lagoon

I am sitting in the water, at the edge of a small tropical island in the Philippines. And like many such islands, this one has a fringing reef. I can see the line about a hundred metres off from the shore, where the waves are breaking, and beyond there is the deep blue of the open sea. But within the reef there is the lagoon. And it is the lagoon that I am sitting in. Here the waters are calm. It is shallow. And in the morning sun, the waters are warm.

Many times the open ocean is used as a symbol, an analogy, for our true nature: its vastness, its depth, its deep currents. But today I want to look at this lagoon. The lagoon is a sheltered place. It's rather womb like: the warm waters very gently lapping around one. There's no threat, no danger. There are no sharks here. There are no deep currents carrying us away. Here we can relax. We can float in the water, and do nothing, without any worries, just as we were when we were in the womb.

And so this lagoon also is a great symbol for our homecoming, for the return to our true nature, the essence of who we are, our innermost being. For here, too, we find a place where we can relax, where we have no worries, a place that is totally safe, where there's no threat of any kind, where our peace cannot be disturbed. And this morning, sitting here in this gentle lagoon, I am brought back to that place within myself, without me having to do anything. I don't need to earn it. I don't need to work for it. I just need to allow it, as I allow these gentle lagoon waters to nurture me.