| “We live in succession, in division, in parts, in particles. Meantime within man is the soul of the whole; the wise silence; the universal beauty, to which every part and particle is equally related . . . “ ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson |
| by Amy Edelstein So often we feel depleted, tired, burdened, emptied, looking for energy outside ourselves. We go to healers and spas. We boost up with power shakes filled with superfoods. We make lists and schedule time for ourselves to renew. And yet, what we may be missing is not what we have not yet received. Rather, it may be a profound realization that is closer than close. A realization of the energy and intelligence coursing through us–our inherent lightness of Being, our nonseparation with the life force of the cosmos. Recently, I’ve been paying particular attention to this flow of ever-present energy within. Rather than noticing its presence during a deep meditation or a particularly luminous contemplation, I’ve been feeling this inner current as consistent as the tides touching the shore. The more awareness that goes towards its presence, the stronger its current. The stronger its current, the more spiritual vitality, equanimity, and clarity come to the fore. This is the mystery of our own lightness of Being. It can’t be held or grasped. It can’t be stored up for a rainy day. It can’t be summoned or portioned out. It’s our own essential nature. Sometimes we see it reflecting so brightly, like a jumping fish catching the sun on its scales. Other times, like the fish submerged in the shadow of a pool, that brilliant flash isn’t apparent. It hasn’t gone anywhere. It can’t. Like the reflective scales are essence of fish, our luminous nature is essence of us. Lightness of Being has been lifted up in so many traditions around the earth and across times. I suspect even the Neanderthals knew it when they gathered for their summer tribal festivals on the Iberian coast. We know it as prana, qi, or tao. In the language of different First Peoples, you might hear ase, mana, orenda, kawsay, or newen. In Celtic lore you find anam and in the early Hebrews you find ruach. It’s not surprising we find names for this among the most peoples. While there are differences, unique stories and cosmologies specific to cultures and geographies, there is an underlying resonance and harmony among the understandings. This resonance illuminates that unitive current running through everything–matter, creatures, and cosmos. Wherever it is surfaced, this lightness is always in motion, always murmuring with the primordial song of life. Putting attention on lightness of Being is important at any time and perhaps even more so now, when we feel the pressures on our planet, the shrinking of the wilds, the squeezed places for the orange foxes and silver blue tuna to roam. Lightness of Being is what animates and connects us with the livingness of the vast universe. It is both in this world and beyond it, mysteriously part of everything yet untouched always. Bright, pure, it is of its own substance. Always present, and always unblended, unmixed with all that it animates. Even in the darkest of times, in the presence of the strongest of poisons–Fukushima, Chernobyl, Hiroshima–when goodness has shrunk so far back from the human heart and darkness has taken its place, it is still present. We are never entirely without, never entirely spent, never entirely isolated or separated from the rest of life. To recognize lightness of Being we can go straight to the realization of light or find it by questioning our despair. Despair is the cry of the life force, the outreach of a caring heart that is forlorn, bereft from the harshness in the world. Despair arises in a soul yearning for connection in the face of fracturing. What animates that call to rejoin, to exalt once again? We find none other than the life force flashing its brilliance, showing its shimmering interwovenness in the fabric of our selves and the universe. Wanting to realize is an encounter with our selves. I have come to understand Emerson’s Self-Reliance not as the individualized self reliance, not a rugged individualism, but rather Self reliance. A return or remembering of our nature, a recognition of our reliance on Being. My favorite essay of his has always been The Oversoul, quoted above. That Self, or qi, or prana can never be bestowed on us by another for it is the very essence of ourselves. We do not need an intermediary, an intermediary can only perpetuate the illusion of separation that it is outside us. Standing in our selves, we stand in the center of the cosmos. Relying on our selves, we rely on that which is inseparable from the universal life force that animates all, from the gravitational arc of constellations to the quiver of a baby’s lash as she sleeps and dreams. Let’s embrace this contemplation of the Lightness of Being, inviting the ferocious light of suns to come bursting through our own selves, blasting blocked passageways in our hearts, and drenching our minds with wonder and joy. Then, parched no more, we will be able to thrive, knowingly alive. |
| If this contemplation resonates, I invite you to go deeper.October 6–11, 2026 I’ll be leading a retreat in Portugal dedicated to exploring the Lightness of Being together. Details and registration here. |
Teaching Teens How Their Own Minds Work
July 16, 2026
A student stands at the front of the room, about to give a presentation he has dreaded all week. His hands are shaking and his
