Meditating in the Rain

I am part of a meditation group that meets on Sundays to meditate in the open. We meditate under a large tree near the entrance of the beautiful Maymont Park in Richmond, Virginia.

Meditating here is a delight, and a chance to commune with nature. This well landscaped park is far from the sounds of the modern world, and immersed in nature. Maymont is picturesque: covered in large trees, shrubs and wild flowers, it even has its own waterfall. As we explore ourselves in meditation, nature explores us too. Curious birds come up close or whizz past. The sun shines down through the leaves. And insects attempt to get food by biting us (too bad there's insect repellant!). And then there's the ever present orchestra of leaves rustling in the wind, birds chirping, and the occasional child's laughter in the distance.
Its no wonder that we have interesting experiences in meditation here.

But today was different still. As we settled into meditation, rain clouds came in. About 20 minutes into the meditation, the sun was gone, and it started to rain.
Weather.com had warned us, and we had come prepared with umbrellas. But in our meditation, nobody felt the urge to hold up an umbrella. As the rain drops fell on us, we continued to meditate. Today, the rain was just another element of nature to us. The light touch of rain was an object of meditation today, and not a distraction. And meditating with the rain was a joy today! So all of us sat there, not resisting - instead, watching.

At the end of our 40 minute meditation the rain passed. Lightly wet - we discussed our experience in today's meditation. And once again, as we spoke, the rain fell on us. But this time too nobody bolted for cover.
The rain was just accepted. A part of nature, and a part of life. Something in our meditation had opened us to the possibility of exposing ourselves to this element of nature we would typically avoid. Today, it seemed, we had communed some more with nature, and as a result, felt some more peace.