It used to get so dark you couldn’t see your own hand in front of your face.
It still does. Do you ever go out into the forest at night, where the canopy is so thick it filters out even the starlight? Or have you been out in the ocean when silence stretched your ears from one horizon to the other?
The real darkness is the absence of knowing. The not-knowing that precedes the basic sense of how things seem to be. During the Four Watches of the Night, we will emphasize the aspects of darkness, silence, and night. But we are all invited to investigate this. What if we let the future be as dark as it is, pouring ourselves fully into this? What if it has never been on us to know how things will turn out?
Sleep is our daily opportunity to let go of everything, completely. We can let go just as thoroughly during wakefulness. With this step, releasing the burden of the past. With this bite, releasing the worry of the future. With this word, releasing the desire to know.
Where did we get the idea that we’re supposed to worry?