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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Each day is full of surprises, moments of delight, touches of beauty, if we are open to them; if our mind isn't lost in some story, oblivious to the world around us.
The color of the sky above the far ridge at dusk, as the last light of this day fades into night; this simple but wonder filled experience, and so many others like it, can be missed if we are habitually caught up in the drama that egoic conditioning creates in mind.
Being free of the drama, free of the separateness, free of the isolated stress that is the small internal world created in mind, is an extraordinarily different way of living each day. The world is alive in ways impossible to imagine when the veil of separate self clouds our experience.
Believing that these patterns of thought are who we are is merely a belief that we hold. When we let go of that belief, when we let go of the identification with thoughts as who we are, the veil is lifted and we discover that we are so much more. Our experience is richer, deeper, more immediate.
We discover that we are interconnected with everything and everyone around us. The dichotomy of me and everything else falls away; and everything perceived, including this body/mind, is experienced as a whole.
It is a different way to experience the world, but it also changes the way we think about the world. Our old ways of thinking no longer correspond with our direct experience, and they are soon replaced with new ways of seeing ourselves as part of the whole, of seeing all of us together, sharing space, sharing community, sharing this planet.
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This week, here in the US, we celebrate Thanksgiving. Every day, of course, is a day to give thanks; with each new day we are grateful for this rare and precious gift of being human on this earth. But this Thursday we have the opportunity to give thanks within the community of people that is this nation. And as we give thanks, as we open our hearts in gratitude, may this spirit bring us closer together; may our hearts open with compassion for all who make up this nation, and for all with whom we share this planet.
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Breathe
Breathe into the heart
Let the heart open fully
Let old wounds heal
Let compassion pour forth into the world
Breathing
Simply being
Joyous, light, free, boundless
Just breathing
Just simply being
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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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