Cereus Angels

My night-blooming cereus bloomed last night. It begins to unfold about 7 p.m. By morning, the blossom has wilted.

The interior of this 5-inch wide flower--the hundred white pistils standing on a platform of petals--looks like a choir of angels. If there's a "tunnel of light" at the end of life, i think it will look like the night-blooming cereus.

I keep this straggly succulent plant all year for the joy of this one blossom. (Only one this year. The friend who gave me this plant is having 7.)

Sometimes our meditation feels like this--all straggly with our mind going every which way. Humming with activity the way the night-blooming cereus vibrates on its stem as the sepals and then the petals spring open in slow motion. But then, once in a while, we happen onto or into a place that feels heavenly.

Angels and Imagination by William Blake

We can increase our chances of finding the "heavenly abodes" by practicing them during meditation. Loving-kindness. Compassion. Appreciative Joy. The tranquility of Equanimity. Marinate in one of these for at least two or three minutes during every meditation period.

Practice now, before life wilts.