What Just Happened?

Is the world coming to an end?  Climate collapse?  International tensions escalating to war?  Our democracy in peril?  You may wonder what future we are leaving to our children and feeling despair about what you are witnessing.  What can you do?

In times of crisis, it is often best to start by taki both a figurative and literal deep breath, become aware of the solidity of our own bodies and the solid connection we have with the earth.  We need to take stock of the landscape, of where we are.  The old adage about staying put when you’re lost in the woods is sound advice.  Mark the spot, and you can always come home to it to feel grounded.

Be the change you want to see in the world.  Greet even strangers with an open-hearted friendliness (metta).  After all, even politicians and evil-doers of all sorts are fundamentally of buddhanature.  Which isn’t to say that you have to agree with everyone’s perspective, but can you at least acknowledge that everyone is entitled to their perspective and that it comes ultimately from a place meant to protect their own hearts, however misguided it may be?  And putting yourself in the shoes ot another makes it easier to feel compassion (karuna) about their circumstance and suffering.  Where you encounter the success of others, be glad (mudita).  Rejoice in their happiness and let their happiness infuse the air as a pleasant scent.  Finally, allow yourself to be aware that everything--the pleasant and the unpleasant--ultimately passes away.  Know that whatever life throws our way, we are ready and solidly grounded (upekkha).

What it passes away and becomes depends in part on your intentioanl actions.  Living your life in the manner of what the Buddha called the Four Noble Truths (metta, karuna, mudita, and upekkha) is the foundation for a better future, a better outcome.  

It’s going to be just fine.