So here we are and things are happening in the greater world and in our own personal worlds, and more and more lately I’m finding it difficult to separate the two.
In truth it is impossible to separate the wildfires in Canada and California and in Europe from our personal world. We may not be in the fires, or in Gaza, or in the parking lot in Los Angeles where the ICE agents are grabbing people and hauling them away to horrid prisons, but those things are happening in the same world we live in, the same world where we grow lettuce, and buy groceries, and feel tired and anxious, and we aren’t sure why we feel that way, but we do.
A Buddhist teacher was asked, “How can we empty our minds of thought when there is so much suffering in the world, so much cruelty? How can we stop thinking about the suffering in order to calm our minds and meditate?”
The teacher replied, “Meditate on suffering. Do not try to block those thoughts. Allow them to arise and fade away and arise again and fade away again. This is the practice. When images and thoughts of suffering arise in your mind, label them. Suffering. They will fade away because they are thoughts, and thoughts have no substance. They will return. Watch them without attaching to them. Allow them to fade away. Yes. Life is full of suffering, and life is full of joy. One does not replace the other. They exist simultaneously. This is the challenge of being alive. Coming to terms with this ever-present duality by realizing suffering and happiness are not separate from each other, just as you are not separate from anything.”
What is happening in the greater world is happening in our personal world. Open your heart to this truth.
fin
Light Song from Lounge Act In Heaven on YouTube and Spotify