Sacred attention

 

Preamble:

In the midst of our busy lives, it's easy to get lost in our thoughts and ambitions. But sometimes, the most meaningful act is simply to pause, notice, and be present with the world around us.

Lately, I’ve been sensing the subtle difference between doing and being, between grasping for meaning and simply meeting what is. 

A poem emerged from that space—a reminder to return, again and again, to presence.👇

Sacred Attention

The tree stands,

without effort or ambition—

yet it reaches the sky.

The wind moves,

without thought or agenda—

yet it carries the whole world.

And here I am,

a flicker of thought, a doer of deeds,

often tangled in stories I’ve made.

But what is more real?

The hush of the mountains?

The rhythm of breath I didn’t create?

Perhaps my task is not to make meaning,

but to meet it—

in the curve of a leaf,

in the silence between two thoughts.

Yet, even this small self—

if it can laugh without pride,

act without claim,

think without clinging—

can become a flute

through which the sacred breath plays.

So I choose to be exuberant,

not to decorate the ego,

but to celebrate the gift—

with equanimity,

with open palms,

and eyes wide to what is.

But in the churn of a weekday mind,

I forget—

grasping at meaning,

measuring worth,

tightening around the “I.”

Then a breath reminds me—

this moment is not mine to own,

only to notice,

like sunlight slipping through my fingers.

My body speaks in whispers—

a tingle in the spine,

a heaviness in the chest,

a ripple across the skin—

each a doorway,

each a bell ringing,

"Return."

Beneath it all,

a vast quiet—

not absence, but fullness emptied,

Śūnyatā humming softly,

not asking for anything,

only being.

Every breath reminds me—

this moment is not mine to own.

Better I notice,

better I observe,

to truly experience

what the mind cannot grasp,

what only the heart, still and open,

can know.

Conclusion

In the dance of thought and stillness, may we remember to return—to notice, to observe, and to simply be. The beauty of each moment is always waiting, just beyond the grasp of the mind.