how to practice Buddhism/spirituality in light of this crisis

     This was my reply to a friend who asked "How can we still stick to our Buddhist / spiritual practices and apply them in light of the crisis? " 

    

As trite or as invalidating as it may sound, I think that the current situation is a great chance to *WORK* on our Buddha nature.

 

I highlight the *WORK* because it takes real, embodied and continual work to shift our consciousness from what is conditioned and impermanent to that which is eternal and pure while not being consumed by both. Meaning embracing "what is". Embracing all states, all feelings, all realities without escaping but without indulging it in compulsion.  We are not all positive. We are not all negative. We can be both. But we are more than those too.

 

As a human in this day and age it is not easy. But see, when our comforts, our subconscious desires, stored memories, beliefs, unconscious beliefs, coping mechanisms are shaken and challenged, this is an invitation to look at our "core". When nothing else matters, who are we? What are we here for? Even The Buddha reminded us not to solely follow his words but seek our own truth.

 

How do we create space every day to find "our truth"? It may be as simple and small as pausing and acknowledging a feeling in our gut, listening to it say: You have been consuming too much salt. And how do we go about our daily lives carrying our newfound truths? I think this is very personal.

 

My point of focus nowadays have been my traumas, forgotten memories and self-talk. Meditation helps me a lot but I fail to do it consistently. I try to forgive myself. I cry when I can. I laugh hard when I can. I eat with gusto even when the sugar adds to my waistline. I get angry.

 

I change my long term plans every day. It is exhausting. All I can really do is accept them and invite more light. Maybe I'll never reach my dreams. Maybe one fine day it will all work out, at least for now, the sky is blue and I am breathing.

 

I wish I could analyze more and use terms from ancient texts. But that is just another desire!

All I've learned so far can be summed up to this: 

We still have our free will... We can still embrace what is.

You Can Change

 

    Let’s consider four different variations on the title of this post, each emphasizing a different word.

YOU Can Change Today

    You are the driving force of change in your life. You don’t have to wait for something external to happen first. You don’t need anyone else’s permission. If some part of your life is going to change, it’s up to you and you alone.

This is a reminder to take responsibility for your situation. It’s your life. You’ll need to initiate and propel any changes you wish to make. Be proactive about that, not passive.

Even if your current circumstances weren’t entirely of your choosing, you still have the ability to create change. You can influence and direct the path forward.

Change is personal.

You CAN Change Today

    Even when you don’t see it, you still have the ability to create change. Change is always a possibility. You’re not stuck in a tunnel. There are exits all around you at every point. You can stop, leave, or change course.

Change is a choice. We don’t always see that option, but it’s there in each moment. When you want something different, you can choose to create change.

If you don’t choose change, you choose the status quo. If you’re happy with the status quo, showing up as usual may be a wise choice. Otherwise remind yourself that you can change the status quo, often by not showing up to it anymore.

There’s a way to change now.

You Can CHANGE Today

    Living today the same as you did yesterday is optional. Today could be a little different. Today could be radically different.

Sometimes change happens to us. A big event occurs, and it grabs our attention and makes us focus elsewhere. The shift in focus creates change.

You can direct your attention consciously too. Rattle yourself today instead of waiting to be rattled. Look where you don’t normally look. Listen where you’d usually tune out. Take actions you’ve never taken.

What’s different about today? Today isn’t the same as any other day. It’s new. It’s fresh. It’s unique. It’s an opportunity to experience what you’ve never previously experienced.

Will you use today to repeat the sameness of the past? Will you use today to create something a little different? Will you make today wildly different?

What will you do today that you’ve never done before?

That idea that just popped into your head…

The one you just tried to suppress…

Yup, that one…

Yes, really….

What if you did it today?

You Can Change TODAY

    Your power to create change exists now, in the present moment. Change doesn’t happen yesterday or tomorrow, only today. Every yesterday and every tomorrow exists beyond the realm of change. But today is always within that realm.

If you chose to do so, you could be in a new city within hours. You could begin a new job, career, or business today. You could exit or enter a relationship today. You could begin a new lifestyle today. You could invest in something new and different today.

Or you could make simpler changes. You could have that difficult conversation today. You could begin that new exercise program today. You could at least clean the bathroom.

It’s good to remind yourself direct action can make today a day of change.

What part of you wants to change today?

[originally written by Steve Pavlina]

September Affirmations

    I am feeling my heart opening to a new start.

My mind is focusing on the fullness of this moment and the next moment and the next.

My soul is welcoming thirty days of embodying its joys and wisdom. 

My spirit is getting stronger as I live each hour, each day.

Stronger and stronger. 

Can never be taken away.

 

My hands are eager to create.

My voice is clear and truthful.

My eyes are portals to beautiful worlds.

My ears are vessels of magical sounds.

I take you all.

I embrace. 

I am home.

You are home to me.

My body is supporting me.

Billions of my cells love me. 

My bones are tough and pure.

I allow their loving energies to nourish me.

My feet are going forward.

Step. Step.

Sure, powerful.

Mindful. Loving step.

My feet drawing in the energy of the Earth. 

Engulfing me.

I belong to the Earth. The Earth loves me.

I am getting good at feeling.

I am getting better and better at feeling.

Feeling.

Feelings. Doesn't matter. 

I take you all.

And the universe embraces me.

I am staying.

Being still, here beside me.

Thoughts, feelings.

Coming and going.

Coming .... going.

Love, peace, vexations, fear.

Coming and going.

I take you all.

I embrace. 

I am home.

You are home to me.

I am accepting my divinity. 

Divine as I am.

I hold me.

And everything.

Contracting and expanding.

I am expanding. Ever unfolding.

Powerful and loving.

I am thankful for these thirty days.

The Earth is rotating with me. 

For me.

Still moving. 

Still expanding. Still growing.

Still getting strong. Still embracing.

Love, peace, vexations, fear.

No matter. Love is around.

Love is within.

Love is with-out. 

I am accepting my highest good. 

I am reaching forward

to my highest good. 

With every breath,

I am more and more alive. 

 

On Patience

     I often confuse the Seven of Pentacles to be the suit AFTER the Eight of Pentacles. The image of the guy waiting for his coins to be "harvested" here seems apt as the next scene after the slog. Studying its interpretations have just recently trained my mind to think patience— a beginner's patience to be exact. To me, this is a man who has not yet developed his own pace, strengths, and flow but is nonetheless close to his goals and rewards. 

Patience has always been attributed to Earth signs most especially my Sun sign, Virgo. For a long time, however, I was yet to learn how to make it a virtue. Because frankly, I have used patience as a poor substitute for boundaries, honesty and responsibility in many situations. Ha! (I might write more about it one day.) 

What kind of patience is "virtuous" anyways?  I like how the great poet and mystic Rumi recognized that all great undertakings begin with a nothingness, what is not there— a tiny problem. A place to fill. Even boredom or a petty annoyance can be a chance. He also touched on how much man is held back by his attachments to certain results.

Indeed we can argue that the greatest visionaries held on to their visions not because of some sort of deadline or certainty of outcome. 

Perhaps then, true patience in its core, is an active surrender. To see things through with trust in every moment, that if we immerse in what is in front of us it naturally leads to where it must.  

This also seems to coincide with the Seven of Pentacles imagery.

"I’ve said before that every craftsman

searches for what’s not there

to practice his craft.

A builder looks for the rotten hole

where the roof caved in. A water carrier

picks the empty pot. A carpenter

stops at the house with no door.

Workers rush toward some hint

of emptiness, which they then

start to fill. Their hope, though,

is for emptiness, so don’t think

you must avoid it. It contains

what you need!

Dear soul, if you were not friends

with the vast nothing inside,

why would you always be casting your net

into it, and waiting so patiently?

This invisible ocean has given you such abundance,

but still you call it “death,”

that which provides you sustenance and work.

God has allowed some magical reversal to occur,

so that you see the scorpion pit

as an object of desire,

and all the beautiful expanse around it

as dangerous and swarming with snakes.

This is how strange your fear of death

and emptiness is, and how perverse

the attachment to what you want. "

~from ‘Craftsmanship and Emptiness’  by Rumi