a potent cocktail

Sun and wind together

Makes for a potent cocktail

Sitting here feeling the warmth of the sun on my skin, and at the same time the cooling effect of the wind, I so easily become intoxicated. I sometimes feel bemused by how much alcohol some people have to consume to become drunk. For me, all I need is a moment of stillness in nature, and it can happen: That sense of self control, that subtle, all pervading tension in the body when we are holding it all together, a little bit uptight – it so easily melts away. And I think this intoxication comes particularly easily when there is an element of paradox, when we are caught in a clear duality – in this case the sun and the wind. It's like fire and water. When these come together to influence us, we can feel them both. And if we feel them both equally, there is a sense of balance, as if we are at the midpoint. And there at that midpoint there is a certain serenity.

And paradoxically in that stillness and serenity comes this drunken feeling of joy, a completely irrational happiness. It's as if the rest of the time we are off centre: too hot one moment, too cold the next. And that off-centredness somehow keeps us in that realm of needing to be in control, having to do something to correct our environment. And all of that is not the way of the buddhas. Only when we let go of that need to be in control can we return to our true nature, our buddha nature. And that buddha nature has many surprises for us, not least of which is this aspect of feeling drunk, drunk on life.

So go on, I dare you, drink deeply of this cocktail, this cocktail of sun and wind, of hot and cold, of light and dark; drink of these dualities. Feel both polarities simultaneously. Feel them not just on your skin, but deep inside yourself. Feel how they are in a sublime balance. Allow yourself to become intoxicated by these beautiful dualities. Feel the paradox in it and let go into this intoxicated joy.