Silence Between Breaths
બે શ્વાસની વચ્ચેનું મૌનસ્ટીફન લેવિન દ્વારા
બે શ્વાસની વચ્ચે એક એવું મૌન હોય છે,
જ્યારે હૈયું એક પવિત્ર જ્યોતમાં ફેરવાઈ જાય છે
અને નાભિની ગૂંચ ઉકલે છે, જે મને યાદ અપાવે છે—
કે કેવો અદ્ભુત છે આ અહેસાસ,
વધુ એક પ્રભાતે તારી પડખે જાગવાનો.
મૃત્યુના પડાવો વચ્ચે આપણે સાથે શમણાં જોયાં,
બે શ્વાસની વચ્ચે, એ નીરવ શાંતિમાં,
જેણે આપણને કાયમ માટે એકબીજા સાથે બાંધી દીધા છે.
એ પહેલા શ્વાસમાં જ
આપણે નૃત્યના મંચ પર ડગ માંડીએ છીએ,
અને આ અફાટ શૂન્યતામાં કોઈની જાણ બહાર વિહરીએ છીએ.
જ્યાં પણ નજર કરીએ ત્યાં માત્ર પવિત્રતા છે,
અને આપણે વારંવાર ઘૂમીએ છીએ,
જેમ આકાર સહજતાથી વિલીન થઈ જાય છે
અને અંતે માત્ર 'પ્રિયતમ' જ શેષ રહે છે.
આ એક જ ક્ષણમાં,
જે આખાય આયુષ્ય બરાબર છે,
એવી કોઈ જગા નથી જ્યાં હું ઊભો હોઉં અને તું મારી પડખે ન હોય,
જ્યાં ભીતરના આ સફરમાં તારો સંગાથ ન હોય.
મનન માટેના બિજ પ્રશ્નો:
1) આ કવિતામાં દર્શાવેલા ‘પ્રિયતમ’ ના ખ્યાલ (કે ભાવ) સાથે તમે પોતાને કેવી રીતે જોડો છો?
2) શું તમે એવો કોઈ અંગત પ્રસંગ જણાવી શકો છો, જે એ ક્ષણને વર્ણવતો હોય જ્યારે તમને તમારી ભીતર રહેલી કોઈ અકથ્ય છતાં ગહન પવિત્રતા સાથે અનોખા જોડાણનો અહેસાસ થયો હોય?
•3)રોજિંદા જીવનની સામાન્ય ક્ષણોમાં તમારી અંદર રહેલા એ પવિત્ર અંશને મહેસૂસ કરવા (કે તેના પ્રત્યે જાગૃત રહેવા) માટે તમને કઈ બાબતો મદદરૂપ થાય છે?
Excerpt from Breaking the Drought.
SEED QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: How do you relate to the notion of the beloved in this poem? Can you share a personal story that illustrates a moment when you felt an inexplicable yet profound connection with a sacredness within you? What helps you be aware of the sacred within you in everyday moments?
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13 Past Reflections
On Mar 11, 2026 Chema wrote :
Respiro o Soy respirado en esa Unidad incongnoscible, donde Amado y Amada es Uno. En mi hay un anhelo de conexión amorosa con la Vida Divina manifestada en Lo invisible a los ojos, Lo Real: Dios. Dios Es Amor. Yo Soy Amor y veo el Amor en Todo.
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On Mar 10, 2026 Pat Hardy wrote :
I can relate to this reading because I am still here and my beloved, in a sense, is gone. For 64 years we lived as one, and now that I am alone, I need him even more, so I believe he is near for every instance of the life I lead without him. We breathed together in life, and we still breathe together, for he is always with me. At least, this is the belief that spurs me on until I can see him once again.
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On Feb 25, 2026 dipesh dasadia wrote :
Breathing out and in, or in and out, resembles a life cycle of life and death if combined. A deep breath out sometimes, when watching nature, relaxes my body, and a deep breath in fills me up with energy. It does feel energetic, but more than that, it relaxes muscles and provides a brief touch with my own self. It doesn't happen every time, but some breaths are powerful enough to generate such an experience.
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On Feb 24, 2026 Shamika GB wrote :
I did not choose this journey, I was chosen here. Since then i am learning giving divine exams understanding process and most important I trust the process.
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On Feb 24, 2026 Naren wrote :
This resonated quite deeply with me...as a matter of fact, I was with my spiritual master recently in India. Within seconds of our eyes union, there was a deep sense of love and gratitude followed with a personification of humility. I sent out a silent prayer from the core of my heart and wondered what enabled it? Is it His presence? Was it my joy? Was it all about the heart and its condition? No sooner had my thought left my scope of consideration, He sang two lines, a couplet of a song and everything seemed to get the answer. In that silence san a description, something magical was enabled that left a lasting resonance in our hearts. I am sharing those two lines and its meaning herewith.
Dil men kisi ke pyaar ka jalata hua diya
Duniya ki andhiyon se bhala ye bujhega kya?
A lamp of someone’s love burns within the heart —
Can the storms of the world ever extinguish it?
Saanson ki anch pa ke bhadkata rahega ye
Sine men dil ke saath dhadkata rahega ye
Fed by the warmth... [View Full Comment]
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On Feb 24, 2026 stream wrote :
" Every day , I think as I wake up, I am fortunate to have woken up. I am alive, I've got this precious human life. And I'm not gonna waste it! whoa ohh ohhh!" The Dalai Lama
I see the trees utilizing my out breath and giving me their oxygen release.
I look into the eyes of the being in front of me and know that we are one in the spirit.
I play peek a boo with little ones and we smile. I dance and sing and swim and eat and bathe and love the caress of all that touches me and see and hear and smell and taste beauty.
I see the trees utilizing my out breath and giving me their oxygen release.
I look into the eyes of the being in front of me and know that we are one in the spirit.
I play peek a boo with little ones and we smile. I dance and sing and swim and eat and bathe and love the caress of all that touches me and see and hear and smell and taste beauty.
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On Feb 24, 2026 Barbara S wrote :
My story, Many years ago walking in the early morning in the Woods of Vermont, O found myself filled with light, an understanding outside of myself of connection, consciousness that to this day I am still exploring. A Spiritual Awakening, a deeper understanding of the beauty in life.
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On Feb 24, 2026 Maureen Cameron wrote :
Moments like this when when blessed with such a simple noticing as the space between breaths, or following Douglas Harding's invitation to notice at any moment the emptiness here at my ground zero for the world to happen in.
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On Feb 21, 2026 David Doane wrote :
I believe all existence is one activity, one Ultimate Existence. We are a manifestation of Ultimate Existence and we are one with all that is and with one another. The beloved is one with whom I feel especial oneness most clearly and deeply. I want to be with the beloved, not away from that person. I consider Ultimate Existence to be God, and the more deeply aware I am of that oneness with Ultimate Existence and with one another, the more connection with sacredness I feel. Sacredness is oneness, and reflecting on the oneness of all helps me be aware of our sacredness.
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On Feb 19, 2026 Jo wrote :
This is BEAUTIFUL! Thank you for sharing! You take my breath away! Amen!
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On Feb 19, 2026 Jagdish P Dave wrote :
My Reflections:
We have a network of relationships. In this poem Stephen Levine writes about a sacred relationship in which there is an unexplainable yet profound connection with a sacredness within us. The foundation of a sacred relationship is pure unconditional love. We love for the sake of loving others with no personal and selfish agenda. In the Bhagavad Gita
Lord Krishna asks his devotee Arjuna to act with no selfish agenda , but with a pure loving heart , with no expectation in return. It is called Nishkama Karma yoga. This is my path which I follow everyday. It bring
My family was relatively poor, but rich in heart. We share with others
unconditionally expecting nothing in return. It was a path of unconditional love and positive regard. And we walk on this path which brings joy and fulfillment. Walking on this path everyday makes me aware of the sacred within me. Daily practice of mindfulness meditation has helped me walk on the path joyfully. Following this path regu... [View Full Comment]
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On Feb 19, 2026 Allie Middleton wrote :
The Sacred is in all of us and we learn about it when we have a moment of intimacy. For me, it’s not only with a person, actually, I first learned about the Sacred when I was very very young, and felt the embrace of the universal life force surrounding me as if it could replace or at least enhance something that I was yearning for and not receiving in my human contact. It has stayed with me since and now I have learned that it also exists in other people and that when we deepen our connections with each other, just like in long-term contemplative practice that something lights up a new space of awareness and capacity for something more to be felt. It’s that profound connection, across time in space that creates the impression of something continuing that wants my attention and love. That’s why I write poetry and dance as a way to mirror what is in this extraordinary emergent space that we all are serving, consciously or unconsciously together or separately. I love to call it embo... [View Full Comment]