Coincidence?

WEEKLY CLASS UPDATE: Chi Gung and Meditation have switched to THURSDAYS and have a new location: Evergreen Wellness Centre, 607 Works Road, Letchworth, SG6 1NA. See Classes page ...


I have a 'coincidence' story for your amusement this month. I went to Birmingham to visit my wife's grandmother and after seeing her on Sunday morning we needed a place for lunch. IKEA loomed nearby so we opted for that and duly parked and worked our way up to the restaurant. At the exact moment we arrived in the food queue on our side of the restaurant, our good friend from Letchworth and her 6 year old also arrived. They were on their way to Wales and just happened to be there at the exact time to meet us ... so that is a coincidence of course. We enjoyed a very pleasant lunch and catch up together and then went in our opposite directions. But the exactness of this coincidence made me think about another explanation: that perhaps our lives are energetically entwined in ways that we cannot comprehend as we go through them. If you have seen the movie 'Cloud Atlas' or read the book 'The Years of Rice and Salt' by Kim Stanley Robinson, you will have come across these ideas. And they are obviously a big part of many spiritual traditions. I don't often talk about energetic connections between people as I like to focus on the practical aspects of meditation but it may be time to work on this. Connections between people can be simple like an energetic cord, the simplest of which is between mother and child, or more complex which could be across lifetimes, which is one interpretation of karma. Again, different lifetimes, karma and so on can be off putting to some people who just want to learn meditation and enjoy its benefits so I don't often talk about them. Perhaps this 'coincidence' is a reminder to me that the world in which we live is an energetic one, and being sensitive to this as much as I can be and giving myself time to appreciate it by meditating could be the real reason I am here. I would enjoy hearing your thoughts and comments if you have time, or perhaps you have a similar story?