Our world is in uncharted territory. But of course, that is where it has always been – the forces of destruction and creation constantly engaged in dynamic tension – yin and yang, heaven and hell. In closing, while a part of me wants to give you a list of things that You Need To Do to save the world as we know it, my contemplative side recognizes that each person will respond based upon their individual mental-emotional-spiritual outlook.
Take a few deep breaths. Hold out both hands in front of you at the level of the navel, facing each other but not touching. Imagine that you are holding a ball of light in your hands. Make sure that your shoulders are relaxed, not hunched up around your neck. Let your breathing be relaxed and natural, as you breathe in, expanding the lungs, allow your arms to open, imagine your energy ball growing in size. As you breathe out, bring the hands slowly back together. Observe closely, the sensation as your hands move back to the original pose of holding the ball. Do you feel the energy in your hands grow stronger as you bring them Theologue-3together, like a slight tingling sensation? That’s your bio-electric field or in Chinese, the chi (pronounced chee).
A few days after a million tons of mud, stone, and wood slid down a steep hillside above Oso, claiming 36 lives (8 still missing) and burying a square mile of land up to 65 feet deep, Dr. Bill Wulsin phoned me and invited me to leap into action. I had just finished my final exams and was comfortably at ease, like a surfer drifting on the ocean between sets, waiting for the next group of waves to arrive. There it was and it was a big one.
Beauty is revealed in the interplay of light and shadow, and the serenely steady mind which observes impermanent phenomena, flashing across our retina, leaping from neuron to neuron within our cortex, maintaining perfect equanimity and openness as we continually update our stories, until perhaps one day the story dissolves into a perfect stream of consciousness with no fixed boundaries – the no-story story.
To reestablish connection and give hope to the world’s children for the future, first we must remember how to listen to our own mind, body, and spiritual heart. In doing so, ninety nine percent of the stress of modern life will often melt away and with it, much of our aches and pains (often simply internalized stress). Our ability to navigate the challenges of the future, and realize our own goals will be enhanced. This is our offer to you.
Was I naive in believing that a dreamer still in touch with his inner child, seemingly lacking power and fame, could somehow have an impact on the United Nations and the arc of global history? I place my trust always in a belief in the inherent goodness and wisdom of all humanity, and in the power of children and gentle creatures!
Movements for truth and planetary justice do no not hinge on the narrowly defined success or failure of individual acts, but are carried in the determined hearts and courageous minds of countless people who never give up believing that their efforts can and do make a difference.
In Eastern Medicine, and Buddhism, there is a very wide understanding of the universe and reality which balances light with dark, death with life. In Autumn Light, I discussed these perspectives a bit and I hope to add to that in the coming days and weeks as time permits. Meanwhile, please consider this information with care. The implications are profoundly disturbing and you may be confronted with deep level fears and grief – our inner dragons that we need to train.
Life is a mixed bag. As soon as we’re born, the process of dying begins. It’s really no different for nations, planets, stars, and all things produced by causes. So there’s nothing really gloomy and doomy here. It’s the dharma of our present global situation and if we wish to be free, we need to find that middle way between sticking our heads in the sands of denial on the one hand, and freaking out merely because we cannot predict the exact timing and circumstances of the demise of our body, our planet, on the other.
As painful and scary as it may seem to face the truth, doing so brings freedom and a wide open heart of fearlessness conducive to immensely powerful action – more power than the splitting of the atom I daresay. I do not subscribe to the fatalistic pronouncements of those who say “we’re doomed”. There is still much of great value that we can do while we breathe even in this very moment. It’s up to each one of us to decide our future now.
