How to use the meditations
1. Find a quiet place where you will not be disturbed.
2. Read through the whole meditation a few times, then put it down.
3. Sit in a position both comfortable and alert.
4. Allow the meditation 10 minutes or so in your imagination. Do not give up before this time; stay with it.
5. Allow another 10 minutes for recording what happened. Allow events to develop as you record. |
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MEDITATION 16
THE CRACKED POT
An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hanging on opposite ends of a pole, which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of long walks from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived at the house only half full.
This went on for a while, with the woman only ever bringing back a pot and a half of water. Of course, the perfect pot was rather proud of its achievements, but the other pot felt terrible, seeing itself as a failure. After all, what had it achieved?
So the cracked pot spoke with the woman: "I'm very ashamed," it said. "All this time I have been leaking as you made your way back to the house. Think how much water I have lost – wasted!"
The woman smiled: "Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, and there no flowers on the side of the other pot? That's because I have always known about your crack, and planted flower seeds on your side of the path, so as we walk, you water them. Thanks to you, I have picked beautiful flowers from here year after a year, and their beauty has graced my house."
Meditate
Consider the story of the cracked pot.
Who are you in the story?
And who are the other characters?
Perhaps at different times, you are all three characters.
But what happens as you replay the story now?
Where are you? What is the crack? What are the flowers? Who else is in your version? It may end differently to the story above...
More one-minute mysticism |
