2016-06-30
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.
-Albert Einstein

From "Still Here: Embracing Aging, Changing, and Dying," by Ram Dass:

I was on board the Taj Express train bound for Agra, with a stop at Mathura where I would get off. Traveling by train in India is full of rich lessons. The trains go slowly, express or not, and we moved at a prehistoric pace, the countryside creeping by, palm tree by palm tree, until I wanted to open the window and scream. But then something began to shift. Rather than resist the slowness and count the minutes, I told myself a little story. 'This trip is going to go on forever,' I said inwardly. 'This present moment will never end. I've been on this train my entire life, and will never, ever get off. Now what?'

Meditating on this story, I began to surrender into the rhythms and speed of the train, looking out the window at the passing images without the anger of moments before.

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Also on Beliefnet:

  • Guided Meditation: Relax Into the Present Moment
  • An Interview With Ram Dass

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