Centering First Before Doing

Lately I've been fascinated by the skillfulness of Bill Morgan's teachings on cultivating a "holding environment" for ourselves at the beginning of each meditation: jglovas.wixsite.com/awarenessnow/single-post/2016/09/02/Holding-Environment-for-Ourselves

Joanna Macy's advice below for all of us (not just "activists") resonates strongly with our need to repeatedly center. If we are to decrease suffering & increase benefit for ourselves and others, we must remember to first return to our true home - loving awareness. Only then can we speak and act authentically, with integrity, in the world.

"The activist's inner journey appears to me like a spiral, interconnecting four successive stages or movements that feed into each other. These four are:

1. opening to gratitude,
2. owning our pain for the world,
3. seeing with new eyes,
4. going forth.

The sequence repeats itself, as the spiral circles round, but ever in new ways. The spiral is fractal in nature: it can characterize a lifetime or a project, and it can also happen in a day or several times a day. The spiral begins with gratitude, because that quiets the frantic mind and brings us back to source. It reconnects us with our empathy and personal power. It helps us to be more fully present to our world. Grounded presence provides the psychic space for acknowledging the pain we carry for our world.

In owning this pain, and daring to experience it, we learn that our capacity to suffer with is the true meaning of compassion. We begin to know the immensity of our heart-mind, and how it helps us to move beyond fear. What had isolated us in private anguish now opens outward and delivers us into wider reaches of our world as lover, world as self."

Joanna Macy    http://www.joannamacy.net/the-wtr-spiral.html

The Reality of War

     "Of course, war and the large military establishments are the greatest sources of violence in the world. Whether their purpose is defensive or offensive, these vast powerful organizations exist solely to kill human beings. We should think carefully about the reality of war. Most of us have been conditioned to regard military combat as exciting and glamorous - an opportunity for men to prove their competence and courage. Since armies are legal, we feel that war is acceptable; in general, nobody feels that war is criminal or that accepting it is a criminal attitude. In fact, we have been brainwashed. War is neither glamorous nor attractive. It is monstrous. Its very nature is one of tragedy and suffering.

     War is like a fire in the human community, one whose fuel is living beings. I find this analogy especially appropriate and useful. Modern warfare is waged primarily with different forms of fire, but we are so conditioned to see it as thrilling that we talk about this or that marvelous weapon as a remarkable piece of technology without remembering that, if it is actually used, it will burn living people. War also strongly resembles a fire in the way it spreads. If one area gets weak, the commanding officer sends in reinforcements. This is throwing live people onto a fire. But because we have been brainwashed to think this way, we do not consider the suffering of individual soldiers. No soldiers want to be wounded or die. None of his loved ones wants any harm to come to him. If one soldier is killed, or maimed for life, at least another five or ten people - his relatives and friends - suffer as well. We should all be horrified by the extent of this tragedy, but we are too confused.

     Frankly as a child, I too was attracted to the military. Their uniform looked so smart and beautiful. But that is exactly how the seduction begins. Children start playing games that will one day lead them in trouble. There are plenty of exciting games to play and costumes to wear other than those based on the killing of human beings. Again, if we as adults were not so fascinated by war, we would clearly see that to allow our children to become habituated to war games is extremely unfortunate. Some former soldiers have told me that when they shot their first person they felt uncomfortable but as they continued to kill it began to feel quite normal. In time, we can get used to anything.

     It is not only during times of war that military establishments are destructive. By their very design, they are the single greatest violators of human rights, and it is the soldiers themselves who suffer most consistently from their abuse. After the officer in charge has given beautiful explanations about the importance of the army, its discipline and the need to conquer the enemy, the rights of the great mass of soldiers are almost entirely taken away. They are then compelled to forfeit their individual will, and, in the end, to sacrifice their lives. Moreover, once an army has become a powerful force, there is every risk that it will destroy the happiness of its own country.

     There are people with destructive intentions in every society, and the temptation to gain command over an organization capable of fulfilling their desires can become overwhelming. But no matter how malevolent or evil are the many murderous dictators who can currently oppress their nations and cause international problems, it is obvious that they cannot harm others or destroy countless human lives if they don't have a military organization accepted and condoned by society. As long as there are powerful armies there will always be danger of dictatorship. If we really believe dictatorship to be a despicable and destructive form of government, then we must recognize that the existence of a powerful military establishment is one of its main causes.

     Militarism is also very expensive. Pursuing peace through military strength places a tremendously wasteful burden on society. Governments spend vast sums on increasingly intricate weapons when, in fact, nobody really wants to use them. Not only money but also valuable energy and human intelligence are squandered, while all that increases is fear.

     I want to make it clear, however, that although I am deeply opposed to war, I am not advocating appeasement. It is often necessary to take a strong stand to counter unjust aggression. For instance, it is plain to all of us that the Second World War was entirely justified. It "saved civilization" from the tyranny of Nazi Germany, as Winston Churchill so aptly put it. In my view, the Korean War was also just, since it gave South Korea the chance of gradually developing democracy. But we can only judge whether or not a conflict was vindicated on moral grounds with hindsight. For example, we can now see that during the Cold War, the principle of nuclear deterrence had a certain value. Nevertheless, it is very difficult to assess all such matters with any degree of accuracy. War is violence and violence is unpredictable. Therefore, it is better to avoid it if possible, and never to presume that we know beforehand whether the outcome of a particular war will be beneficial or not.

     For instance, in the case of the Cold War, though deterrence may have helped promote stability, it did not create genuine peace. The last forty years in Europe have seen merely the absence of war, which has not been real peace but a facsimile founded fear. At best, building arms to maintain peace serves only as a temporary measure. As long as adversaries do not trust each other, any number of factors can upset the balance of power. Lasting peace can only assuredly be secured on the basis of genuine trust."

       Dalai Lama       http://www.dalailama.com/messages/world-peace/the-reality-of-war  

Nothing to Achieve, Nowhere to Go, No One to Be

     Buddhist understanding can sound very counter-intuitive & counter-cultural. 
     Nevertheless, as we mature with our practice, we come to understand as if for the very first time.

     "To reach truth 
      is not to accumulate knowledge, 
      but to awaken to the heart of reality. 
      Reality reveals itself complete and whole 
      at the moment of awakening. 
      In the light of awakening, 
      nothing is added and nothing is lost."           Thich Nhat Hanh

 "Anesthesia" - an excellent 2015 movie, available on Netflix

Spiritual Capital & a Meaningful Life

     "Spiritual capital is the wealth or power an individual or organization has, based on their deepest meanings, values, and purposes. It is reflected in what that individual or organization exists for, believes in, aspires to, and takes responsibility for. We build spiritual capital by asking spiritually-intelligent questions, such as why do I exist, what is the purpose of my life, what do I really want to achieve? If the spiritual capital of a collaboration is high, that is, if a group has a common aspiration for its existence that they take responsibility for, then their collaboration will be an organic synthesis of the people participating. 
     If the spiritual capital is low, it means you either don't know what you aspire to or you don't aspire to anything very high. It means you don't know why you exist or you just exist to make a profit. It means you don't think about what you take responsibility for because you're caught up in your immediate goal, your short-term thinking. 
     Spiritual capital, if it's low, can tear a collaboration to pieces. Spiritual capital, if it's high, is the glue that holds it together."                                                       Danah Zohar

See also: http://www.johnlovas.com/2013/07/connections-interbeing-oneness.html

Sculptor: Marcel Gagnon, Sainte-Flavie en Gaspe, Quebec, Canada

Safety, Comfort, & Trust in Meditation

      “… a more inviting way to enter meditation includes first learning the art of feeling good intentionally, in the present moment. We need to feel enlivened early in meditation in order to want to stay with it. Mindfulness needs to feel refreshing to ensure the future practice of mindfulness. If we are as unhappy in meditation as we are at other times, except being more aware of the unhappiness, where is the incentive to continue? 
     In my experience, the more reliable way to introduce safety, comfort, and trust in meditation is by evoking memories that elicit the feelings needed to create the foundation for our practice. Trying to think our way into feeling good is futile. Relaxation is one of the most fundamental aspects of the internal holding environment.”
       Bill Morgan. "The Meditator's Dilemma: An Innovative Approach to Overcoming Obstacles and Revitalizing Your Practice." Shambhala, 2016.

     Remembering a childhood experience was a powerful opening for the Buddha:
     “ ‘While my Sakyan father was busy and I (as a child) was sitting in the shade of the a rose apple tree, then quite secluded from sensual desires, secluded from unprofitable ideas, I had direct acquaintance of entering upon and abiding in the first jhana-meditation, which is accompanied by thinking and exploring, with happiness and pleasure born of seclusion. Might that be the way to enlightenment?’ And following that memory came the recognition: ‘That is the only way to enlightenment.’ ” MN 36   http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/nanamoli/wheel017.html

     A powerfully-reassuring childhood memory may even be somewhat hazy - like this:
     Perhaps my father, a certain aunt, one of my grandparents, or perhaps even a composite of these nurturing caretakers instilled within me a deep, quiet sense of certainty, that no matter how bleak and miserable life might be, even for decades, ultimately, everything will resolve in a decent, loving way. Perhaps that's why I value persistence so highly. I don't hope, but intuitively know that mystics and saints see things clearly.
     Recalling this feeling is a powerful way for me to start meditation. 

     Find your own reassuring childhood memory.

 

Toe-crunch Hello!

Last night, walking barefoot in my dark living room,
My right foot kicked the sharp corner of our coffee table.
Instant crunch-pain.
Unexpected immediate recognition:
Nothing personal,
Simple cause & effect,
No emotional reaction,
No suffering.

One moment ends,
A completely fresh new moment begins,
The great river of causes & effects flowing on.

Simple spontaneous experiencing -
Causes & effects flowing.
Impersonal - no reason or benefit for emotional reactions.
How foolish to want reality to be different?

Conditioned mind-body fascinating -
but not really 'me' or 'mine'.
Craving, aversion, delusion, suffering,
Fizzling, fizzling, fizzling ...

Gaspe Laundry

Freedom at Hand

     "When we encounter tragic events [we see on the news almost daily], we ... recognize that the root of hatred is very difficult to identify. It comes from deep inside of our karmic consciousness [DNA if you will]. We live our lives based on emotions and feelings of love and hatred. This is the source of our daily actions.
     But there is a true and real realm beyond love and hatred. This is ... the realm of Enlightenment [open & available to all of us]. Through this realization, we are able to see one another as fellow travelers on a journey of the world to true equality. Regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation, we should live our lives with respect and kindness." Bishop Kodo Umezu, Lion's Roar, September 2016 issue

     We CAN relax & release our fearful, rigidly held positions, and bravely open our heart-minds.

     "... any concepts we have about the basic nature of reality are incomplete, inaccurate, and in fact block our direct experience of things as they really are. ... any assertions about the nature of reality are self-defeating. ... [we CAN] cut through conceptualization and [open ourselves] ... directly to the true nature of reality." Lion's Roar, September 2016 issue

Sculptor: Marcel Gagnon, Sainte-Flavie en Gaspe, Quebec, Canada