Stopping

By Peter Cutler

When we meditate what we are really doing is stopping. We stop moving and simply sit still. We stop focusing on the constant run of thoughts and inner dialogue and our mind

becomes open, peaceful, empty, and receptive.

We are not doing anything. We stop doing. We simply stop.

Great benefits come to us when we simply stop. We become calm, peaceful, happy, free of suffering. Insights come that were not available when our minds were filled with thoughts. As our body stops doing and relaxes, stress and tension melt away.

All of this comes because we stop.

For a short time during this international pandemic, we also stopped. The economy shut down. People stopped driving, stopped shopping, stopped going to work. Factories stopped production.

I know people suffered during this pandemic. Many people died. Businesses closed and people lost jobs. Children no longer attended school in person.

But this stopping had another effect. The earth began to heal. The air quickly became cleaner. Without the constant stream of toxic pollution, water and earth became cleaner and began to heal. Species on the verge of extinction for a short time had another chance of survival.

Although many people suffered because of this stopping, it had an almost immediate positive effect on the planet itself.

And perhaps this short period of stopping can teach us something if we are willing to listen. If the earth began to heal as soon as we stopped our normal activity, perhaps our normal activity is not in the best interest of the planet. And since we live on the planet along with all the other species, perhaps our normal activity is also not in our best interest either.

The earth is our home. It supports us, much like an unconditionally loving mother. We depend on all aspects of the earth for our very survival. To damage and destroy what we depend on for our survival is not in our best interest.

If we were paying attention, perhaps this short period of stopping may have taught us something beyond the inconvenience of stopping our normal activities. We often receive powerful insights during meditation that are not available to us when our minds are normally active.

Perhaps the earth is also giving us a very important message. As soon as we stop our normal activities, the earth quickly begins to heal. What does that say about our normal activities, our economy, the way we live, shop, consume, work, transport, and entertain ourselves? What does it say about our lifestyles that we consider normal and necessary?

Stopping always comes with an opportunity, a way of seeing ourselves that we were too busy or distracted to notice before.

For a short time, as a species, we did stop. Did you listen? Did you embrace the opportunity? Did you learn? It seems that many people did not. Many seem anxious to simply go back to the way things were. They either don’t notice or don’t care what that “normal” way things were is doing to the planet that supports our very lives and that of our children and grandchildren.

Stopping gives us the opportunity to listen, to learn, and to change. It allows us to see the results our actions create and to change them if they are destructive. It gives us the insight to create a beautiful, harmonious, healthy, and beneficial life. Stopping gives us this opportunity. But we need to listen, learn, and act on what we see.

The opportunity has been given to us. What we do with it is up to us. If we fail to listen, learn, and act the consequences of that failure are predictable and not what any of us would like.

Editor’s Note: Sedona.biz is reaching out to the mind, body, soul community by creating a new section in our Website, focused on metaphysics, spiritual healing and expanding consciousness. We launch this new section with Sedona’s own Peter Cutler. A Zen monk, artist, author, and spiritual teacher Cutler helps people experience the awakened consciousness that is always available to everyone. For the past twenty years Peter’s openness to the Pure Energy beyond the limitations of thought and separation have helped hundreds of people directly experience the Pure Boundless Energy of their True Self through direct transmission or Shaktipat. In some cases people have experienced freedom from chronic physical illnesses, but far more profoundly dozens have awakened to their True Nature. We invite the community to welcome our latest addition to Sedona.biz, the Internet Voice of the Community. Please feel free to comment. Visit https://n-lightenment.com to learn more.