The Smile of the Mind

“I’m a jack of one trade,” says Swami Veda. “And I’m going to tell you the same things this year that I told you last year.  Sorry to be so boring.”

 But no one was bored last night when Swamiji spoke to a full house at the Oaktree Pavillion, whether we’d heard him before or not.  We were all so delighted to be here, here at the foot of sacred Mt. Kuchumaa, with this learned and delightful sage, or as he cheerfully referred to himself, “that strange man in the orange sheet.”

 Besides, you know what they say: You can never step into the same river twice.

Although I had the pleasure of being here last year, last night I heard – or maybe just understood – some things in a new light.

Last year Swamiji said, “Relax your forehead” and I struggled to un-scrunch mine. This year I heard, “Relax the mind that’s in the forehead,” and I suddenly felt like I knew how to do it

Last year I heard, “Meditation is the smile of the mind,” and I thought, “Oh, I see, it’s a happy state.” Now, as Swamiji said more, I understood that we don’t need to learn how to meditate so much as we need to recall how to do it. Babies, after all, begin to smile without coaching.

But it was after the talk that I got yet another lesson. In the early morning hours, I had the most intense dream – the way one often does here at the Ranch.  I’ll give you the short version: Swami Veda and some friends of mine who are also here this week were going somewhere in a car, and when the got to their destination they were going to meditate. I was invited along but arrived late enough to watch them drive away. I was frantic, yelling at the car – even calling one of the passengers on her cell phone and shouting, “Tell me where you are going! What is the name of the place. Tell me the name!”

I woke up, actually shouting aloud in my bed (sorry neighbors in Flores 9 and 11).  I looked at the clock:  4:30 a.m.  I burst out laughing, knowing – of course – that in both the real and metaphorical sense, I didn’t need to go anywhere. I’m already here.

And, so, the week begins...

P.S. RANCH FUN FACT OF THE DAY (a new blog feature!)

Phyllis Pilgrim was 73 yesterday. Happy b'day Phyllis. (Ask her about her forthcoming book, The Hidden Passport, due in December.)