This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Is this time, like all times, a very good one? I’m betting many people would struggle to agree. Does it feel like a very good time to you? (Maybe take a moment to check in?)
Someone, struggling with finding this to be a very good time, said to me that she’s watching how the state/energy of the world shows up for her through her karma. She’s noticed that while the conversation in the head can be about what’s “out there,” the “personal application” follows a familiar path. In other words, if the news is about violence in the world, the message to her is along the lines of how unsafe she is. If it’s the economy then fears arise about having enough for the future. The particular content in the world seems new or different, but the karmic pathways are old and familiar.
It's no wonder we want the world not to be so chaotic and tumultuous. When the world is calm, we can be calm. Right? No? Perhaps it’s more the case that if the world would settle down, we could return to a focus on “my” issues, “my” problems. After all, it’s one thing to worry that I won’t have enough for my future without needing to worry that there won’t be a future!
Fortunately, for those of us practicing awareness, not much changes regardless of what’s happening “out there,” except perhaps an increased understanding that there are no moments for nodding off, for forgetting how high the stakes are, for getting lulled into believing that being present means being fully available to serve egocentric karmic conditioning/self-hate.
Which brings us to the other advantage practitioners of awareness have in this and every situation. We “know” we don’t need to “know” what to “do” with anything. Whatever is going on we don’t need to try to figure out what to do. We understand that figuring out process is futile.
The challenge now becomes being with what we know to be true when the stakes seem so very high. Are the stakes so high? We don’t know. And, we know no one else does either.
For those who’ve been around for a while the following is familiar: Believe nothing. Pay attention to everything. Don’t take anything personally.
If we can really get it that believing is a process spanning from silly to dangerous, that each cell in the body of the Buddha is wisdom, love, and compassion, and that none of this has anything to do with the imaginary existence of an illusion of a person that is separate from Life, taking long, deep, relaxed breaths gets quite easy.
Is this a lie back on the couch with bon bons and beer and flip on the latest binge? Of course not. Realizing I’m not in charge is not the same as I have no effect. What’s happening in this moment is already a done deal. The prep time is over. Nothing for it but to pay attention and see. The “next” moment? Is there anything to be “done” about that or is it already too late?
We know the answer from our own experience. If I’m here, fully present, being unfolded in this moment, is my experience of the “following” moment different from my experience when the moment arrives and I’m lost in a conversation in conditioned mind about what’s wrong and what’s not enough? Obviously! It’s the adage about, if you want to guarantee a happy future, have a happy now. Now will be then and when then is now we will have the now that we are. Hating now is great practice for hating now. Grateful for, loving now, is great practice for loving now. It’s all those “what you practice is what you have; what you do is what you get; one process doesn’t lead to another” messages.
The application for those practicing awareness is to have attention happily, gratefully, lovingly on this moment. How to manage that? Redirect attention from whatever conversation in conditioned mind—fantasizing, imagining, planning, worrying, reviewing, etc.—to the body, to the breath, to thisherenow. Over and over and over again.
Now what? Well, whatever we choose, whatever drops in. How would you like the world to be? How can you participate to contribute to that? Assist kids, old people, the infirm, the poor, immigrants? What/Where, if you could make a difference, would light you up and let you feel the joy in your heart that is what you are? There’s a “doing” we can all “do.” In Awareness Practice we call that Love in Action.
This Saturday, as you no doubt are aware, there are gatherings of people all over the world who are attempting to make their wishes for the world known. Some of that can look/sound hateful. Probably some people are filled with anger and hatred. Fear can do that to us. But it doesn’t need to be a part of the messaging. The message can just as easily be along the lines of: choose love, inner peace/world peace, love your neighbor, be kind to all, we’re all One…. There are so many ways to express a desire for unconditional love and acceptance for all. Nothing political about it!
Speaking of Love in Action, here’s the Farm update!
This year’s big batch of trees are all in the ground, including those from the county program, some additional fruit trees, and the future willow copse (grown to be coppiced). The greenhouse is still full of trees that need to move out so more trays of seed blocks can move in.
We’re now moving to scything and raking. j yo and I now have our own scythes and are learning their maintenance as well as the technique. (It seems I’m the only one assisting at the Farm, but this is because j yo is always taking the pictures! I’m committed to being better at trading roles.)
Amazing how colorful future compost can be.
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| Raking and scything are fitness opportunities. | |
The babies are going in….
 Brian sowing seeds in soil blocks |
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The tree planting process
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| Preparing the site | Tucking in the trees |
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| All dressed up |
A forest of trees in dresses
Each little flag marks a willow tree
This little beauty has four different fruits on one trunk.
As the seasonal work becomes more physical, I’ve realized the toll the broken leg from last summer has taken on the whole system. Not being able to be as active can lead to a habit of not being as active, which can lead to a new, less-than-desirable normal. This has brought me to my current focus on getting into the best shape I can possibly be in. By the time I hit 85, assuming I do, I want to feel the way I did at 65—which was superbly fit.
You know how when something comes into your awareness you suddenly start seeing it everywhere? Maybe that’s what’s happening with this, but I’m hearing from a lot of folks that they might be in a similar, less-than-desirable-new-normal. Not just broken bones, which there are an awful lot of currently, but all sorts of situations that are getting or keeping a person down. Maybe it’s a loss of energy or enthusiasm because of all the “bad” news. Maybe it’s worry or stress. Maybe it's an illness or the previously mentioned broken bones. Whatever it is, it’s interfering with a person being able to feel the very best they can feel—physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually.
So, I’ve spoken with Ashwini about inviting others who would like to take up the “getting into the best possible shape I can be in” focus to a weekly, hour-long, Open Air-esque group for mutual support. We’re thinking the same time, 5PM Pacific, though we’re unsure about the day.
This is just to let you know what we’re considering, just in case this would be of interest and you want to keep an eye out for it.
In Gasshō,
ch