The Harried Mystic

The first word of the “Rule of Saint Benedict” is “ausculta,” Latin for “listen.”

With all the preparations for a new day, my thoughts run ahead as I rehearse everything that I need to do. In the meantime, my body is on auto-pilot.

I fly through my morning process (shower, eat breakfast, catch the news on the fly, pack for the day). Then, off I go in a whirlwind (which thankfully no longer involves the lengthy commuting I did for over 30 years).

So, without the luxury of a quiet and undistracted earlier morning, how does this harried mystic get in a little slice of spiritual practice?

Well, it turns out that Saint Benedict provides the clue.

Listen! Just listen.

For 5 minutes ( at any point in the racing process) I just stop and pay complete attention to what I hear.

This morning, I took 5 in my home office, sat down, calmed my breathing, and then listened with my eyes closed to the complete soundscape around me: noises coming from the upper floor, an unmistakable high pitched hum from the fluorescent lights, my heart beating in my ears, a lawnmower nearby, and ( delightfully) a choir of birds – no doubt doing what they need to do to survive, but doing so with song that is soothing and reminds me of our connection to everything. This is surely what the Vietnamese Zen Buddhist Thich Naht Hahn meant by “inter-being.”

The time spent feels longer than just 5 minutes but, no, just 5 it is, and I feel qualitatively different.

This little retreat has me in a different and readier state of mind to encounter the day’s stuff. I feel most importantly like less of a machine that dutifully turns on early morning and then goes into sleep mode at night like a desktop computer, and more like a human being with a soul, a purpose, a set of convictions and a love of life.

The “Great Spirit” is all around us and is the matrix on which our entire being rests. The Spirit infuses us at the deepest levels and consciousness reaches well beyond the confines of the brain.

I am reminded of the beautiful statement of Philosopher-Paleontologist- Jesuit Priest Teilhard De Chardin: ” Matter is spirit moving slow enough that we can see it.”

Now, I am ready for the day.

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