Someone once showed me a video of army cadets scaling a wall. (A quick Google search of teamwork army cadets should pull it up.) It is a beautiful example of the success of the team depending on the success of each individual. As conditioned humans, it seems we easily forget that. Life often gets framed (by the voices) as a zero-sum game. It’s a competition. What you gain is my loss. This is, of course, completely untrue, simply not how it actually works. So, when I approach my life that way I live in anxiety, frustration, fear, anger, isolation, disappointment… suffering.
In my experience, participating in something “bigger than me” is the fastest way to break through that illusion that I am separate and must compete to be okay. Little wonder the voices hate it! People report hearing internal messages along the lines of, “It’s not really my kind of thing.” “I’m not good at that.” “I’m not able to give a lot of time or money so my contribution would be pathetic; it would be better just not to do it.” “I don’t really want to.” (Add your own.)
Because how you do anything is how you do everything, a voice of resistance showing up here, I will soon recognize, is a way I am controlled in other areas of my life.
There’s an African proverb depicted on a giant mural in the Johannesburg airport: If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together. This year’s campaign is built around celebrating how far we have come together. How the transformation we now see is the result of steady, committed participation of thousands of individuals over many years.
And so, the goal is to have everyone in the Sangha participate in the campaign this year. Not because we should, not because it makes us good or right, but because it is a way to experience what is ours. This transformation is ours, every one of us.
Gasshō
Jen
A menu of opportunities to participate:
- Visit the campaign site.
- Create your own fundraising page.
- Make a donation. (NOTE: There is NO such thing as a donation too small and the voices are not invited to give input on the amount!!)
- Join our next support call.
- Listen to the support call recordings.
- Visit the landing site for the campaign and view some of the ways donations are used in the project.
- Read the latest news from Kantolomba.
- Listen to the launch of the Bridge Walk on Good News.