Out the Door and Into ...?

In some insight meditation literature the senses are referred to as the “sense doors”.  When reading or hearing these terms, we might gloss over them and chalk them up to translation, or jargon. 
 
If we acknowledge the word “door”, we might think of the door as meaning an opening that allows stimuli into our sphere of perception.  But what if we shift our perspective and see the “sense doors” as portals out of our small, separate sense of self and into…. into what?  

Maybe they give us access to the present moment:  smells, sounds and the feeling of movement in the body can usher us into our own present moment experience.  And if these are doors instead of windows, then we are meant to pass through them, not just look through them.  Maybe what we find on the other side feels just like us, but bigger, more expansive, all encompassing.  Maybe we have a sense that this is the universe, or a higher power, or “the force”, and that we’re not just a small part of it, but we are all of it and it is all of us.  Maybe we don’t know what to call it, but we can sense it.  And maybe it doesn’t feel like any of that, but it has been fun to explore and play.  
 
Taking one word that could easily have been glossed over, looking at it, holding it up, spinning it around, feeling its heft and contours, noticing whether the act of noticing it has shifted our trajectory even the slightest bit.  Or not.  Such are the joys and opportunities in life if we slow down and pay attention and give ourselves permission to explore.  [And on a side note, the real benefit comes from exploring what words mean on our own, before we ask Google what they mean and take someone else’s word for it!]
 
This week we turn to our breath to help us stabilize our minds, and become aware of our full lived experience.  Like every word, every breath offers us a chance to explore.
 
May every being without exception find richness in life through exploration,
Your Friends at CMP 

 
The Door
Go and open the door.
Maybe outside there’s
a tree, or a wood,
a garden,
or a magic city.

Go and open the door.
Maybe a dog’s rummaging.
Maybe you’ll see a face,
or an eye,
or the picture
of a picture.

Go and open the door.
If there’s a fog
it will clear.

Go and open the door.
Even if there’s only
the darkness ticking,
even if there’s only
the hollow wind,
even if
nothing
is there,
go and open the door.

At least
there’ll be
a draught.
- Miroslav Holum

(Cool fact about this poem:  It was given to all graduating doctors in Scotland from 2014-2018, along with other poems.  How cool that the doctors were given poetry?!)

About CMP

CMP thrives on donations. All of our weekly sessions are free and open to the public, but donations are essential to our sustainability. CMP is a licensed charity in the state of CT as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Checks, cash and credit cards are accepted and donations are tax deductible. Visit our website (www.CommunityMindfulnessProject.org) to donate by credit card. Checks can be given to facilitators at our weekly sits or mailed to Community Mindfulness Project, P.O. Box 1713, New Canaan, CT 06840.