Cosmic Mind
The branches of the trees appeared to be covered with leaves, but they were not leaves, they were birds. Tens of thousands of birds covering every branch and twig of every tree in the pale afternoon light of a late fall Kansas sun.
I had come to the orchard to meditate but my mind was restless. As I sat and struggled to concentrate, flock after flock of noisy birds arrived, adding to a building crescendo of squawking chatter. I forced my eyes closed and resolved to meditate until five o’clock.
The minutes passed and, as the noisy clamor continued to grow, I struggled more intensely to remain focused internally. It was as if I were engaged in a tug-of-war where I pulled my mind inward while the sound of the birds pulled it outward.
Then, in one instant, it was dead silent but for a momentary whoosh that signaled the birds departure as one. My eyes sprang open to see the last of the birds disappearing over the levee. I looked at my watch; the second hand was ticking off five o’clock exactly. My tug-of-war opponent had suddenly let go, and a profound silence both within and without overwhelmed me. I fell back onto the ground unable to rise for many minutes.
For created beings there is both an inside and an outside. But for God there is no outside, everything is internal. Outside can only exist for a limited being because a limited being has a boundary, and beyond that boundary is not part of one’s self. Infinite consciousness is, by definition, unbounded. Hence, the entire cosmos exists within the Supreme Being.