I feel as light as a feather, floating in the air of nothingness. All I can see is a white cloud which envelopes me in its embrace. A sudden feeling of peace descends me and I just give away to it. I want to be in this feeling forever where no hatred, despair or sorrow can penetrate.

Out of the blue I feel like being that Rock which has stood there for years unaffected by waves and its tirade. The way it silently watches them hitting it day in and day out , but continues to be the same. For it has just learnt that the “Waves suffer more than him and this is a way of their venting out”. Its realization and compassion towards the waves, combined with its duties , just makes it immovable.

Suddenly I feel like a Book, where I can see Trees, Sunlight and Water being important to its existence. The book which got its paper from the tree, the tree which got its nourishment from sun and water. I can feel the beauty of nature within myself. And feel like respecting and taking care of it forever. For it construes my being.
For years I have nurtured the seeds of negativity in form of sadness, despair and hatred, watering them daily. But now I try to make it a restrictive process coz tomorrow I do not want a tree which looms larger than my Life. A Life which is HIS gift to me. I want to appreciate it forever and keep it as a valued possession.

Now I would prefer to be the prolific land in which I sow the seeds of Hope, compassion, love and understanding. Watering it with my smile daily and bringing on a tree which shades all.
I start the process as a singular, for the belief is mine and I trust in its existence forever.

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When you are able to establish yourself in the present moment, you will discover that conditions for your happiness are already there, more than enough for you to be happy. There is no need for you to run. The one who has peace, the one who has happiness, is the one who has stopped...

Maybe among us there is someone who has never paid attention to his heart before. Our heart is a miracle. When I go back to my heart and touch it daily with my mindfulness, I recognise that to have a heart that still functions normally is a real miracle. There are those that do not have that kind of happiness, they do not have a heart that functions normally.

(Excerpt from Thich Nhat Hanh's Under the Banyan Tree)