Being that I mostly admire the ocean waist deep, I observed with utmost admiration and playful curiosity as she tackled her new hobby. Wait, stand up, fall, get up, wait, stand up, fall, get up, wait ... and it occurred to me: there she was. There she was practicing her yoga in the water. Fierce little Shanti, always showing me things, always teaching.
She emerged from the ocean, dripping, salty, and grinning ear to ear. As I put my book down, she began to eagerly tell me the story of how she had been severely shaken by a huge wave the day before. It had thrown her around like a rag doll and made her lose all sense of up and down. Any perspective of ocean floor beneath or sky ceiling above, gone, just water and tiny Shanti. Naturally frightening.
As she sat down next to me, she expressed deep gratitude towards that moment. It had been her big fear, her source of hesitation and then it had happened. Just water and tiny Shanti. And it was okay. She emerged and got back on the mat, I mean ...
Wait, stand up, fall, get up, wait, stand up, ride, flow, fall, get up, wait...
The Wave and the Water
There are two dimensions to life, and we should be able to touch both. One is like a wave, and we call it the "historical dimension." The other is like the water, and we call it the "ultimate dimension," or "nirvana." We usually touch just the wave, but when we discover how to touch the water, we touch the highest fruit that meditation can offer.
-thich nhat hanh
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