During a recent guided meditation, the teacher was talking about the symbol of the Buddhist wheel and the eight winds of life. I had never heard of it before, but it was, for me, a fascinating explanation of the polarity we experience all the time while here on the earth plane. The symbol is an eight spoked wheel, and each spoke represents one of the winds that come and go or roll into and out of our lives all the time. These winds are as follows.

Pain and Pleasure

Gain and Loss

Praise and Blame

Fame and Infamy

We all experience these opposite states of being at one time or another. Life in the physical world is a school and often we learn best through contrast. For example, if we want to learn self-love, we may experience several failed relationships. Once we realize that in order to attract someone into our lives who will love us unconditionally, we must first learn to love ourselves unconditionally. Why? It is simply because like attracts like. Once we begin to authentically love and care for ourselves, our vibration shifts. Our energy attracts the energy of a person who can love us in the way we wish to be loved simply because we are already doing it for ourselves.

Perhaps, the power of learning through contrast is why we tend to find ourselves always being blown about by those eight winds. Is there any way to escape the storms that come and go as we navigate our way through this hectic and sometimes scary world? Possibly there is. However so far, I haven’t met anyone who has been able to do so. Yet some people seem to be able to weather the storms of life better than others and we often wonder, “What’s their secret?”

Well, let’s try to explain that by describing a scene from an actual weather event, rather than the emotional ups and downs in the polarities of life. For days on end, the weather forecasters have been predicting a devastating hurricane that is heading straight for our area. We begin preparing for the storm by boarding up windows, putting away outdoor umbrellas or any other potential projectiles. We shop for needed essentials like food, water, candles, and batteries for our flashlights in case we lose power. We cancel any unnecessary appointments and hunker down waiting for it to hit. Most of us are a bit enamored by wild weather as long as we can watch it from the security of our warm, cozy, and dry home. So that’s what we do.

The skies begin to darken as thick clouds block the sun. The wind starts howling and we can hear snapping of tree branches and even maybe see some flickering of lights. The rain is splashing against our windows that are now closed tight to prevent water from getting in. We gaze out from the soaked glass and watch as the storm blusters and tosses our outside world about, grateful that we are safe in our protective “eye of the storm” or in other worlds our humble abode. We may watch the reporters on our local news station as they move around from place-to-place measuring depth of flooding, and the devastation happening from the turbulent winds. We feel grateful that we are not them being tossed about from the strong gusts as they fight to keep from being blown into the nearby ocean or river.

Once the storm passes, we open our doors and windows and go outside to find a world that looks nothing like it did just hours ago. The sky is once again blue, the sun is shining, and the branches of the trees are still and silent. Life returns to normal, and we go about the usual routines of our lives, no worse for wear.

Now let’s go back to the Buddhist wheel. When we envision the wheel, we know that the spokes of the wheel represent the times of stormy adversities in our lives and the times of sunshine and blue skies. Sometimes we may, for example, even experience rain and blue skies simultaneously just as we might experience great loss and receive a wonderous gift in the midst of it. So, where is our safe, calm, quiet place where we can observe the storms, so they don’t harm us. It is in the center of the wheel.

When we realize we are not the storms or the blue skies but the observer of the ever-changing emotional weather of our lives, we can become aware and observant rather than trying to cling to the “good” times or push away the “bad” ones. We find that, we can sit by the window within our soul’s sacred temple and watch as the storms come and go. This is not to say that we will be free from the intense emotions that come with our adversities or even the heady joyful ones we feel when life is nothing but smooth sailing. The human experience is filled with polarity. The soul can find opportunities for growth in all of life.

Despite our soul’s wisdom and the comfort and guidance from our spiritual team of light, we may still fall victim to the shifting tides. One minute we feel great joy from the birth of a child and the next a parent or friend may pass from this world and the intense loss overwhelms us. The next moment we are praised by the good work we are doing and for the noble person we are. Then without warning we make a mistake, and all of that praise turns to blame or censure. As long as we remain in the center of the wheel and simply observe and be aware, even in the midst of our tumultuous tears, we can weather the storms of our lives safely. We know that the sun will always shine once again, lessons will be learned, and smiles will return to our faces. We will embrace the polarity that is bound to surround us and toss our vessel to and fro as we navigate our way through the stormy seas.

I have found that those among us who seem to weather their storms with an other-worldly calm are men and women who spend time daily in that home within, or in other words, the temple of our soul’s light. Spending time in meditation and prayer is usually the best and most certain way to learn how to find our peaceful center and remain calm even in the midst of the eight worldly winds. It is there that we can also learn to embrace our polarity as a human soul. By acknowledging and embracing both the infinite, divine light of our eternal identity as well, as our dark side, or our human imperfection, which we all have, we find peace.

We don’t have to meditate for hours, though some of us do, we simply need to spend a few moments in stillness and silence. Quieting the mind is the greatest challenge to meditation, but with practice we get better and better. When we do this, we find there is an awe and a wonder found there that we find in no other place in this world. We discover a celestial light that illumines our true identity and strengthens our infinite soulful power. We then emerge steady of hand, peaceful in our minds, and able and willing to live our lives fully rather than simply existing. We learn to conquer debilitating fear and embrace eternal love because we know that love is the answer to all there is and all that will ever be.

We are safe! We are immortal! We are protected! All is well and always will be!