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.
Practice. Sadhana.
Practice shouldn't be thought of as something we do to attain some future goal; rather, practice is simply what is happening now. A musician practices, a hatha yoga student practices; each of these is a form of meditation. We are one with what is happening right now; the music that is being played, the stretch we are feeling in the body.
Practice is non-judgmental. When we beat ourselves up over failures to achieve goals, there is separation and suffering. This is not to say that we shouldn't notice areas where we need to focus our attention; but noticing what needs attention doesn't have to be accompanied by separation, or chastising, or thoughts of failure, or frustration or annoyance.
Similarly, everything we do, every event that unfolds in our day, every meeting with someone, is a part of our practice. And there is plenty of opportunity to notice where people and events cause conditioned thought patterns to arise within our minds. When these patterns arise, we meet them compassionately, gently, tenderly. Practice.
When family members come to visit, when we read stories on the front page or the comments in response to a diary about politicians, when we drive in traffic and stand in line at the grocery, the universe presents us with opportunities for practice; the universe pushes our buttons, it shows us what we need to notice, where we need to focus our attention, it shows us the conditioning that hasn't yet been released within us, those patterns that are still unresolved, those things that are too tightly held, those places where we haven't yet healed.
Our daily lives can be thought of us a dance. Our partner in this dance is the universe itself as manifested in the people and events we meet with throughout the day. It takes practice to be a good dancer; but while we are practicing, we are indeed dancing. As we move deeper into the practice of the dance, it becomes effortless; the partners dance as one. There is harmony and balance. When there is disharmony and imbalance, there is separation; the dancers no longer dance as one. But this is practice; we notice the separation, we notice the conditioning that is arising, we notice the frustration and annoyance. We meet that, compassionately, gently, tenderly. And the dance continues.
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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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