starburst palm frond

I'm in the south of India, in Tamil Nadu, and I'm standing by a type of palm. I don't know its name. The fronds of this palm have caught my attention. Each frond has a long stem, and then at the tip of the stem, a sort of explosion of green leaves, radiating out from a single point, a starburst of green. Looking at this starburst, it seems exuberant, almost extravagant, as if each frond is trying to bring attention to itself.

And looking at one of these fronds, it reminds me of how we humans operate in the world. It's as if each of us is kind of bursting out from a centre point, in all directions. And we tend to live our life out on these leaves, on the periphery, each leaf representing a different aspect of our life. One might be our work, one might be our family, our relationship, our children, our parents, our hobbies, our passions, each of us has such a rich life. There are so many different aspects to an individual.

And living our rather complicated lives, out on these leaves, we tend to have lost touch with that centre point, that node from which all our various aspects radiate. And for me the spiritual life is about getting in touch with that centre point, within oneself, resting in it from time to time, enjoying the perspective from that central, essential part of us.

But that's not to deny the leaves. Having found our centre, we are better placed to enjoy all these leaves radiating out from our being. Life is to be lived fully, in all its directions. And it's also important to live from this centre point within oneself.

So seeing these palm fronds, I am reminded that each of us is a starburst of individuality, and at the same time we have a centre to our being, from which all else radiates.