MW tuft
Today I saw footage of students leaving school with their hands in the air, after hours of crouching in fear and terror in barricaded classrooms. Nine people were killed and 27 injured in the small Rocky Mountain town of Tumbler Ridge. “I’ve lived here for 18 years. I probably know all the victims,” Mayor Darryl Krakowka said. And this is Canada, but for us Americans, Canada often seems like a bastion of sanity and normalcy compared to our insanity.
At a makeshift hospital in Gaza, I saw a boy with burns wrapped in bandages. He is the same age as my son. My imagination is too good sometimes. And there are many images that draw you in. But you already know that. You are also bearing that weight. I want to vent my anger against the bad guys. But there are really no other aspects. I love my large family, half of whom are evangelical Christians and MAGA to the core.
We will deal with it in the usual way. Check out baking shows and manufacturer videos. Scroll until it’s blurry. I’m too interested in the details of rock climbing. But meditators have a more subtle and insidious way of probing and numbing pain. Spend enough time immersing yourself in the blissful body. I feel like we have a special ability to connect with all sides of a conflict. To see the world as a meaningless dream in which we are floating above.
But this is not the purpose of the exercise. Meditation has trained you all along to live with discomfort, problems, and pain and not collapse. All the time spent on the cushion was preparation for that. To endure everything, or as much as possible, and not become numb, distraught, or distracted by thoughts of reason or responsibility. What I’m saying is not a metaphor for anything. It’s literal training. And it is exactly this ability that is needed in our time.
Participating in a democratic society means we must take action. We have to have tough conversations with people we disagree with. We must keep working even when there is no guarantee of positive results. We have to keep up the effort for months and years, even when we’re tired or exhausted and want to go to a soccer game or a birthday party.
An important opportunity is approaching. Midterm elections, marches, walkouts, school board meetings, conversations with neighbors. It will be sad, furious, scary, even disgusting at times, but our practice has trained us to deal with all these emotions and keep an open heart and clear mind. And a big heart with a clear mind and a willingness to take action is not for nothing.
Meanwhile, Kiev is once again darkened by a frigid night for what seems like the 100th night in a row. The pain is still painful. I refuse to look away, and I refuse to use practice as a hiding place. Sadness is a healthy response. Keep your heart open and your hands steady.
