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Though we had our celebration last night, the night of the waxing full moon, Guru Purnima will be celebrated by some tonight, the night of the waning full moon.
The moon is a beautiful expression of some important Vedic concepts. For one, the light of the full moon is spoken of as soma. Soma is a Sanskrit word meaning 'of the moon.' Also, from the Rig Veda, it is the name for an intoxicant the drinking of which grants immortality. In our practice of Vedic meditation, we speak of soma as an expression of consciousness (as indeed is everything). Soma is attention. The purest attention.
After our ceremony last night, our 40 or 50 meditators took a walk in the moonlight, soaking in the soma of the moon, bathing in the attention of its light while remembering that all of nature is observer-dependent. All of life is observer-dependent. So as we were enjoying the attention of the moon, we returned that attention in kind, honoring life, honoring nature, honoring consciousness itself with that most humble yet most profound of gifts--our attention.
Attention is the most valuable thing we can give each other. When I give my attention to another, I am shining the light of consciousness upon her, and this will in turn awaken the light of consciousness within her. With this exchange we have increased the flow in the world of this precious commodity.
Attention is the flow of pure consciousness. Pure consciousness is the source of all that is, therefore anything that is possible in the infinity of possibilities is available through consciousness. This is a gift for which anyone will be grateful.
Today I will give attention to the world around me, and most especially to those others I meet.
 Shoes, Guru Purnima, Studio City
All material copyright Jeff Kober
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