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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Establish yourself in the breath. Rest here for a moment. Let the stress and tension in your body release with each exhalation. Just be with the breath for a moment; when thoughts arise, pay them no mind for the moment, and just be with the breath, calmly, gently.
When you are established in the breath, close your eyes and listen; listen to whatever sounds may be arising. Just listen; don't label, or judge, or comment, let go of any story about the sounds you are hearing. Just listening.
Now, eyes still closed, still just listening, notice the space within which the sounds are arising. There is this space, this emptiness, this stillness, and there are sounds arising within this space.
Now, eyes still closed, noticing this space within which sounds arise, notice that when thoughts arise, they are arising within the same space, this stillness.
You will find that the same holds true for smells, tastes, and feeling. The smell of coffee, its taste when you sip from the cup, the feeling when you press the warm cup against your face; all these sensations are arising within the same space.
Further, sensations inside and outside of the body are seen to be arising within this space as well.
And when you open your eyes, visual phenomena are also arising within this space.
This body, these thoughts, this coffee cup, the sound of the wind blowing through the trees, all are arising within this space.
This space is often called your awareness. You have always been aware; everything that you have ever perceived, and all of the thoughts that have flowed through your mind, all have arisen within your awareness. It is the one thing about you that has never changed, has always been constant.
All phenomena are forms of energy; at the quantum level, everything is interconnected within one vast field of energy. This energy vibrates in various ways, and our senses perceive these vibrations within certain limits. What we perceive as a coffee cup is just a very limited vibrational quality of the one interconnected universal energy field. This body, this mind, these thoughts, are also just vibrations within the one universal field.
We can say that this body/mind and this coffee cup are manifestations of the universal field. They aren't really separate from each other, they are integral to and inseparable from the whole, the universe. The universe is manifesting in this moment as you and the coffee cup.
Everything that arises within your awareness is a manifestation of the universe. You and the coffee cup are arising together in this moment, inseparable manifestations of the one universe arising within your awareness, the awareness that has always been right here, within which everything has always been arising.
When we speak of the suffering of others, when we speak of our own suffering, they are the same. The suffering we feel, the stress, the worry, the anger, the annoyance, the impatience, the dissatisfaction, the disgust, the disappointment, all of it, is the same as the suffering of others. It is all energy vibrating in such a way as to be perceived as, experienced as, suffering.
And the cause of much of our suffering is the idea that we are somehow separate and apart from everything outside of this body/mind. In separation we put up defenses, we fear, we covet, we hoard, we compete against, we shun, we avoid, we boast, we scheme; and all of that appears informed within patterns of thoughts. And as we begin to investigate, to inquire within as to who we really are, we find that this idea of a separate ego/self is just thought, just an idea, consisting of these patterns of thoughts, these stories that have been running through mind, thought after thought after thought, and all of it arising within awareness; all of it arising within the stillness, the deep still peace that's always been right here.
The idea of a separate ego/self, and all of the stories that go with it, and all of the suffering that it causes, is not who we really are. All of it is just another form of energy, vibrational patterns, arising within our awareness.
All of these words are themselves just energy patterns, words written as ideas to be communicated one to another. But experientially, there is a profound difference when there is no longer identification with ego/self as who we are. How we interact with the world around us changes. And while it may take a long time for the patterns of thought to dissipate, their energy transforming in the light of clear seeing within awareness, suffering begins to be alleviated, and separation begins falling away.
And the heart begins to open. After a lifetime of being covered over by the walls built to protect it by separate ego/self, the heart begins to open, we begin seeing others as ourselves, we begin to see their suffering as our own, compassion for others and for our own self grows, love grows.
This is a fundamental change in the way that human beings live their lives. It is a fundamental change in the way that we see each other and interact with each other. When the veil of separation is lifted there is no me that competes against everyone else, there is no us against them; there is only all of us, together, inseparable.
This fundamental shift in being is not new; it has been happening throughout history, and has been shared in many ways. But the ways in which it is shared have been changing.
The ways in which we communicate with each other, share with each other, have been rapidly changing, bringing so many of us around the world so much closer together; and with this change in communications, there has been a rapid change in the ways in which we share this fundamental shift in consciousness, and a significant increase in the number of people around the world who are sharing, learning, listening, inquiring within, and awakening.
And this, I think, is the way in which our world will begin to be changed for future generations. We cannot expect governments and corporations to make the changes that will bring peace, that will allow people all over the world to live together, share together, help each other, care for one another. We must, each of us, do the work ourselves, beginning with the work we do within, awakening to, realizing experientially, who we really are.
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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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