our purpose… …and beans

In an earlier post, I asked you to make a list. The assigned task for this post is a little more involved. For this post, we will explore an active meditation that will open up our awareness and perhaps even our culinary talents.

First, go buy some beans. Every different kind and type of beans you can get your hands on.

Next, clear off a table and spread out all your new beans, mixing them up as you go. Have fun and and be sure to make a mess of them on the table until they are completely mixed together and well spread out.

Now, take a step back and look at the beans. What color are they when you squint your eyes? How easy is it to discern each bean? Each type of bean? Allow yourself to become quieted and contemplative. Use this examination to relax and to begin to prepare your mind for meditation and introspection.

After you have quieted yourself and have thoroughly examined your beans, I want you to start a slow, arduous task. I want you to separate all the beans back into their respective groups–one by one. This will take a long time and is the bulk of the meditative process. Carefully separate each bean recognize the similarities the different types have as well as what makes them different.

Beans are essentially the reproductive hopes of their parent plants. They are continuation and in a way they are the hope of a prior generation. They signify what is new, and the possibility that that newness holds.

After you have sorted all the beans one by one, it is now your task to cook them. There are a multitude of websites with tens of thousands of recipes to choose from. Select one recipe per type of bean that you have and prepare the dish (using only one type of bean per recipe).

The delicious meal that you have just prepared (or perhaps will prepare) contains all the thought, effort, meditation, and learning that you endeavored to this point. Reconsider for a moment the process. Each bean has been used to make a nourishing and delicious (hopefully) part of a whole meal. Each type bean has its own unique properties, its own genetic make up, and if given the chance to grow into an adult plant, each type of bean also has its own potential. Yet, all the beans share many qualities and similarities. No matter what the type of bean, the representation of hope, nourishment, and life-renewed is the same.

Our individual bodies, the very same ones about to receive nourishment from the beans above, are the same way. They are a conglomeration of various parts–seemingly different, but yet are all composed of the same materials. And, just like the beans, we too have the opportunity to use our bodies toward hope, nourishment, and the renewal of life. We, however, have the ability to do far more with our bodies, than the beans. We have the conscious ability to choose to what purpose we will use our bodies. Will we use our bodies to nourish the world and create goodness around us? Will we be purposeful in our actions?

The bible, in its original language of ancient Hebrew, refers to three body parts as needing circumcision: Moshe’s (Moses’s) lips, the heart, and the penis. Judaic tradition holds that these three things are inherently impeded, yet upon circumcision of said organs, their use is freed and open. In this way, the circumcision becomes a reminder to be purposeful in speech, love, and reproduction.

In our contemporary lives, we must recognize that these three genres of life are relative. The idea of creation, however, is essential in each. We must use speech to create our reality. We must use love to create our existence. And we must use reproduction to not only create a new generation (much like the beans) but also to, in a sense, create anything physically new.

By being aware and purposeful with our bodies, we are given the opportunity to bring about positive change to ourselves and the world around us. Just like our meal of beans, our the various parts of our bodies come together to form a complete whole. A nourishing, purposeful, hope-bringing, whole “meal” of renewal–feeding the world with our actions while at the same time, enlightening our own paths.

May we all nourish and be nourished, hope and give hope, receive purpose and act purposefully for the good of all.