egret

I am sitting by the river bank in Hampi. Looking out across the river, I am watching an egret. This elegant white bird is standing on a boulder in the river. I am sitting watching the egret, and the egret is standing watching the river, presumably waiting for a fish to appear.

And sitting here, watching it, it seems to me to represent meditation. It's not moving at all. It is completely still. And I imagine it to be focused, focused on the water, just waiting. And whilst thoughts are popping into my mind, whilst the inside of my head is busy, noisy, restless, I imagine this bird to be silent on the inside. Nothing. Just an empty awareness of the sights and sounds, the sensations that are coming to it. No need to move, no need to do anything, no need even to think a thought. No action is needed.

Of course, the egret might be waiting for a fish. And in our meditations, we tend to think we are waiting for something, waiting for something to happen, some mystical experience, some great realisation, an enlightenment. But if so, we are making a mistake. Sitting quietly in meditation, we should have no aim in mind, no goal, not even hoping for a fish to swim by.

But for today at least, my feeling is that the egret is the more meditative of the two of us.