This beautiful early morning I meditated outside, in a screened lanai, while birds sang and pre-dawn breezes rustled through palm trees. I could do this because, while I live in the currently frozen North, I was able to escape for a few days to southern Florida. I could smell the damp grass just a few feet from my chair. The temperature was about 65 degrees, perfect for sitting in contemplation while wearing a light jacket. If I had my eyes open I would have seen the dark sky lighten gradually and perceptibly, as the faithful, tireless earth continued on its cosmic dance, and the miracle that is the sun manifested itself yet again.
As I meditated, a phrase came to mind - reaching for the moon, yet my hands are full of stars. And once again, I was reminded of what a privilege it is to just be in this moment. I am fortunate to be healthy, not in pain, fed, clothed, sheltered well in this lovely place. Are there problems? Of course there are problems. A myriad of problems, on many fronts. But that is what life is.
I can choose to spend all of my time in non-stop rumination of the ways in which things have not gone the way I wanted them too, as most of us can. I can choose to create imaginary scenarios in my head of the ways in which things in the future can go horribly wrong, and work myself into a lathered frenzy, which I will then get all over those around me. But I cannot change the past, and I cannot control the future, so those mental gymnastics are exercises in futility, not to mention really annoying and perplexing to others.
In the here and now, life is beautiful, as it is all of the time if I pay attention. I have within my grasp at all times the wonder of now if I can just see it with curiosity, and non-judgment, and kindness. And that is enough.
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Friday, January 16, 2015
The True Zombie Apocalypse, and a Call to (Link) Arms
It has been a while since I last posted, about the re-arrangement of my innards. Another year has gone by, filled with the kind of stuff a year is filled with, both personal and global. We the family, immediate and extended, went through some things - debilitating storms, beautiful weather, two wonderful trips, a first job, a sort-of restraining order, more learning about mindfulness, a blissful retreat, a new studio for painting and meditation training, a death, a birth, graduations, jobs.
On the global front, much turbulence. Many people died, some famous, most not. It was a violent year, as many are. Last year, however, a pattern emerged, for me at least, manifesting a plague that infects people the world over, inexplicably, seemingly randomly. That pattern was the spread of terrorism all over the globe. I have also noticed that the incomprehensible rise in interest in all things zombie in the last few years parallels the growth of global terrorism. Perhaps, at some unconscious level, the biological entity that we most fear is not the Ebola virus, or the living dead, but the virus that is within us, to echo Pogo's long-ago statement recognizing the enemy as ourselves. We have within us the darkness we fear. In television, in movies, in graphic novels and comic books, we depict our fear that we will be subsumed by this darkness.
What is the true nature of this virus? It is not caused by religion, although religion can be used to justify the actions taken by infected persons. It is not caused by global social media, but rather spread and facilitated by global social media, much like tainted water can spread typhus. The source of the virus is the distorted thinking process of those infected; the idea that perceived slights need to be avenged, that an out of control environment can and should be controlled, that immortality will be achieved, that perceived impotence can be ended by striking a blow. Thoughts like these, incubated in a petri dish of poverty, hopelessness, alienation and despair, consume the lives of the infected, many of whom are the young, their self-absorption,vigor and idealism untempered by wisdom; these toxic thoughts are acted on as if they are truths.
This plague is not new. It has been with us for a long time. How can it be stopped? It will be enormously difficult. But the concomitant spread of mindfulness and meditation (the practice of looking into ourselves and becoming aware of our own thinking), the spread of a culture that celebrates loving-kindness, compassion for self and others, and non-judgment - this is the best hope we have. We all contain within us the potential for immense love. Gandhi understood this; so did Martin Luther King Jr. The daily practice of mindfulness and meditation pulls us out of these dark places of the mind to celebrate the present moment for all of its beauty, even in difficult circumstances. We can contemplate the glories of creation just as easily as we can contemplate destruction. It takes dedication and discipline to do this, but the rewards are immeasurable.
I will counter the plague in my own small way every day, to the best of my ability. Perhaps together we can begin to spread a plague of love, by linking arms against a sea of troubles. Care to join me?
On the global front, much turbulence. Many people died, some famous, most not. It was a violent year, as many are. Last year, however, a pattern emerged, for me at least, manifesting a plague that infects people the world over, inexplicably, seemingly randomly. That pattern was the spread of terrorism all over the globe. I have also noticed that the incomprehensible rise in interest in all things zombie in the last few years parallels the growth of global terrorism. Perhaps, at some unconscious level, the biological entity that we most fear is not the Ebola virus, or the living dead, but the virus that is within us, to echo Pogo's long-ago statement recognizing the enemy as ourselves. We have within us the darkness we fear. In television, in movies, in graphic novels and comic books, we depict our fear that we will be subsumed by this darkness.
What is the true nature of this virus? It is not caused by religion, although religion can be used to justify the actions taken by infected persons. It is not caused by global social media, but rather spread and facilitated by global social media, much like tainted water can spread typhus. The source of the virus is the distorted thinking process of those infected; the idea that perceived slights need to be avenged, that an out of control environment can and should be controlled, that immortality will be achieved, that perceived impotence can be ended by striking a blow. Thoughts like these, incubated in a petri dish of poverty, hopelessness, alienation and despair, consume the lives of the infected, many of whom are the young, their self-absorption,vigor and idealism untempered by wisdom; these toxic thoughts are acted on as if they are truths.
This plague is not new. It has been with us for a long time. How can it be stopped? It will be enormously difficult. But the concomitant spread of mindfulness and meditation (the practice of looking into ourselves and becoming aware of our own thinking), the spread of a culture that celebrates loving-kindness, compassion for self and others, and non-judgment - this is the best hope we have. We all contain within us the potential for immense love. Gandhi understood this; so did Martin Luther King Jr. The daily practice of mindfulness and meditation pulls us out of these dark places of the mind to celebrate the present moment for all of its beauty, even in difficult circumstances. We can contemplate the glories of creation just as easily as we can contemplate destruction. It takes dedication and discipline to do this, but the rewards are immeasurable.
I will counter the plague in my own small way every day, to the best of my ability. Perhaps together we can begin to spread a plague of love, by linking arms against a sea of troubles. Care to join me?
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