PAY ATTENTION

     In meditation, you notice your breathing, and gradually the mind slows down. You pay attention to the sensations in your body. You watch thoughts as they come up, and you savor the silence as thoughts fade away. In your busy day, working or with friends and family, you are present as thoughts, feelings, and sensations arise and change and dissolve.
     Except, if you are at all like me, thoughts and feelings totally distract you from your center. Before you know it, your mind is tripping out into a whole parade of thoughts, some of them really bizarre. Or, you are at the computer, and 45 minutes later, after you have thoroughly distracted yourself with very interesting news items and visual treats, you come back to yourself and remember that you have a life, you have a mind and feelings. You have relationships and projects and goals. You have a purpose. Your purpose is not to endlessly distract yourself from the essential stillness of your clear and peaceful consciousness. Your purpose is to pay attention to your life, very loving, compassionate attention.
     Mercury turns retrograde in a few days. This means: pay attention.