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Today we ask that you recognize the sacredness around you.

Recognize the sacredness around you.

What does this mean?

Many people walk through life “angry at God.”  They do so even when they are atheists, and do not believe in “God.”  Something is wrong with reality.  Something is wrong with life.

When you go around thinking “Something is wrong with life,” you will find plenty of evidence to support your belief.  Everywhere you look, you will see things that remind you that something is wrong with life.  All the fearful news of the world, all of the setbacks you experience in your day — something is wrong with life!  Something is wrong!

And you will be very unhappy.  For you are alive, but something is wrong with life itself.

Then you might become obsessed with fixing all the wrong things around life.  You will want to fix other people, and fix the world so that it reflects whatever you believe would be “right.”

If you go down that road, you will create a lot of problems.  If you are in a place of anger at the world, you will create a lot of problems.  Terrorists are angry people who want to fix the things they believe are wrong with the world.

There is another way to live.

Instead of fixating on all that is wrong, instead you celebrate all that is right with life.

You celebrate life’s beauty and sacredness.

You recognize that your presence here on this planet is a miracle.  You consider all that goes into allowing your body to function, the elaborate interplay of your organs and muscles and nervous system.  Every breath you take is miraculous.

Consider your beating heart.  Your eyes.  Your ears.  Your hands.  Your nose.  Your tongue.

Consider your brain.  Scientists have only a rudimentary grasp of its function, and in no way can replicate it.

Consider the miracle of every baby born, the creation of new physical life out of microscopic genetic material.  

Consider the trees and plants, the grass and flowers, consider the fruits of the earth that nourish you.

Consider the technology that surrounds you.  Not just your computers and phones, but your electric lights, your refrigerators.  Consider your ancestors who not long ago lived without these marvels.  Consider humans living in the world today without electricity or running water.

The kings and queens of old did not live nearly so well as most of you.

And all of these inventions were created by men and women.  Miracle after miracle.  All of this, all of this, is the stuff of life.  It arises from life.

Life arises out of nothingness.  Life arises in ancient oceans, it arises on dead worlds… and look what happens.

All this.  All this.

There is nothing wrong with life.  Even life forms that you might find ugly or repugnant are still utterly miraculous.

Can you recognize the beauty around you?

In earlier times, it was said that only young girls could see the legendary unicorn.  That myth reflected the awareness that someone very innocent and pure-hearted perceives reality differently than someone who is caught up in the ego-driven machinations of adulthood.  The child can see beauty that is hidden to the adult.  The child can see what is magical, and sacred.  The child can see unicorns.

But adults are perfectly capable of perceiving what is beautiful and sacred. Your artists have always been capable of such perception.  All your great artists and creators are attuned to beauty and sacredness, although many suffer because ecstatic states are fleeting, and day-to-day life can feel achingly removed from the sacred.

That is why the wise man trains his mind to perceive sacredness in the mundane and day-to-day.  He cultivates appreciation, even awe, at the changing of the diaper, the eating of the bowl of hot soup on a cold day, taking the dog for a walk.  With practice, everything becomes miraculous.

With practice, everything is a unicorn.

So today, look for a few unicorns.  See if you can catch them.  They are hiding in plain view.  In the laughter of a child, in the purring of a cat, in the warmth of your bed when you are weary.  They are in the hot running water of your shower, they are in the car or bus or train that transports you many miles in comfort.  They are in the trees and plants.  They are inside your body.

Unicorns are everywhere.

Today, try to spot just a few.