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 write a diary for the DKos Sangha, 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.
The title of one of Pema Chödrön's books is Start Where You Are. I love this phrase; it can be a very helpful dharma teaching that is useful in all kinds of daily life situations. We can only move forward from where we are now; right here is always our starting point.
Our lives are always changing, and sometimes in unexpected yet significant ways. Illness, family situations, employment, finances, transportation; a sudden change in circumstances can leave us feeling like the rug has been pulled out from under us.
In our culture, our ego, the thought patterns that make up the idea of separate self, react strongly to such changes. It is, in a manner of speaking, ego's job; "self" preservation. Thus we have all kinds of reactions that come under the heading of duhkha, the Sanskrit word often translated as suffering, but which covers all kinds of dis-ease with things as they are. Thus sudden change can bring about confusion, anger, annoyance, irritation, etc etc.
But these reactions can cloud our ability to see what the next step is. If we, for instance, react out of anger, we often escalate or exacerbate the situation. If you are driving your car, and someone suddenly pulls out in front of you and you have to brake hard and quickly, egoic conditioning might react with anger, displaying certain hand gestures to the other driver or applying the car horn for a protracted amount of time.
The effect of that can often be just to annoy, irritate, anger, etc, the other driver. And now we have two angry drivers operating vehicles on our streets.
Mindfulness, meditation, awareness, awakening to our true self; as we awaken from the dream of separate self, conditioning begins to dissipate. We begin to see that these reactions aren't all that necessary. Yes, it is important to apply the brakes and avoid crashing the car; but the hand gestures and horn honking only serve to escalate the situation. On the other hand, a smile and wave of the hand can be helpful to both the other driver and to yourself; and both of you can move on in a better position to be with what comes next.
This practice can initially seem difficult; our patterns are deeply ingrained. But awareness is our true nature. As we deepen our experience of now, egoic patterns begin to dissipate. Our true nature as awareness is uncovered, the clouds of illusion lift, the dream of separate self falls away.
Wherever you are right now in this moment, there is nothing wrong with you; right here, right now, is the starting point from where you move forward, from where you take the next step. There is nothing wrong with you, because who you are is awareness. Egoic conditioning can come up with all kinds of things that are wrong with you, because egoic conditioning thinks that you are egoic conditioning itself. But egoic conditioning is nothing more than a collection of thoughts; it is a dream from which we can awaken. For when thoughts disappear, we are still here. Our true nature is always right here, right now. Our true nature is a pervasive and abiding peace; a deep stillness. It is that within which everything arises.
No matter what happens, the real you, not some collection of thoughts that we identify with, is always here, always available. And it is from this place that we are most effective in our movement forward; it is from this place that we find harmony in our dance with whatever comes next in life.
There is a saying from the sixties that perfectly encapsulates this.
Be. Here. Now.
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You are welcome to join us each week in our Monday night group meditation here at DKos Sangha. This online group meditation is hosted by Ooooh, and the diary is posted at 7:00 Eastern. So that we are able to be together for as many here at Daily Kos as wish to participate, the meditation period runs from 7:30 - 10:00. This group sitting is open to beginners and advanced, and is not restricted to any particular traditions or practices. It is not expected that you sit for the entire period; sit for as long as you like, when you like. The idea is that we are here together; supporting each other, holding space for each other.
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Enjoy your day!
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