Live Session Summary, Sunday, October 29, 2023: It was good to be with you for our Live session on finding peace in troubled times. Here are some of the main themes, quotes, and poems I shared:
I began by speaking about how we are living in troubled and difficult times. We witness daily the human suffering of people in Israel and Gaza… the continuing war in Ukraine following the Russian invasion… the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, where 18 people were killed in the 565th mass shooting of 2023 in the U.S… the deep divisions in many societies… and the suffering caused by wildfires, floods, hurricanes, drought, the melting ice caps, arising from human-caused climate change.
It is easy to feel overwhelm, despair, grief, anger, fear and other emotion that can cause us suffering. We can, however, learn to respond wisely and compassionately to all that is happening in our world—and in our own lives—rather than responding reactively. With awareness, we can find peace in the midst of all of life’s joys and sorrows and engage in the world with kindness and wisdom. Without awareness, we get caught in painful narratives, reactivity, and shutting down that leads to suffering for ourselves and others.
The Buddha taught that the collective suffering we experience that manifest in wars, hatred, injustice, inequality, and unconscious actions have their roots in the human heart—and in not opening to and learning to be with our own emotions, feelings, and thoughts without being swept up in them. I shared a quote from Maha Ghosananda, known as the patriarch of Cambodia, when he spoke in 1998 on the steps of the U.S. Capitol in support of the international campaign to ban land mines. He said, ‘If we are to uproot the landmines from the earth, we must uproot the landmines from our hearts.’
If we are to meet the suffering of the world with an open heart, we have to train ourselves to be willing to be with our present-moment experience. I shared a quote from the 17th century French philosopher Blaise Pascal who said, ‘All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.’ And Eckhart Tolle said, You can always cope with the present moment, but you cannot cope with something that is only a mind projection—you cannot cope with the future.’
I shared the metaphor used in Buddhism of the ‘two wings of the bird’: Just as a bird needs two wings to fly, so our practice requires two wings—the wing of wisdom (awareness, understanding, insight) and the wing of compassion (kindness, care, love). This is captured by a saying of Sri Nisargadata, 20C Indian spiritual teacher, said: ‘Wisdom tells me I’m nothing. Love tells me I’m everything. And between the two my life flows.’
I focused in this session on the role of awareness, wisdom, and insight—the first wing—and stressed the ways that learning to be with our experience—'welcoming the guests,’ saying yes to what is—is a key to untangling ourselves from suffering and engaging wisely and compassionately with the suffering of our world. I shared the way in which Martha Postlethwaite’s poem ‘Clearing’ speaks to how we can transform our tangles and unconsciousness into fearlessness and acting with ‘beauty and courage’ (Rilke) in troubled times.
In the next live session on November 12 we’ll explore the role that the Buddha’s heart practices—loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity—play in helping us respond kindly and wisely to the world’s suffering.
We finished the meditation with a poem from Rumi ‘The Breeze at Dawn.’
I hope this summary is helpful. I look forward to seeing you on November 12 at 9am ET. Wishing you peace and joy in these challenging times. Warmly, Hugh 🙏🏻 💜 🌻
