Happy New Year! We made it!  

This past year was wild and turbulent for many - it was for me too! I am so happy to be right here right now. I have been working on my new book, and it has most of my attention these days, but today I wanted to connect with you to wish you a wonderful, fulfilling, creative and peaceful new year.  

I also want to share an experience I had recently. I was invited to lead a meditation at the Mayan ruins in Tulum, Mexico on the solstice. My friend Jonette was leading a retreat  - a gathering for people around the world - at sacred Mayan sites. On the morning of the 21st, 80 of us gathered to meditate at the ruins in Tulum, that are high above the beach on a cliff. It was as powerful and sublime as it sounds, yet I refer to the the days surrounding the experience as the Agony and the Ecstasy. 

What this photo doesn't show was how very challenging it was. The night before the 21st, about five miles north of the ruins - music with a 140-beat-a-minute bass was being amplified. The sound was being generated by a rave celebrating 'the end of the world.' It was an inescapable companion for anyone along the coast within 15 miles in either direction for 48 hours STRAIGHT. At midnight, 1 am, 3 am, 4 am, all night, 5 miles even further south in my hotel, my bed shook with the noise. I didn't sleep. I wanted peace and thought it was never going to come. As some of you know, I have very sensitive hearing.  

"How am I going to lead this group into peaceful stillness?" I wondered, as I stood in line early that morning to get into the park. At the ruins the bass sound was even louder than in my hotel. I met the group and silently considered a dancing meditation. Though I went with my original plan to lead them into silence. We gathered in a large circle, relaxed, and as we connected to the elements and paid attention to the breath, I guided them into a meditation that welcomed everything. EVERYTHING.  

We welcomed what we felt, heard, and saw, including the warmth of the sun and the caress of the breeze, we welcomed the voices of those around us and the music. We welcomed scent of the salt air and each of us relaxed and paid attention to our breath and the subtle sensations of the body. After the 40 minute meditation, I was no longer rocked by the music. It had taken a backseat to the beauty and peace. 

I heard reports that others no longer heard the music. Their meditation had led them into transcendence. That means as they fully experienced what their senses captured, the mind settled and their attention transcended the world around them. The silence underlying all things was more prevalent. They no longer were aware of the sounds, the space around them, and time itself. Instead, each felt expanded, connected, and free. We left the ruins feeling rejuvenated, recharged and empowered. This is one of the subtle yet powerful effects of meditation. Though I had the faith that it was possible, I almost couldn't believe it had happened.   

You can have the experience of peace too. Transcendence doesn't take willpower or even magic powers. Instead, it takes faith in your practice, surrendering to what is, and the willingness to focus your attention in meditation again and again. 

Meditation is an essential companion with which to walk in the world. No matter what thoughts, ideas, emotions, situations, external or internal noise or challenges you are surrounded by, peace is truly possible. 

My wish for you this year is to know that peace is right here, no matter what.  

Feel free to share this issue of Inward Bound with your friends by using the link on the bottom of this page. Let's meditate together sometime very soon!

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