Morning Veda

Morning Veda

Good morning, dear reader. It may be lunchtime or nighttime as you read this; however, allow this essay to conjure the feeling of a new day. Not the getting-on-the-train-to-work part of the day, but those fleeting moments in the wee hours when you realize you are just waking up…Ah yes, there you are, waking up…There’s something to that. Sure, sometimes we groan or sometimes we spring up. Some of us really use and abuse our snooze buttons. Usually I rise too early for my liking, but surrender as I know I can’t toss and turn, so rising is it. It’s a done deal. “What am I going to do now? It’s too early to be productive.”

But I’ve grown to appreciate it; the wisdom that comes from processing the events of the previous day, and the ‘nothingness’ of the early hours.

It’s another such morning, and a word that comes to mind is ‘veda’, the Sanskrit word meaning “knowledge, wisdom”, derived from “to know”. Vedas being sacred scripts in Hinduism, one could explore at length the complexity and depth of meaning of them, their profundity. Paying reverence to that, here I think of ‘veda’ in the more basic meaning, or perhaps my personal meaning, in the daily reminder of finding our lessons and being an open vessel to what the day will bring.

To be in the nothingness, luxuriate in the space it provides, in the unknown, to recognize that we have much to learn from the coming day, and the peace to start anew.

It is in that space that I revel in now, and in memories of India and her early morning stillness.

Nearly every day I ascend to the rooftop of my East Village flat, and often recall those experiences. It was in those mornings that many meaningful moments unfolded. Completely rested or exhausted, downtrodden or exalted, it was in that stillness that I could reach inward, surrender, and know that I was both many things and nothing at all, finding the blessed strength of experience and lessons, and the blessed humility of all the lessons and tests yet to come, that knowledge and wisdom are a constant flow.

Get into that stream to ‘be’, and to be refreshed daily.

For all the challenges in India, large or small, rooftops and plateaus brought solace and reflection. Surprise greetings by cats, monkeys, birds, or the occasional squirrel provided laughter and warmth, while the landscape humbled. New views of the day came to life, new views of oneself. A chance to forgive, connect, forge ahead. No New York pretense here; you are confronted with you, and only you.

India is a place of profound spirituality, while it embraces ordinariness of routines and basic needs of life. It is in that middle place that we may recover, rediscover, and relax into ‘being’.

I owe a debt of gratitude to India for all she has taught me. As a painter she inspires my work and leads my brush’s way, tugs at feelings and sorts through snapshots piled up in the mind’s eye. And when this city of extremes gets me down, I remember how she taught me to find that middle place. And so I go up to the rooftop. Ah, there’s that new hotel in the distance, there’s St. Mark’s Church, and the Chrysler building, and the Empire State building – partially obstructed now by a condominium building. Things change. But the truths remain…we remain…basking in morning’s wisdom.

visit www.shenspace.com to see more of Karen’s fine art