Sometimes it’s easier it is to see the qualities in a rock than to find anything interesting in another person. From a distance, most people are easy to admire. And our inner circle of friends and family can be endlessly fascinating. But sitting in a stuffy office listening to a co-worker go on and on pushing a meaningless platform of opinions with no regard for what you think– that can be a challenge. Toxic certainty is like a concrete wall with no windows or doors. Meaningless, like a politician or an advertising campaign.
The photo below is a spirit rock that sits on the path up Gampo Lhatse, the sacred protecter mountain behind Gampo Abbey. Maybe it’s powerful presence is partly due to it’s location– a place of silence and contemplation. Location might be the key. Take that loud-mouthed colleague and place him in a ‘green zone’, a space surrounded by deep listening and gentle attention and see what happens. Location isn’t only physical– though a natural setting helps. More important is simply locating someone’s spirit– catching him or her with the gps beacon of your tender heart, open mind, awake body. Once a genuine connection is made, even for an instant, something shifts. Like watching an ordinary rock manifest as a sacred tortoise. Miracles happen.