A few thoughts on a beautiful day.
A good time to work, to be positive. So many of you are, I am. So many in society, paranoid, negative, understandable, but too bad. Don’t get caught up in the consensus trance of fear, insecurity and suspicion. Yes, be safe, but importantly, be positive and grateful when you can.
The world is wrestling with the virus but with much more; climate change and the future of the planet, authoritarianism, the new age of internet and globalization, the deep nature of gender suppression and racism – With what it means to be human!
Something new may be struggling to be born. A time of spiritual crisis and spiritual flexibility.
500 years ago, during a time of great change, John Calvin and Martin Luther dealt with new forms of communication and scientific discoveries, different but with parallels to our time.
Old structures, forms of Government, religion as we know it, are bankrupt or collapsing. Something needs to be envisioned and built.
It is harder for people to hide now. There is an old saying that ‘When the tide goes out you discover who has been swimming naked.’
How is our Work relevant now, how do we work to serve the future?
A few thoughts:
Resistance to unpleasant situations is the root of suffering. We have to work on ourselves to be able to withstand what is coming, to be present, responsible.
We don’t get to choose our difficulties, but we do have the freedom to select our responses. In the moment, do we have the courage to be with our inner life.
Hope is knowing that we are getting help. That connection is key.
We have to presume we do not know as much as we imagine we do. Be ok within the unknown.
Can we forsake our self-image and all the posturing about who we think we are!
The do’s and don’ts of our work are important, but we have to be compassionate toward ourselves. It is a time of stress, we work, struggle and also need to be loving to ourselves.
Many ask about Prayer and making it real:
We have to be present to pray. In general, if we are present deeply, others do not bother us. We can pray and concentrate.
Our prayer needs to be localized in the here and now. We need to collect, to assemble our disparate forces into a point of concentration, into our relaxed being. We pass into this attention and pass over our psychosomatic self. Our breath, emotion, mind, sensation, in rhythm with our inner life, our spiritual life. We are after something that is beyond us, but within us. At the heart of this is mystery, something beyond our knowing—Not a being, an essence or an object.
The triumph of love in the midst of suffering is at the heart of our work.
Some people want to be informed, not transformed. The courage to be in the moment is key.
This is a meaningful time and it is meaning that will inspire and hold us together. In situations like this, meaning is a vital medication for the soul. A time of connection and inter-dependence.
Wish for yourself and others:
May I be well and happy.
May I have no fears or sorrow.
May I be healthy and free of illness.
May I live calmly and peacefully.