Is our world big or small? Are we? Is all experience relative or is there a basis of truth to our perception? Some people appear to lead big lives and others remain in a tight community, hardly leaving their village. Some people crave fame, others seek an ideal of security, and others prefer an ascetic life. I always thought of Pavarotti, for example, as someone who made a big impact and who had a big, big voice. Other people lead simpler lives and touch only people who are in their close circle of family and friends. And yet the more I think about the bigness or smallness of our experiences, the more I realize it’s the same thing. It’s not just that size is relative to one thing or another, it’s that it’s relative to our own individual dharma. That’s where the truth or reality of our lives really shows up. How does our soul want to experience this life? In what way does our heart long to expand? It’s not about whether our lives are long or short, or time is fast or slow, or whether we experience fame and fortune or the repetitive initiation of daily life. It’s about something centered and still within us that keeps expanding and contracting and expanding, like breath, throughout our lives. Instead of wishing we had landed on a bigger flower or one of a different color, we can realize we are free to become whoever we are, wherever we are.
