The Hardest Work In The World

This spontaneous prayer jumped into my head this morning while walking:

Lord, let all that I do, and say, and think, be in the service of harmony. 

It seems simple enough on the surface but as I meditated on the phrase I began to see how deeply it touches the core human desire for joy which is by extension the diminishment of dissonance. It seems to me that everything I do to increase harmony, both interior and exterior harmony, enables me to touch joy.  The more I act in the service of harmony, the more I touch joy.

The biblical admonition to "magnify the Lord" is to "magnify Harmony" and diminish dissonance wherever it is found. In the Buddhist sense this is to come into resonance with the present moment, recognizing that it is only in the present moment that this is possible.   

Our human condition keeps us perpetually balanced on the knife edge of the present. That edge is so sharp there is the constant danger of falling off into the past or into the future. The past and future exist only as shadowy phantoms in our mind. Though they are seductive, beckoning us like a mirage,  they can not quench our thirst for joy. And this causes suffering. 

To be in the present means to be in resonance with "what is" . To be unified with "what is" forces a rejection of "what isn't" which in this case is the past or the future. It is also fundamentally a rejection of the illusion of duality in favor of the acceptance of our own divine nature. Indeed, even modern physics has begun to pierce the illusion of duality in its quest for a unified theory and everywhere boundaries fall away. This is expressed elegantly in Thich Nhat Hanh's Order of Interbeing which encourages followers to remember their true nature as the true nature of the universe; light. 

Of course this is heresy to the ego. Dissolving into divine light, even momentarily, is decidedly unpalatable to an ego hellbent on preserving its individual identity, an identity barricaded behind a wall of bricks made of past experiences or future dreams. The fear this generates creates much dissonance which in turn creates endless suffering. This is the human existential dilemma.  

Becoming comfortable on the knife edge of the present means learning to let go of ideas of the past and future, at least momentarily. Only then is harmony available. Only then can joy be touched. This requires an extinction of thinking, or at least a continuous redirection of thoughts away from the past or future. The tool for this is abundantly available in the breath. We need a north star and this is it! A tightrope walker needs a steadying pole and the spiritual pilgrim needs the breath to help him or her return to the present moment.

"Breathing in, I have arrived. Breathing out I am home."

The deepest human desire is for love and love is felt strongest when we resonate not only with each other but with all that is. This gives birth to profound liberation of the soul. When  all our faculties are brought together in the service of harmony we become like Saint Theresa of Avila whose only prayer was "All for God." Though we physically appear alone, like the strings of the lute we quiver with the same music. That is joy. 

Just sit there right now

Don’t do a thing

Just rest.

For your separation from God,

From love,

Is the hardest work

In this

World.

Let me bring you trays of food

And something

That you like to

Drink.

You can use my soft words

As a cushion

For your

Head.

~Hafiz~

The Gift: Poems by Hafiz

Translations by Daniel Ladinsky