Sensing Eternity

Those who sense eternity are beyond all fear. They see in every night the place where day begins, and are consoled.

- Rainer Maria Rilke

If you’ve felt like you’re driving through dense fog, only able to see a few feet ahead, you’re not alone. This is certainly what life has felt like for me and many people I’ve spoken with over the past week.

I’ve found refuge in two different approaches to practice. On one hand, grounding practices and strength-building work bring me into the present moment and get me out of my head.  

On the other, expanding my perspective has also been a lifesaver.

Sitting with the sheer immensity of geological and cosmic time has been helpful to remind me of the fleeting, infinitesimal place we occupy within it all. I’ve also felt consolation in opening to the intelligence and harmony of the more-than-human world. I’ve been supported by leaning into the beauty and the regenerative power of life around me.

These two approaches – penetrating the richness of the present moment and stepping back to take a more expansive view of the moment - reflect a paradox at the heart of spiritual life.

We know the profound power of being fully present. Yet, we also know the insight that can come from seeing ourselves, and the moment we’re in, from a broader, more spacious vantage point.

Does sensing eternity take us out of the present moment? Is it a way of checking out and evading our responsibility to the here and now?

I don’t believe so.

Just as witnessing your thoughts in meditation sharpens the mind, or observing sensations in asana deepens your embodied awareness, taking the long view of time and space doesn’t take you out of the present moment as much as it changes the way you inhabit it.