in a time when so much harm and oppression is taking place and our attention and sometimes urgent action is needed, i think a quote like this can be misunderstood.
it helps me to think of patience as a practice of spaciousness, or equanimity. the patience we are speaking about isn’t inaction and it isn’t procrastination. the patience we are speaking about is an act of generosity and a practice of non-harming.
so often, if we are even really paying attention to life around us, we are pulled by our grasping or our aggression, by our attachment or aversion. and in jumping right in, in reacting without any space to see clearly or to choose our next step wisely, we contribute to harm.
we aren’t sitting, detached to what is happening ignoring pain and suffering or ignoring the need around us, and we are also not jumping in blinded by our patterns of reaction and impatience.
what is being proposed here is allowing enough space in relationship to what is happening so that we can see and hear life clearly, keeping our heart open long enough to allow our empathy to arise, so that we can act wisely and respond with authentic compassion.
that spaciousness will allow us to act from the heart and mind together, to do what is really needed, to do what is really beneficial in the moment.
it’s hard to imagine that seeing Star Wars so early as a kid, the Force, the Jedi, and especially this guy, Yoda, didn’t influence my life and the contemplative path and practice i’m on today.
Yoda’s speech to Luke on interdependence as the ground and connective tissue of life, rang true even at such an early age before i read the Christian and Sufi mystics, prior to entering the Buddhist path. When he told Anakin that “Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering” he laid out how harmful aversion and attachment can be, how harmful it can be to transmit, rather than transform and heal, to abide in equanimity.
here is my latest photographic art, created for this #StarWarsDay 😊
#MayTheFourthBeWithYou and #MayTheForceBeWithYou 🙏🏻
The Zen Master asked, “A piece of gold, a pile of mud. Which is more useful?”
The monk answered, “The gold, of course.”
The Master replied, “But to a seed?”
He continued, “Everyone has a purpose.”
~ from the film, “Shaolin: Protect The Temple”
friends, you belong here. you have value and purpose, just as you are. as life, you bring life to those around you, flowering in your own unique way, your own unique and beautiful embodiment of this one life, this one love, we call home.
we have this one home, where our reality is governed by the truth of interdependence. what we do here affects all life here, now and in future generations. what we do here matters.
species are already dying out due to rise in oceanic acidity, changes of temperature and drought. the food chain is breaking apart. we are looking at an end to polar ice caps and an extraordinary rise in sea level, increased famine and displacement that will lead to a further refugee crisis and conflict/war for resources.
the poor and marginalized will be most affected. all of this by mid-century or within 100 years. what will be our legacy? gratuitous greed, consumption and temporary pleasure? if so, the cost will be high and horrifying.
we are not above nature, we are within and are nature. we have the ingenuity and resources to do what is necessary. we just need the conviction and good will to do it.
engage. figure out what you can do, to do your part:
adopt a vegetarian or vegan diet and lifestyle
drive less often
stop or dramatically reduce using plastics
encourage friends to engage
support green companies and activism
and perhaps most important, pressure policy makers to enact robust and immediate changes.
we often come to a spiritual practice because we are suffering and we want freedom from suffering.
sometimes we seek perfection, to be perfect, to act perfect, to be “good” girls and boys. however, this is really doomed to fail. life is ever changing and the rug is constantly pulled out from under our feet and the nuance of life requires flexibility and spaciousness.
so, rather than seeking perfection (whatever that is!) we can aspire for more equanimity, more spaciousness, which is really freedom. freedom to continually open and remain open. this openness allows the space for us to see ourselves, others, the state of our world without bias and really see where the need is, where there is suffering, where there is connection. this openness, this freedom, allows space for love.
The Three Root Causes of Suffering, or the Three Poisons in Buddhism are ignorance, attachment, and aversion. All three of these are a form of closing off, closing oneself off, closing our heart off to ourselves, others around us, and the world. when we stick our head in the sand, we are closing ourselves off from reality. when we grasp at one thing or person or situation, we have closed off to other things, people, and experiences in life. when we lose ourselves in aggression, we have closed our hearts.
“Mature spirituality is…the capacity to open the heart to all that is.”
this is how we reduce and end suffering. this is how we position ourselves to see clearly and say enough to the suffering we see, the consistent killing of our Black family, the all too regular mass shootings, the unnecessary, avoidable poverty around us. the disaster of climate change.
we have closed ourselves off for far too long to the suffering around us, perhaps because it is too painful to witness, perhaps because it feels overwhelming and we don’t know what to do. it is understandable, but it is also not sustainable, when people are regularly, unnecessarily, avoidably dying, and life suffers around us.
we can be brave. we can look at what is happening. we can keep our heart open. feel the tenderness, the rawness, the grief – that is our connection to those who are suffering. this is how empathy is manifest, this is how compassion arises for others and for ourselves (yes – we include ourselves!). then we take the first step that speaks to us. we trust the love in our heart.
and here’s the bonus. when we really open to the world and to others, and to ourselves, we also experience a deeper connection, a deeper love and joy. it’s not just heaviness, sadness, etc…it’s also connection and joy. it is the fullness of the human experience, held in the fullness of our love.
The Metta Garden 