2013 - Now What?

2013 - Now What? 

   

It's January 2013. Millions of apocalyptic entries on Google said the world would end in December of 2012. It didn't happen. I never thought anything catastrophic would occur. Geological changes move at a glacial pace and the end of the Mayan calendar wasn't going to alter that fact. Changes in human consciousness though can come about more frequently. So hedging my bets, I prepared for whatever was going to happen.

I spent most of 2012 reviewing the teachings of the great enlightened souls I'd encountered over the past forty years. Looking for new insights, I re-read some of their most inspirational books. I took several months off for international travel. I went to the Middle East on a peace pilgrimage. There, amid centuries old hatreds between the three major religions on earth and the politics stifling easy discourse, an elderly Rabbi passionately assured me that peace would prevail on earth if there was peace in Jerusalem. I believed him. During a month long visit to India I was uplifted by the people and the spiritual depth of this ancient culture. Inbred into the fabric of their daily lives, it flourished in their beliefs and behavior. Yet, I was stunned at the country's gross ambivalence towards poverty, clean water, and the lack of sanitation.

After all of that it was ten days in solitude in the swamps of southeastern Georgia, that gave me the answers I was looking for. It was the most intense retreat I've ever gone to. The facilities were Spartan. Attendees pledged to a vow of silence, two vegetarian meals per day, not to kill any sentient being, not to steal, and promised not to leave the program before it was over. At 4 am every day a gong woke us for meditation. Other than the two meal breaks and an hour for meetings with the instructor, we sat in meditation twelve hours a day. Lights were turned off at 9 pm. On day four and day six I was ready to leave. But having surrendered all my electronics and the car keys upon arrival, not to mention I'd taken a vow, I determined to stick it out.

 

This requirement is a wise move on the part of the program. Staying is the best decision. In those ten extraordinary days I learned deep meditation techniques. I mastered the meaning of following the breath for countless hours. I grasped how talking takes one out of the inner world of contemplation. I saw how much mental and physical deprivation I could endure. I realized I could sit for hours without moving. I could even sit next to a scorpion watching dispassionately without flinching.

The most exceptional lesson I brought back from this retreat was an instinctual understanding that change is the nature of all existence. It is the constancy in our existence. It is inherent in our lives. It is in everything we do, and in every situation we encounter. Nothing is permanent in this universe. All things are coming into existence or going out of existence. Everything is birthing and dying, arising and falling, always changing. When that realization sunk in on day seven, it shattered my habitual ways of seeing the world.

 

Concepts of good and bad, who was right or wrong, disappeared. Thoughts, whether the casual monkey-mind thoughts or intense creative thoughts, come and go. Beliefs and perceptions lessen their grip in the awareness that all that we view as "real" is rising and falling. The transitory nature of the situations and dramas we create in our lives could be governed with the knowing that "this too shall pass." Applying that lesson to Israel, to India, to 2012 and now 2013 made all of those beliefs and experiences, understandable and easier to deal with. It also started the next leg of the journey. Now What?

It's a huge question post-2012. Many are asking the same thing. For me, after forty years of studies, seminars, and training, I ask, Now What? After trekking all over the world, Now What? After absorbing esoteric teachings from countless mystical paths, Now What? If everything is transient how do you live your life? Toss it all overboard or live with conscious purpose? 

   

The "What" turned out to be fairly easy. It's easier to live in happiness than in sadness, and if it's all arising and falling anyway, why not choose happiness. I heard the Dalai Lama speak about kindness a few years ago. He said, "This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples. No need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is the temple. The philosophy is kindness and compassion." He also said it's easier to sleep with that type of inner peace. So with the Dalai Lama's words echoing I choose to live with that purpose. To be kind and loving; to live with joy; to live with purpose; to live with conscience; and to remember, this too shall pass.  

And while I'm at it, continue daily meditation, do Yoga and eat more broccoli. That's Now What!   

Jo Mooy - January 2013

Every Position is North

Every Position is North

 

The late night news bulletin surprised the entire world.  "Osama Bin Laden Killed!"  In moments, every other news story that had been "hot" just days before - the Royal Wedding, Tornado Damage, Midwest Flooding, US Debt - fell to the back pages.  His death opened old wounds for many who had lost family and friends on 9/11.  The reaction of thousands who gathered in front of the White House chanting USA, USA, USA, was understandable.  It was a cathartic primal release for them.   

My reaction however was much more subdued.  Maybe it was even hollow.  I thought about how the world we knew changed on 9/11.  I thought about Bin Laden, the mastermind.  I thought about the fact that I was supposed to be in the north tower that morning. I thought about the people I knew who were lost.  I didn't feel like cheering.  Instead, I experienced a great sadness for what the world had become since that horrible day.  In that sadness I needed to do something, to ponder the meaning of it, and to make sense

of it all.  

Pondering is an interesting past time that brings about revealing insights and changes perspective.  My ponderings often occur at the beach and this was no exception.  Most people on the beach are sun-bathers in swim suits or shorts so I wasn't sure what he was when I first saw him.  His hair was long, stringy and gray and his very thin body was a deep copper color as though burnished by the sun.  He was fully clothed but his shirt and pants, almost the same color as his skin, were in tatters.  He squatted on the beach near the edge of the water directly in my path.  Instead of going around him, I watched him.

He drew a diamond outline in the sand and placed four objects on the points.  He put a small coconut in the west, a date pit in the north, a scallop shell in the south and a round, brown spiky pod in the east.  I asked him if the objects in each position meant something significant.  He shrugged.  Then I asked him why he'd chosen to place each of them in the assigned position.  His reply was, "Every position is north."  He could tell I was mulling his answer so he elaborated further.  He said, "A position just depends on where you're looking.  It's how you're perceiving."  He never told me what the objects meant but his short answers were thought provoking.

In an attempt to find out more about him I asked his name.  He only laughed in response.  Eventually he offered up a few facts.  He had lived near the beach his whole life.  He said he washed up there eons ago.  I wondered why he'd never left the area.  He said he didn't need to.  He had learned about all of life's teachings by living alone and being near the ocean.

He squatted further down with his eye against the sand.  He told me he could "see universes in a handful of sand."  Then a remarkable thing happened.  He picked up one grain and placed it in mine.  As I studied it, the grain seemed to grow at least six inches large.  Then it dissolved into many grains.  Still wondering who he was I asked him his name again.  He laughed again but this time responded, "Oh call me Sam."

As time went on and the news about Bin Laden's death became more probing and soul-searching on the part of the media I thought about "Oh call me Sam" and what he told me about perspective.  If every position is north as he said, then maybe all we need to do is look "up" (or north) for guidance in interpreting any of life's situations.  I did that in relation to Bin Laden's death and my perspective shifted.  All I felt was a deep sadness and tearful compassion for everyone involved on that fateful day. 

I later read that the Dalai Lama said Bin Laden's "actions were destructive - - - and his action must be brought to justice."   He also said, "we must have compassion and concern, even for terrorists like Bin Laden."   In compassion I found myself offering up the Hawaiian Huna prayer much more frequently: I love you; I am so sorry; Please forgive me; Thank you!   

Maybe that's the universe Sam perceived in a handful of sand.  It was a very temporal one.  Like he said, "it depends on where you're looking."  Or in the Dalai Lama's words, where your heart is.

 

Jo - June 2011