This Too Shall Pass

There is a story of King Solomon who heard about a magic ring that could make the sad happy and the happy sad. He sent ministers far and wide to look for the magic ring. They searched everywhere and talked with every jewelry maker they could find. Finally, one jeweler said he could make such a ring and they set him to create it at once. When the ring was complete, it was delivered to King Solomon. It was a simple ring with the words “this too shall pass” inscribed upon it. The ‘magic’ worked, and the ring made the king happy.
 
I had spoken with a friend recently about tattoos and what I would get if I ever got one. My answer was the words “this too shall pass” on my forearm. It’s important to be aware that nothing ever stays the same. The only constant in our life is change: change for the better and change for the worse. All experiences live in an instant and then become a memory forever.
 
Think of sitting beside a calm pond, the water so clear you can see the bottom, not a ripple to be seen. You grab a pebble and throw it into the pond, creating ripples that project out, forming a circle and obscuring the view you had of the bottom of the pond. Now imagine watching that in reverse; you summon the pebble and watch the ripples come together as the pebble pops out of the water back into your hand as the pond resumes it’s calm and clear nature. Our meditation practice allows us to take back the pebble so we can discover who we really are. We are not our bodies, we are not our mind, we are not our thoughts. We are our eternal spirit.
 
As I am writing this blog there is a raging snowstorm outside and I was forced to cancel my introduction to meditation class tonight. Life has its good times and bad without the bad times there would-be no-good times. We must not become attached to the good or bad times in our life because as the inscription on the ring reads “This Too Shall Pass”

Namaste