Zen Alarm Clock

Much as you want to roll over and go back to sleep, we have to start the day sometime. Whatever serves to stir us from our slumber -- the alarm clock, the light from outside, the dogs cold nose -- remember: the purpose of [meditation] is to do the same.

We all need to awaken -- to our true nature, to the timeless essence at our core that connects us to everything and everybody. So many of us are spiritually asleep, oblivious to the precious gift we have. We take life for granted, sleepwalking until a shattering event knocks us awake. Zen says, don't wait until the car accident, a cancer diagnosis, or the death of a loved one to get your priorities straight. Do it now.

Let today's wake-up call signal the start of the new day -- the first day of a new lifetime. Awaken!

-- Philip Toshuo Sudo, author of "Zen 24/7"