Midnight. No waves,
no wind, the empty boat
is flooded with moonlight.
Døgen Zenji
It is another new moon. Only a few days ago there was a brilliant smile in the sky. Now, as though taking a silent pause, the moon is briefly invisible to our human eyes. Still, in her silence, she is fully present.
A couple of decades ago, I realized I that I was only noticing the moon when she melted the night’s darkness in her fullness. Wherever I was in the world, I couldn’t miss the magic of her nighttime radiance – the oceans, waterways, landscape and every leaf and blade of grass would glow in her luminosity.
Because of the moon’s profound presence in her brightest phase, I slowly began to recognize the moon as a powerful friend to all worldly life. I feel that in all her phases, she models the state of transcendence, enlightenment, or absorption. The moon freely reflects the sunlight, no matter how near or far she is from the source that cloaks her with incandescence.
The whole world benefits from such freedom from clinging, possessing, or claiming to be the source of her own radiant glow. With the moon being a pure reflector of light, I come to view all life – whether considered animate or inanimate – also as having the capacity to surrender adherence to any traces of greed, pridefulness and even “I”-ness. All life is simply like the moon reflecting the source of all light, i.e., the divine effulgence of consciousness.
I feel the day of dark moon – which, by the way, is silentis lunae in Latin usage, or “silent moon” – offers a reminder that my mind is similar to the moon. It has no light of its own. When stilled, it too has the capacity to silently reflect the unamenable, sacred source of all light. So, I will pause on this new moon day, I will deepen my loving gratitude for all the hidden energetic supports of life that I may take for granted: not only the moon and the earth, but also the breath. Most of all, I will offer reverence for the ever-presence of light shining in the darkness. I hope you will join in me.
P.S. In writing this reflection, I felt I need to share that the moon is not only a beautiful reminder of the sacredness of all life, but is central to worldly existence – she is a stabilizer of the earth’s tilt and rotation, sustainer of the length of daytime, influencer in the shaping of gold and precious metals, and controller of the flow of the oceans and the little-known land tides, the shifting of the tectonic plates. Life might already seem crazy, but imagine what life would be like without a moon or a version of the moon: we would have a wobbly and fast-whirling planet, an absence of prized metals, and/or less daylight. What might be even crazier is that our human fascination and adoration of our inventions has now escalated to hints of financial interests in mining the moon for precious minerals and other materials. Just like we need to care for our earthly home, we need to care for our lunar friend.
Practice
This practice can be done anywhere and at any time for any length of time, except for when driving.
Practice –
- Begin by simply noticing that you are breathing. Perhaps notice the rhythmic movement around your ribs and collarbones.
- Then, shift your attention to how you feel when you become aware of your breathing.
- Perhaps notice how your facial, throat and shoulder muscles responded. Did they tense up, or relax?
- If they became tense, take a few deep inhales through the nostrils and breathe out through the mouth making a sound like a sigh, or the rush of air outward. Maybe shake your arms and hands to release tension.
- Once there is a sensation of some release, then continue.
- As the muscles around the upper torso let go, invite your awareness to move your lower torso. Allow your abdominal muscles to gently relax on your inhales. No need to force. Just allow for some awareness of letting go of tension in your lower torso.
- Then, just let your breath rhythmically glide in and out. Allow it be easeful and comfortable. Like the moon moving through its lunar phases, invite a steady and natural ebb and flow. You are being breathed. You have all you need in this moment.
- Stay for as long as you like. Savor the mysterious quality of your breath.
Transition back into your day –
- Invite a feeling of an inner smile.
- Then, turn your palms upward and stretch through your palms and fingers.
- Look upward and with heartfelt sincerity say “thank you.”
This poem appears in Mala of Love: 108 Luminous Poems, page 98, edited by Ravi Nathwani and Kate Vogt and published by New World Library. This practice is an excerpt from an earlier blog. H E A R T H is posted each new and full moon. KateVogt©2024.
