Monday, January 31, 2005

Be-longing

I attended a meditation workshop over the weekend. It was about the body in meditation. We talked about "taking our seat" on the cushion. About the body's connection to the earth. People talked about feeling like they don't deserve to be here. This was more common than I would have imagined. It's something I've felt all my life -- that I shouldn't be here. That any space I take up is, well, too much. It's something I've worked on and I'm certain the work will continue.

Since the weekend, I've been imagining a world in which every child is wanted. Where every person feels connected to the earth and deserving of a place on this planet. I've been thinking about people I know who seem to believe solidly in their right to be here. They are amazing people.

I wonder if children born today are more likely to feel they belong here than children born when I was small. We often came here as unwanted surprises because no effective methods of birth control existed and abortion was virtually unheard of. Will the next generation of children be free from the shame of being unwanted? Wouldn't that be a wonderful world?

You are sitting on the earth. This earth deserves you; you deserve this earth. -Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche