Spiritual Smorgasborg

When I was a little girl, we lived out in the suburbs of Detroit, and for a treat my favorite Aunt, Dorothy, would take us downtown for the day. For lunch we would often go to Greenfields, a huge cafeteria that displayed a bountiful banquet of steaming hot food and delicious desserts. The hard part of course was choosing what you wanted, and you know about not grocery shopping when you are hungry, right? My aunt would remind us that our eyes were often bigger than our stomachs, to take only what we knew we would eat....much harder than you would think, especially if you are hungry...

So here I am at the Parliament, hungry for spiritual food, and the selection of 90-minute sessions is in a directory the size of the Boulder phone book (not exaggerating). Each session time has 10-20 choices, and they ALL sound great. So far I've been able to narrow it down to 2-3 selections per session, then head over to the convention center and trust I'll be guided to the perfect one. Day 2, and I find myself almost in overwhelm...deciding what to attend without missing something else fabulous...it's torture :)

Yesterday I took full portions, today I'm nibbling. First thing this morning I dropped into the Hindu meditations for the Earth, then part of a session with the Mother of Compassion, and finally settled into the Buddhist chanting which was exquisitely peaceful and just what I needed to start the day.

The morning spiritual practices have been a highlight for me, and yesterday's "Breath of Life" meditation with both a Catholic and Buddhist monk, each describing the breath in their own langage, gave us a univeral experience.

From the Benedictine monk, we practiced God as breath, spirit, wind, and learned that Yahweh (the Hebrew name for God) without vowels is the sound of breathing (try it), God as the breath of life, God breathing us, as us.

And from the Buddhist Vipassana (the sutra of mindful breathing) practice, we began by noticing and counting our breath, gently giving our mind a task as our bodies relaxed and our hearts opened. Delicious.

Opening up this way, in a group that includes New Thought, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Pagans, and more, the sacredness of oneness is experienced by all of us using a universal, non-political truth, the Breath of Life.

May you breathe deeply of this day and of the oneness of Life.