We might learn from the core concept of virtually any world spiritual philosophy that sentience prevails as the sole truth throughout time and existence–that peace settles upon the entity that chooses that eternal reality over the shadows that would obscure it.

And what dark shadows–physical pain and suffering, the toil of making one’s way in our world, our servitude to the face in the mirror, the perils lurking around corners, the cruelty of our brothers and sisters in life’s journey, the agony of loss, and the indifference we project onto the heavens we invent.

And what glorious shadows–the sun rising over each day, the comforts of home and family, the cheer of comrades, the fellowship of a nourishing table, the embrace of true love, and the arrival of our young.

In our center–detached, undisturbed–we know we are not our bodies, our pain and cares, our deeds, our thoughts, our joy, our anguish. We know that we are what knows and what needs no more than to know.

We willingly and willfully stir from our sacred seat and chase dark patches, calling them light.

And still, our deeper, knowing selves smile without judgment on the turbulence of our outer layers. To be lost is to be alive.

Life is not merely the still, the eternal, and the awareness of a universal essence. It is also the arduous endeavor to find what we already have.