The ant lions

It was 10th grade biology, I'm sure... our teacher was a bit radical for a fundamental evangelical missionary kids school... and sent us out into the bush to find a place within ear shot, but where we couldn't see anyone else in the group.  He asked us to spend the next 15 to 20 minutes in quiet observation of the things we could see within a metre of the space we were sitting.

I remember that close to my foot, was an ant lion trap.  An ant lion is a small bug (pictured below), which digs a cone shaped hole with soft sandy soil loosely building up the edges.  An ant crawls on the cone and slips down the soft sand and behold, the ant lion has lunch.

I watched this ant lion trap intently for most of the 15 or so minutes we were given.  I don't remember any ants falling in... but it is something I remember... as my first experience of meditation - in retrospect... what a brilliant teacher....  He gave me an opportunity to look at a metre of my world and just breathe and see what there was to see - and in the process to come into myself and capture an image that remains with me until today. 35 years later...  Thank you biology teacher... and I don't even remember your name.