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Refuge
photo: Katya Lesher
While we live under constant threats of violence we must commit to creating spaces of refuge and repair.
– Desiree Adaway
We are living in end times, through a kind of apocalypse. You can feel the falling apart: the economy in a slow-motion collapse, institutions crumbling, the exploitation of Mother Earth, and the growing reality of extreme climate change.
Depending on the day you catch me, I may either be in extreme distress about this process, or finding my way toward some state of acceptance and equanimity.
I don’t believe this falling apart is necessarily a bad thing. But the consequences of it can be terribly hard, particularly for those folks who are already marginalized, and for the Earth herself. If we are at all awake to this, how can we not be in deep grief?
A Meditation on Giving and Receiving
First, 72 labors brought us this food; we should know how it comes to us.
Second, as we receive this offering, we should consider whether our virtue and practice deserve it.
Third, as we desire the natural order of mind, to be free from clinging we must be free from greed.
Fourth, to support our life, we take this food.
Fifth, to attain our Way we take this food.
– Zen oryoki chant
Whenever I’m struggling with asking for some kind of help, I often think of the Zen practice of oryoki. While it’s been a while since I’ve been part of a retreat where oryoki takes place, the ritual is still deeply embedded in my body.
The Power of Positive Disruption
The First Amendment was designed to allow for disruption of business as usual. It is not a quiet and subdued amendment or right.
– Naomi Wolf
______________________________
Recently, a very dear friend from out of state came for a visit. We hadn’t seen each other in almost three years. I had forgotten an essential element of our friendship chemistry – when she is around, I often feel like the rug is pulled out from under me. She questions things that I don’t even notice myself assuming, she calls me out when I am headed down a self-defeating path.
All of this has a pretty disruptive impact on my life, and I have to admit a few times during that visit I felt like it would have been easier if she hadn’t come! But I dearly love this friend, and know enough about her and me and our dynamic to trust that we find our way through it. And I know that what’s waiting for both of us on the other side of those glitches is a beautifully expanded sense of who we are, and a deeper appreciation of each other. It’s the gift of a deeply honest and loving friendship.
