A very simple but effective practice to intimately connect to the happenings of our lives is to say “Hello” to our direct experience. Saying Hello, over and over throughout the day, ensures we consciously greet our field of awareness and deepen our relationship to what is appearing right in front of us; both on and off the meditation cushion.
Before it morphed into a casual greeting during the past century, Hello was originally intended to attract attention or indicate surprise or excitement, e.g., well Hello!! — and it is more potent if we remember its roots. Each Hello can be a full selfless embrace to spontaneously and surprisingly pop open in the NOW!
If we think about it, the practice of Hello requires us to progressively embrace openness and remove self-imposed boundaries to deepen our intimacy with each other. During a first greeting with another Human Being, we each put up self-conscious boundaries to protect ourselves until we develop the necessary familiarity and trust. As our relationship grows, we open more and more to each other until we release all boundaries into a full Hello — one where Loving Openness is completely embraced.
However, Hello doesn’t have to be confined to greeting another; it can apply to everything within our awareness. We can say Hello to Openness, Kindness, Gratefulness, Joy, and Love. We can greet the Sun, Moon, Sky, and Mother Earth herself. We can say Hello to our Divine bodies, and our miraculous life sustaining heartbeat and breath. We can say Hello to the lessons of each day, and the Mystery of this Life, the Knowing and the Known, as well as the Unknown. Finally, We can say Hello to our failings, foibles, personal pain, and self-limiting beliefs so that we can step forward and begin to transform and heal.
When we consciously greet our experience, we dissolve boundaries, deepen our intimacy with Life, and wake up to what’s happening Right Now. We recognize with each new, fresh, and open greeting that Nature returns the favor; continuously and Lovingly saying Hello. I invite each of us to greet the miracle of our experience with all of our Heart, and Say Hello to Life — over and over and over again.