THE HARMONY PRINCIPLE

A few years ago, I was almost killed, and it was a meditation that saved my life.

I was remembering the steps of a favorite old meditation on the principle of harmony and trying to decide whether it was too “woo-woo” to offer to an upcoming class at the university where I teach. I was driving along a rural road that leads to a stable where my horses were then kept. It is a beautiful country drive through farm and ranch land with gorgeous homes on the surrounding hills, along a winding road with several hair-pin curves. As I drove along, I mentally reviewed the steps of the harmony meditation, remembering the sequence and  scrutinizing it for anything that might be worrisome or threatening to students.

As I came around a sharp curve on this quiet road, there facing me was a huge red pick up truck, driving in my lane of the road, bearing down right on top of me. In a split second, I saw both the driver and passenger in the truck had their heads swiveled to the hills, perhaps admiring the stunning ranches that dotted the hillside above us. I swerved to miss the truck, and somehow, the driver realized what was happening and swerved to try and avoid the  head-on collision in the works.

There was no time to correct our course. And then, incredibly, there was no time at all.

Everything slowed down and went silent. In an unforgettable slow-motion dance, the truck curled around my car, and my car curled around the truck, like ballroom dancers pivoting in space. We swirled slowly, almost peacefully, and then my car was in the ditch and the red truck scooted past me and bounced into an adjacent pasture.  I was shaking – not only from the near miss, but from the slow motion maneuvers that had occurred. I turned off my little car, leaped out the door and ran to the truck in the pasture. Halfway there, I was met by the driver running toward me. Neither of us indulged in the  blame game that  adrenaline often triggers. He said: “Are you okay?” I said, “Yes, are you okay?” He said “Yes….are you sure?” When I nodded again, breathlessly, we both said what we were really thinking: “What just happened?” Neither of us had any explanations, and both of us asked a few more times if the other was okay. Then we parted, gratefully, and returned to our vehicles. My little car started right up and popped out of the shallow ditch easily. I drove off, glimpsing the red truck making its way back toward the road.

I’ve come to think of that incident as possible evidence of the harmony principle. I wonder if the grace we experienced was potentiated by the meditation of harmony. I will never know for sure, but I choose to believe there may be a connection. Below is the short meditation on the principle of harmony.

THE HARMONY PRINCIPLE: The idea is that harmony is not merely a concept, but a frequency. It is not a wimpy lack of fight; it is the principle of nature, and if you choose to believe, a Divine force. Like the stars, the tide or the weather, this force is a powerful catalyst, triggering order, peace and smooth functioning. In tandem with this notion is the possibility that we can attune to the power of harmony at will, we can invoke it and help “turn on” its potential in any moment.

THE HARMONY MEDITATION: Imagine that from your heart, you can send out an emanation of harmony, which can travel out into the world, even around the world, touching every single thing in the world briefly and lightly with that emanation of harmony, and then returning to you. Every leaf on every tree, every living thing and every grain of sand, briefly touched with the harmony of your heart. As you inhale, recognize this potential, as you exhale, think silently the word harmony. As you think the word, let your heart energy go forth and travel round the world. Take a few resting breaths and repeat. Let the release be as effortless as the exhalation of your breath. Working peacefully, move through four to six repetitions of this process and then let it go. You may feel an incredible sense of peace and connectedness as you practice this meditation, or you may feel nothing at all. It is likely that the more you practice the process, the easier it will become and the more you will recognize the shift in your intention.

NO LIMITS: There are no limits to the applications for this meditation. I often practice when I am “stuck” in a traffic jam, or when there is a seemingly ridiculous delay that causes a long line at the post office, or in a store. Often the bottleneck does seem to rapidly improve or dissolve more quickly when I shift from the aggravation principle to the harmony principle. (Results may vary). The one thing that always changes, however, is my shift from misery to peace, from judgment of my fellow travelers to the recollection of a larger view of life, and surely that is a considerable gift.