts, feelings, perceptions and memories. While we must remember details like where we left our house keys and the time of our next appointment, it is necessary to “mind the gap.” When we “mind the gap,” we enter the open space of wonder, an immense space of possibility. You can mind the gap between breaths, enter the silence between thoughts or hover in the half-light between day and night. The gap is the time most healing for body and mind. In the gap the deepest medicine flows. But the gap is not easy to find. Mostly, we get caught up in daily concerns, hoovered by the demands of the day. We are so habituated to minding our thoughts that we rarely see the plentiful space of awareness itself. To make matters worse, we deem the flimsy nature of thoughts to be solid and real. This is a cause of great heartache and pain, for the things that come into awareness are but momentary and passing. Thus a daily practice must include minding the gap. Each day you must stalk the gap, enter the wide open space of your heart/mind and absorb into serenity. But how do we enter the gap? The great challenge is that you can not engineer it or will it to happen. Most often, you slip into the gap spontaneously, in a moment you are least expecting.
So outside the buzz, clatter and clang of your daily demands, find time to commune in magnificent space. When you realize that enduring space is always with you, and that the essential nature of your mind/heart is boundless, you will experience a feeling of exquisite delight. Slipping into the gap is like easing down into a warm bath. Let yourself soak into a dimensionless expanse, one that penetrates into every pore of your being. For it is in the great space that your troubled mind and wounded heart are healed.
