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.
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A quiet, still, morning. And coffee. The day will unfold from here. There are things on the to-do list; and there is karma, the flow of causes and effects, the energy and momentum of the unfolding of things.
Conditioning tends to get in the way; there are patterns of resistance that arise in response to what arises in the unfolding of the day. When we notice these patterns as they arise, we have the opportunity to meet them open-heartedly, to let their energy dissipate as they are welcomed into the heart. Over time, these patterns, when fully met, will fade away; and resistance to the unfolding, resistance to what is, fades away as well. And as conditioning fades away, the things that we do during the day are increasingly done in presence, with attention and care, naturally.
We resist so much of what we do, as we struggle to conform to, and succeed in, what we think is expected of us within the confines of the culture within which we live. When the alarm clock rings in the morning, and you "don't want" to get up and go to work, when you are annoyed, displeased, even angry, that you "have to" go to work, your day has started with resistance, with conflict, with struggle; and it is from that place that your day unfolds. Often it is "all downhill from here"; conditioning arises in response to all kinds of things that arise, one after the other. The toast burns, the shirt you wanted to wear is in the laundry, traffic is backed up, the guy in the monster truck is tail-gating you, someone's taken your parking place, you walk in the door and your boss is upset about who knows what.
Life is seemingly a struggle, except the struggle is often our patterning, the conditioning that arises to what is; the "struggle" is literally all in our heads.
But when we begin paying attention to these reactive patterns as they arise, when we begin observing, studying, how our mind is working, how conditioning is controlling our experience, when we begin noticing these patterns, we can see that they are just thoughts that are arising within our experience. We notice the thoughts in the same way that we notice the traffic; the thoughts and the traffic are both arising within our awareness. These reactive patterns do not have to control our experience, they do not have to make us miserable; our day, every day, doesn't have to seem like a struggle.
People from all walks of life all over the world are starting to notice that the thoughts arising in mind are not who they are, that they do not have to let reactive patterns control their experience, that thoughts arise and fall away within their awareness in much the same way as cars turning into their lane in traffic and then turning off again.
And some of those who have realized this are sharing their experience with others. There are many teachers, many traditions, many ways of talking about our experience. There are teachings that we will find helpful along the way. And there are fellow travelers on the path.
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Sit quietly for a moment.
Close your eyes.
Notice your breathing for a while.
Now notice the thoughts that arise.
Just notice; no judgement.
Notice the sentences, the phrases, the words, the letters.
Notice the space around the letters.
Notice the space within which thoughts arise.
Now listen.
Notice the sounds;
the hum of the refrigerator or the songs of the birds,
the traffic, the rain, whatever.
Just notice.
Notice the space within which the sounds are arising.
Notice that the sounds arise, persist, and fall away
in much the same way that thoughts arise, persist, and fall away.
Notice that the space within which the sounds are arising
is the same space within which the thoughts are arising.
Notice that everything arises within your awareness.
And notice that this awareness is always here,
always present,
always still,
and
at peace.
Namaste
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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 to 10:00 Eastern. 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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