Color

We usually think of color as paint.  I take paint that I call red and apply it to something.  At that moment, in the light, I see what I call “red.”  But I don’t control the light.  Light changes, especially in an outdoor scene where light is not dimmed by walls.  As the light changes with the movement of sun and clouds, the red changes.  So I don’t really control the color except for that moment when I apply it.  Manet, the Impressionist French painter figured this out when painting his outdoor scenes.  Light changes the color of everything.  Think of that when you pick a color for the outside of your house or shudders.  This is a metaphor for control.  We control so little, but the ego keeps trying for permanence.  It is our program for happiness, to be in control.  But there are other forces at work in the world around and within us.  If I meditate in the moment in order to control the rest of the day, I am doomed to disappointment.  There will be some effects of my meditation the rest of the day, just as there will be something of the color red because I painted red in the first place.  Be open to the light.  Surprise!