tasting existence

Sitting

Drinking tea

Tasting existence

Do you ever find yourself tasting existence? This taste comes unbidden in those moments when the mind falls silent, when thoughts cease, and yet the senses are very much alive. And they begin to vibrate with the pulse of existence.

Right now, for example, with the taste of tea in my mouth, I feel the taste of existence – not just in that taste of the tea, but in the warmth of the sun on my neck, and the butterfly flitting amongst the grass. And the taste is also in the eagle, hanging motionless, effortlessly in the sky. It is there in the chirping of the birds and the distant chatter of humans. It is there in the sound of waves.

All the senses are involved. It is not just the taste of existence, but the sight and sound of existence, the smell and touch of existence. But these senses are not felt separately. In this moment, it is one sensing, and all is contained in each of them. The butterfly is in the taste of the tea. The sound of the waves is in the eagle. This is the taste of existence, reaching me in this moment. And what a delicious taste it is, rich beyond measure, sensual, evocative – the taste of existence. And it's here, waiting for us to taste it, whenever we can, whenever we are silent enough, whenever we are still enough, whenever we give ourselves the space to be filled by existence – sitting, drinking tea, tasting existence.