Decompiling Oppression #151
Sam McVeety
I'm grateful to share a guest contribution this week from my husband, Jordan. At a time when there is so much noise, he offers a reflection on stillness.
Leaving the meditation hall, I walked uphill toward a ridge as the soft pre-dawn light slowly grew brighter. As I reached the ridge, I turned to face east, knowing that I needed to wait only a little bit longer. Then, suddenly, the first blazing rays of the sun rose above the horizon, and it was one of those rare moments when you can actually see (and perhaps feel) the Earth turning on its axis. Only two or three minutes later, the sun had fully cleared the horizon, and a new day had begun.
I experienced this dawn earlier this fall, when I was fortunate enough to spend a week at a mindfulness retreat at Deer Park Monastery in Southern California. Since being at the retreat, I have reflected on the lessons that mindfulness can teach us, especially about how it helps us to work toward justice in a world that feels like it is steamrolling toward authoritarianism.
Deer Park Monastery is in the Plum Village Tradition, founded by Thích Nhất Hạnh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk and peace activist who is credited with popularizing engaged Buddhism and helping to spread Buddhist teachings in the US. Engaged Buddhism seeks to apply Buddhist teachings and practices to contemporary social issues and injustices. So, while Deer Park Monastery is a place of retreat, it plays this role in part to allow people to better engage with the outside world.
Life at the monastery consists of sitting meditation, walking meditation, dharma talks (similar to sermons in other spiritual traditions), dharma sharing (group reflections on the dharma talk), and copious amounts of free, unstructured time. All of this is designed to help people develop a stronger sense of mindfulness, or an ability to pay close attention to what is happening in the present moment. How do I feel right now? How can I be fully engaged in the task before me? What do I notice with all of my senses at this very moment?
Mindfulness is a powerful antidote to the chaos of our current political situation. Attacks on immigrants and trans people, flagrant disregard for the rule of law, and the consolidation of corporate power can easily leave us feeling overwhelmed and emotionally dysregulated. In this state, we can get stuck yearning to return to a more stable time in the past or feeling despair about the future. Mindfulness, however, brings us back to the present moment and can remind us of the things that are in our locus of control.
When I focus on my breath, I am reminded, with gratitude, of the simple miracle of being alive. When I bring my full attention to writing these words, I can focus on my hope that they will have a positive effect on others. When I observe the sun rising over the horizon, I tune in to the reality that nothing is truly static and that the present moment leads to a new present moment, which leads to a new present moment, on and on…
Mindfulness invites us to slow down, which in turn gives us a greater ability to respond thoughtfully and intentionally to what is happening around us, instead of merely reacting. While it can sometimes feel indulgent to practice mindfulness (especially 45 minutes of sitting meditation, which can seem like 45 minutes of doing nothing), it is just that: practice, which then allows people to be more mindful in other areas of their lives. And this mindfulness creates a ripple effect, allowing people to be more present for those around them and strengthening our relationships and ties.
Every week at Deer Park, there is a Day of Mindfulness, when the monastery opens its doors to 250 members of the public, inviting them to spend part of the day with the 50 or so members of the monastic community. The day begins with an hour of walking meditation. During this time, the group walks slowly and silently around the grounds of the monastery, paying close attention to our steps and to what is happening around us. In a time when our federal government thrives on being as loud as possible, it felt like a truly radical act to share space with 300 people embracing silence and stillness. I wondered what it would be like to convene thousands and thousands of people in the streets to protest -- in gentle silence -- the injustices we bear witness to every day.
Change happens inwardly and outwardly. We change ourselves so that we can better engage with the world and change it. In a moment with so many urgent needs, I feel a constant pull to be working for outward change. My time at the monastery was a powerful reminder that I can’t be effective in that work if I am not also attending to what is happening inside me.
Here are this week's invitations:
Personal: When was a time that you felt especially mindful or present? What were the impacts of it, and what tools would help you cultivate more moments like that?
Communal: How can we encourage each other to attend to both the inward and outward aspects of positive social change?
Solidarity: Support the Thích Nhất Hạnh Foundation and its mission to continue the mindful teachings and practice of Zen Master Thích Nhất Hạnh, support their mindfulness practice centers around the world, and engage in Sangha (community) building in order to foster peace and transform suffering in all people, animals, plants, and our planet.
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