We CAN Do This!

     Although many of us are careful to make sure our homes and cars are as energy-efficient as possible, we're surprisingly unaware of how much energy we waste through useless & even harmful thinking, emotions & resultant behavior.
    You may quickly say, "Well, that's not me!"
    Okay, what proportion of your time are you peacefully open-minded, curious to explore your surroundings, happily cooperating & playing with others?
    And what proportion of your time do you feel anxious, afraid, angry or sad & alone? 

    Very few enjoy a fairly consistent pleasant, peaceful, kind glow about us. Cynics would quickly judge such people as being high on drugs or having some other problem. However the fact that so many of us waste so much of our precious life energy, not really living but merely surviving lost in a dark mood may be common, but far from desirable & healthy.

     One of the foremost experts in PTSD wrote: “If you feel safe & loved, your brain (is) specialized in exploration, play, & cooperation; if you are frightened & unwanted, it (is) specialized in managing feelings of fear & abandonment." Bessel Van Der Kolk. “The Body Keeps the Score. Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma.” Penguin Books, 2015. http://www.johnlovas.com/search?q=kolk

    More of us have PTSD than we realize. Many more of us are depressed than we realize. Many, many more of us have an inaccurately dismal, dysfunctional self-concept / worldview than we realize. 

    This blog is dedicated to inspire readers to wake up from our current pandemic of dysfunctional cynical helplessness. Despite the world's political pendulum swinging to a cartoon-like extreme position, more & more people are waking up today. We can, and I believe that we will, with wisdom turn our massive ship around before it's too late. 

    “It’s vital that we regain control of the stories we’re telling because they are shaping the future we’re creating. To do that, we have to remember our deepest inspiration, heal our pain & apathy, and connect to each other like never before. If we can do that, we’ve got a shot at solving the big problems we face. And if we can’t? Well, the dustbin of history has swallowed civilizations older and fancier than ours.”
    Jamie Wheal. “Recapture the Rapture: Rethinking God, Sex, and Death in a World That’s Lost Its Mind.” Harper Wave, 2021.

Laura Marling "When Were You Happy? (And How Long Has That Been)"

 

Kind Awareness

    The more deeply we learn to live, the less we value & busy ourselves with material possessions, most experiences, achievements & social status (our own & others'); and the more we simply value & embody kind awareness - intimacy & unconditional love.
     The journey is often on "a long and winding road":

     “Painful self-doubt and self-criticism are epidemic in our culture, and can wield a power that is enormously destructive and paralysing. Although perhaps the seeds of such distortions of view are only completely eradicated through (deep meditative insight), in most cases it is vital to find various means to at least somewhat disempower their claims right at the beginning of the path. There are so many helpful possibilities and a great deal could be said in relation to these difficult inner constellations. Here though, we will just mention a few things very briefly.
     Perhaps the most important is to reiterate the wisdom of proceeding gradually (in our meditation practice)... By witnessing the freeing success of one’s efforts step by step, confidence develops naturally. Implicit in this statement, however, is that we each need to find what actually works for us in meditation. Very often a large part of what underlies the proliferation of self-doubt in relation to practice is that we have not yet discovered ways of working in meditation that we can really feel for ourselves are helpful. With experimentation we can find out; and once we do, self-doubt begins to melt as confidence slowly develops.
     We might emphasize too the importance of kindness in meditation in general. And in particular, the gradual transformative and inexorable healing power that comes through devotion to regular loving-kindness (metta) practice should not be underestimated. Here again, it is absolutely vital to find ways of cultivating metta that work for you. There is no ‘right’ way of doing that. Creativity, playfulness, and experimentation are indispensable.
     Often untapped, there is also an equally great power accessible in heartfully connecting with our own deepest aspirations. Self-criticism tends to squash these aspirations and obscure our connection with them. Conversely though, tuning into & sustaining a focus on the felt force of these aspirations within oneself – in ways that allow them to gather strength, and allow the being to open to that strength – can significantly undermine the dynamics of self-criticism.”
       Rob Burbea. “Seeing That Frees. Meditations on Emptiness and Dependent Arising.” Hermes Amara Publications, 2014. - an excellent book for experienced meditators.

     I HIGHLY recommend Bill Morgan's wonderful 10-minute talk on being kinder to ourselves during meditation (followed by a 20-minute meditation), after clicking the link below, scroll to the bottom of the page & play the video immediately below "July 21": https://www.buddhistinquiry.org/resources/daily-sit/