I have taken on the onerous chore of cleaning out my cluttered files.    This is an annual, winter’s day event for me and takes forever!   It’s a bit like going through old photos, once you start, it’s almost impossible to stop!  As I was going through these old files, I came across an article that I had almost forgotten about.   I don’t even know the name of the author, but it makes a beautiful reflection which I would like to share with readers….

‘I know the sun will rise every morning, even when there are clouds. I know the birds sing melodious songs because I have heard them from the empty enclosure of my room.   I know the sky is blue through the clouds, that the grass is green even when I stand in the desert.   I know the branches of trees dance to the movements of the wind even though now the wind is still.   I know flowers have beautiful smells, that the ocean never sleeps, and that rain falls upon high mountains.   I know deeply that all human beings are beautiful if they are born free to follow their hearts.

It has been said, long before these words were written, that if you build an archway for your heart, with neither lock nor door, life will pass freely through that archway in harmony with your senses.

Touch your friends, your husband or wife, and they are strangers no more.   Hold them as you would touch the delicate petals or an orchid, or put your hand in a gentle stream, or feel the sand beneath your feet, or climb upon the rocks and crags on the shoreline.

Listen to their words, their breathing, their heartbeat, their footsteps on the stairway or at the door as they come to you, as you would listen to the rain, or the cock crowing in the early morning, or the bark of a dog, or the cascading of a waterfall or a tiny breeze.

See their expressions on their faces of their different moods.   See in their eyes the longing for love, companionship and a meaning in their lives.   See their body move uniting themselves with life.   See their hands create their being, as you would see a quiet pool, the splash of a wave, a new portrait made by falling rain, the landscape of a valley, the changing of a sunset.

Speak to them of love, of the harmony of nature, of quiet understanding among men, of the simple things in life in which one can find peace, of the truth you have found, as you would speak to God.

Ride the crest of the wave to the shore.

Follow the river till it merges with the ocean.

Look at the clouds till they disappear.

Watch the sunrise trace its path across the sky, then vanish.

When you have experienced these things, you will know your heart.   Follow it.   When you have freed yourself from the dogma and conditioning of society, where will you go?   To those things you love.

Let your mind and your actions explode with awareness as you light your forgotten lanterns of happiness, as you find a peaceful clearing in the jungle of our society.

Love is everywhere.   It is in the night sky where the stars smile.   It is in the field of rice dancing in the wind.  It is in the waves sculpturing the rocks.   It is in the sound of music, in man’s creation of art.    It is a seed nourished by two human beings.   Love will find you and you will find love – if love becomes your attitude.