Be the Ocean

Sometimes I feel a little queasy. Here in the digital age there is just so much out there, always available at the tip of your finger, a deluge of information providing entertainment– or education– 24/7. From YouTube to Twitter to Teachable to Amazon Prime, possibilities are endless. Today’s access to information is like dining daily at an all-you-can-eat restaurant. It is certain to make you feel a bit nauseous and give you bad digestion. Lost in cyberspace, you might be prompted to crawl into a cave or go live in a straw hut on the beach in Costa Rica. However, on the other hand, you could realize that all the media spew is part of a vast and boundless ocean. “If you don’t become the ocean, you’ll be seasick every day”, penned the singer/song writer Leonard Cohen. If you try to separate yourself from the world, then like a fish, you surely lose oxygen. If you are not careful, you might find your self in a push or pull situation—pushing things away or trying to possess them. When you become the ocean you neither reject the world nor cling to it. When you realize that everything is just waves– rising and falling– you remain fluid and buoyant wherever you are. As the Chinese sage Yuanwu said, “The great Way is always right in front of you, in everything you see and hear.” Knowing that there is no finality, no stopping the proliferation of the mediated world, become the flow. It is like body surfing. Learn to ride each wave and take your place in the great surge. So when you get on your mat each day, be the ocean inside and see yourself as part of a never ending flow.