—WE WOULD HAVE HAD SOME CUTE KIDS

 

 

                                               Yourself

 

Sit in a dark room by yourself, or alone by a river at night, or anywhere else where there is solitude. Begin to take hold of your breath. Give rise to the thought, "I will use my finger to point at myself," and then instead of pointing at your body, point away in the opposite direction. Contemplate seeing yourself outside of your bodily form. Contemplate seeing your bodily form present before you in the trees, the grass, and leaves, the river. Be mindful that you are in the universe and the universe is in you: if the universe is, you are; if you are, the universe is. There is no birth. There is no death. There is no coming. There is no going. Maintain the half-smile. Take hold of your breath. Contemplate for 10 to 20 minutes.

--Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness, Beacon Press, 1987