One never knows when and where bursts of knowing might ignite in our lives. Like an unexpected flash of lightning, they often appear out of nowhere, illuminating the landscape anew for an instant before vanishing – leaving us to sort out just what might have happened.

Such was the case the other day in the Online Gatherings.

I was feeling under the weather. My head was stuffed full of cotton. My body hurt here and there. My throat felt like razor blades. In no condition to do much talking, I decided to make a few preliminary comments, then settle into meditation with all who had assembled. Immediately afterwards, I flopped down on our couch for a short but necessary pre-dinner nap.

Were this the beginning and end of things, I probably would have forgotten the entire episode. I might have posted the whole 45 minute recording later that week, coughed and sneezed for a few more days, and moved on.

Someone sent me an email, though. “That was a pretty good summary of everything we’re doing right now,” they observed.

Having no idea what they were talking about, no clear recollection of what I’d actually said in that brief stretch of time, I went back and watched the first few minutes of the recording for myself. What I found was – what was waiting for me were – a couple of unexpected lightning bolts. And these did indeed offer “a pretty good summary of everything we’re doing right now.”

Of the two comments made that afternoon, the first observed that the point of meditation is not necessarily to follow instructions. Instead, the practice is a means of gradually developing familiarity with and confidence in our innate ability to discern our own path forward. In other words, one point of meditation is to gradually develop familiarity with and confidence in our own basic brilliance.

The second comment reminded us that compassion practice is not something we do alone. Instead, the practice of feeling (-passion) in common (com-) is a communal one. In contrast for what I’ve long thought, believed, and tried to do, compassion practice is something engaged within the delicate web of relationship, community, sangha.

Starting out that afternoon, I didn’t know these were the things I was going to share to the gathering group. I just felt crummy and knew I needed to do something a little out of the ordinary. The fact these lightning bolts used the opportunity to flash alive in our presence returns us to the sense of never knowing affirmed at the beginning of this piece. It also exemplifies the potency of our basic brilliance and the power of community.