I Am (Reflections on the Road)
I just had the most wonderful life experience of traveling completely around the earth on a three week business trip, flying 37,000 miles, stopping in 6 countries, meeting scores of new friends, experiencing new situations, different cultures, foods, and ideas and yet being able to be a still, ever open witness to the miracle of being, the miracle of I am.
You see dear friends, the secret of who you are is "that" you are. This "I am" is constant. It is the pure silent consciousness of the here and now within you. It is the sameness in you and I and all. It is, because it is, and you are, because it is. It is you, it is I and it is one, and that is love.
Speeding 7 miles above the earth, at night, in a floating metal tube, at nearly the speed of sound allows one to see glimpses of this truth. As the earth moves slowly by below, one cannot see the borders and boundaries of countries, the separations of cultures and languages, the histories and struggles and stories of billions of peoples and traditions. No, one can only see a glimmer of lights glistening silently below, each a separate jewel reflecting together as simple light-beckoning me above to see this magnificence-to behold the wonder as it unfolds: mere light, shining forth in the darkness, and yet each light expressing its being and its connection to all, as one. And yet, I too, 37,000 feet above. am just another light in this collection of splendor, all reflecting the simple fact that "I am" is light itself.
And when the plane lands in different cities and towns, the differences, though seemingly apparent, fade quickly, for the I am manifests its sameness through and within the apparent dualities. There is but one heart and one light and it is all. Whether in the busy cities of New York, Sao Paulo, Frankfurt, Bangkok, Saigon, Guangzhou or Hong Kong, or the smaller places like Bucks County, Porto Belo, Samutsakorn, Phan Thiet and Shantou, all which appear as separate and different become one in a continual echo of "I am" in the eyes of each person I meet, each smile that opens itself, each hand shake and each hug that warmly beckons to be met in kind. You see my friend, the lights which glimmer are mere reflections of the light of oneness within each and every heart, the light of sameness which is the gentle light of silent love. There is only one self, one heart, one smile in all this. This has always been and shall always be. There is only this.
One does not need to travel the earth to know this. Merely gaze in the eyes of your beloved, your friend, your child, your boss, the guy in the car next to you on the expressway: it is the exact same statement: I am you! With this simple phrase, this simple realization, you can know the secret heart of the universe and in that find the joy and peace of just this, right here and right now. I am.
To the world and all the many beautiful friends I have met and known on this trip I say: Thank you, Obrigado, Danke, Khawp khun khrap, Cám ón, 谢谢: Xie Xie, Doh je. Thank you all for showing me who "I am."