A repeating water surge started and would not stop. It interrupted my early morning healing meditation. I thought it came from the above neighbor’s apartment. My churlish anger got me up and took me to my study – which was under her bedroom. Since I felt she had forced me awake, I decided I could pursue a noisy early morning activity of my own!! There, I completed a poetry bookmark I had printed last night – Ralph Emerson’s The Snowstorm. I taped, cut and fashioned the bookmark for an hour. The noise did not stop and I went back to bed. Then, not quite asleep, I sat up with a jerk. I realized the noise came from my apartment! Uh oh – I sheepishly made my way to my bathroom.

Toilet innards are different from the past. The old black bulb and simple chain and pipe with descending gadget are now a modern pump with plastic everywhere and no clear way to be of use in the “water running” state. I poured in extra water – maybe that will work? No. It was worse. I flushed again – maybe that will be the needed correction? No – again comes the running water. The tank fills and then empties, over and over. I was certain I can do nothing. I must wait until a decent time and call the landlady. I returned to bed.

And, then came the blessing upon the burden – I remembered my earplugs. I found them in my bedside table and stuffed them in my ears. I sighed with relief. I laid back down in my meditation position, opened my palms, and opened myself to relaxation. I let the comforting feeling build up and run through me. It is like water which you turn on – a river of sensation – settling me, thrilling me, bringing peace. I was happy for the retreat to the inner, mystical world, having conquered (sort of) the problem of the mundane world, where I often feel like a guest.

CONCLUSION: Later in the day — my landlady told me I can turn the toilet off with a knob at its base. Who knew? Ok, I guess a lot of people would have known that, but for me it was a miracle. Later in the day, a plumber came and fixed it. Quiet and functionality descended on the building. Soon, something else would stop working in the mundane world. Meanwhile, once again, I was convinced of the much more reliable mystical sanctuary.  (rewritten, May 2015)