Good morning! Welcome to the DKos Sangha weekly open thread.
This is an open thread for members of the DKos Sangha and others who are interested in discussions concerning how we integrate our progressive political activism into our spiritual practice. If you have observations about the political discourse of the week, or about practice, or about anything else related to walking a spiritual path through the political world, if you wish to share, or if you seek support, or if you simply want to say hello, please do; this space is for you.
If you would like to host a weekly open thread, please let me know.
If you care nothing for spiritual practice and only wish to denigrate and disparage, please do so elsewhere, and respect that this is a community diary for the DKos Sangha.
This open thread tends to get more readers than comments, but one subject that has been mentioned in the comments a few times has been, generally, making time for sitting practice, or a desire to return to daily sitting practice. So I thought I would mention just a few things that might be helpful.
If you feel a need for a daily sitting practice, but somehow your days seem to pass by without any cushion time, then find ways to simply return to the breath. While it can be helpful to sit for long periods of time, it isn't necessary that you do so. You don't have to sit for 30 or 45 minutes; you can sit for five minutes. And while some traditions may stress the need for sitting for a long period of time, if you aren't sitting at all, well then you aren't sitting at all. Five minutes is more than sufficient time to return to the stillness.
You don't even need to sit; you can return to stillness at any time. It is always available to you. Standing at the kitchen sink, looking through the window, breathing easily, letting go of thoughts and stories and worries, just breathing, and feeling, and simply being. And at traffic lights, those convenient places for taking a quick meditation break amidst the hustle and bustle of driving in traffic; just returning to the breath, finding the stillness, letting that peaceful place bring calmness amidst the chaos.
Another interesting place for this type of practice is a stairway. Any time you find yourself walking up or down stairs, be it in your home or workplace or anywhere, return to the breath and practice mindfulness of walking up or down stairs. And another is the microwave oven; the one or two minutes for heating something up is an opportunity to sit on your kitchen stool and just breathe.
I have read before, and found it to be useful, that three breaths is enough to significantly change your experience. If you are feeling stress or anxiety or impatience or irritation etc, returning to the breath for three full relaxed even breaths will make a big difference in how your day will unfold.
So whether first thing in the morning, or on your lunch break, or when you return home from work, or before bed, or right now, just sit down for five minutes or however many minutes you feel like it, and just breathe. There's no time requirement, no quality of experience requirement, no progress along the path requirement, no stilling the thoughts requirement; just return to the breath; return to the stillness.
The stillness is always here, it is always available to you.
______
And this being a sangha for the politically engaged, I wanted to briefly share my experience this past Monday attending the Moral Monday demonstration at the state capitol in Raleigh, North Carolina. There was a crowd of more than three thousand people; they were smiling, joyful, sharing. Reverend Barber and the NAACP are within the Christian tradition, but they make it a point of being very inclusive of other traditions and of those with no traditions. They are also of course within the tradition of Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi; and that practice of satyagraha pervaded the atmosphere. It was for me a very wonderful and very moving experience, for which I am very grateful.
Enjoy your day!