All summer I have kept opening this book to some random page and finding a message I need to hear. This morning it was about the meditation bell which calls us back to our true selves. Any sound can be our meditation bell. A cardinal began to call from somewhere in the treetops... "Birds, birds, birds, birds, birdie, birdie, bird, ho, ho!"
Thich Nhat Hanh says: When we breathe in, we say, "Listen, listen," and when we breathe out, we say, "This wonderful sound brings me back to my true self." I remember from other pages that when he says "true self," he is speaking of our compassionate self, the self that is aware of our oneness or "interbeing" with all things.
Breathing deeply and smiling, I leaned forward and saw the shadow of my feet on the bright blue floor of the pool. I swung my feet slowly and watched sun-drenched ripples go out in wide circles. Why this makes me so happy I do not know. But it does.