Facing systemic climate grief, expanding into love & interconnectedness

Welcome everybody.

So we're going to begin tonight's practice with a Dharma glimpse from our Bright Dawn Book of Dharma Glimpses, read by Philip and written by—

a view from my window. Linda Shoyu Wisniewski.

I'm sure I didn't pronounce that.

Nugget: Wisdom is to never stop taking a wide view of things. Our vision could widen to include the whole world. I spend much time looking out the windows of our dome home. Over the 10 years of looking, it has been teaching me to take a wider view of life than what I could see out of only one window. When I look out the large slanted window in the loft, I see only the sky and some passing clouds during the day. At night, the stars shine in, and the moon, when it's out, shines through and seems to be circling around the dome. If I just spend my time looking out of this one window, in my narrow egocentric view, I would insist that the world just consisted of the sky, clouds, sun, and stars. But on the main floor of the dome, we have two narrow rectangular windows that are close to the floor. Looking out of these windows gives me a view of fields of prairie grasses. From this view, I could say these grasses mixed in with a few wildflowers made up the world. PBS TV has a motto: watching PBS is like having a window onto the world. I.e., their shows can give one a wider view of the world. But as, as demonstrated above, it can also narrow one's view and make me believe that what I see out of one window is a true picture of reality. Stepping outside, I can see how all these separate views are all connected. It's teaching me to come from a wider view in the mind. I'm learning that taking a wider view is really to cultivate a beginner's mind. It also demonstrates that I really don't know on the surface what anything means. And if I think I do, I'm coming from ignorance. Truth reveals itself when we take a wider view than just seeing out of one window.

Namaste.

So finding your way towards some just sitting meditation. Mai, you might notice all of your experience, all of the external landscape and the internal, as it ever changes.

Om Mani Mani Mahamani Shakyamuni Swaha! Om Mani Mani Mahamani Shakyamuni Swaha! Om Mani Mani Mahamani— Shakimani Sva. Om Mani Mani Mahamani Shakimani Sva. Om Mani Mani Mahamani Shakimani Sva. Om mani mani mahamani shakimini svaha! Oh many money— maaahh-ma-nee sha-khee-me-nees-faaa-haaaa! Ummani mani maahmami sha-khimenees-faaa-haaaaaaaa! Omany Mani Mahamanee Sha-Kheemanees-Faaa-Haaaa! Om Nani Mani Mahamani Shakhi Manisparaha! Om Nani Mani Mahamani Shakhi Manisparaha! Om Nani Mani Mahamani— Shakyamuni Sva. Om Mani Mani Mahamani Shakyamuni Sva. Om Mani Mani Mahamani Shakyamuni Sva. Om Mani Manipur Mahamani Shakyamanisvaha! Ummani manim maa ha many shakhya manipusvaahh— Oh mini-mini mahama ni shakyami nispahaha... Om mani mani mahamani shekhi manya svaha! Ohm Mani Mahamani Shekhimanisvaah—Om Manye Mane Maa Hamane Shakimanyasvaha...Ohmanyemene Ma Ha Money Shakymani Svaha...Um Mannyemaney Mamoney Shaakhyamanysvaha...Shaktimaanishwari Devaki Swami Amma Bhagavan Krishna Narayana Nithyananda Maharaj Namaskaaramsaraadham Anandashivaya Gurudev Ji Adiyogi Baba Ramdevji Madhu Babaji Hare Krishnamurti Aum Mini Mannie Mama Ni Sheikhiminieshwaar.Ohm Manyemannii Maarmini Sheaakeeminieshaar. Om mani mani mahamani shakimini spaah! Oh many money— maa-ha-mo-nee sha-khee moonee spaaaath... Oom me neem eenee ma ha oomeeneesh ya keemooney spoohhthhhhhh? Om mani mini ma ha many shakimani spaah! Oh mahamuni Shakhimini Spaachh... Ooh meny minny maa hamany sha-ki-ma-nee-spa— Ahm Many Mini Ma Ha Manis Sha-Khem-Manees-Farmer's Farm?

I don't know what that means but it sounds cool so let me try to do this again for you guys too if possible here we go oh my God wow okay um yeah great work everyone hey good job everybody amazing thank y'all very much bye-bye now time out from practice video 2 of our series on how yoga can help us get better at practicing during these days when there isn't really anything happening outside or inside your house other than just being stuck behind screens all day long wow awesome see ya later peace boys ahem sorry about getting distracted by something weird going around right before recording started uh anyways back into things heheha om maney mini mama neeshaya kimmini spaha pom may ni mi nii mm mammany shekimni spha— hmmmm oom maneemi nei mamma knee shack immanees pa-paaa-haaaa hoom money mooney momma neyshek himinis pahaha HOM MENI MOONEY MOMMA NEYSHEK HIMINI SPAHAAHAHHAAA OMG THAT WAS AMAZING Om WOW THANKS FOR WATCHING AND JOIN US NEXT TIME BYE-BYE!!!

Mani Mani Mahamani Shakimani Swaha! Oh mani mani mahamani shakimani swaha! Oh many money ma mini shakey munispa— oh monie monee mahomoni shaky munies paahh... Om Namo Namo Shivaya. Om Namo Namo Shivaya.

For refuge I go to the Buddha.

For refuge I go to the Buddha.

The one who is awake and full of love.

The one who is awake and full of love. Namo Buddha.

Namo Buddha. For refuge I go to the Dharma.

For refuge I go to the Dharma.

All that guides us to wisdom and compassion.

All that guides us to wisdom and compassion.

Namo Dharmaya. Namo Dharmaya. For refuge I go to the Sangha.

For refuge I go to the Sangha.

Those who live in the Buddha's light. Those who live in the Buddha's light. For refuge— oh, Namu Sangha. For refuge I go to the Earth.

For refuge I go to the Earth, the holy ground of awakening. The holy ground of awakening. Namu Bunyai. Namu Bunyai.

With faith in The Four Refuges— With faith in The Four Refuges—and in light of my human tendencies—I pray that I may become aware when I take life.

Of when I take what? Life! That's right. —when I take away from others or am greedy for myself; I pray that I may be more conscious of this now than ever before; I'm praying to you today satyarobyno bhagavan, Lord Buddha—that we might all have compassion on each other. And so it shall happen. In Light of My Human Tendencies—with Faith in The 4 Refugees—and in Light of My Human Tendencies—I Pray that I May Become Aware—And I pray that I make them aware—of When I Take What Is Not Freely Given of when I take what is not freely given.' 'I pray that I may become aware—' —'Of when I fall into sexual misconduct.' Of when I fall into sexual misconduct.

'I pray that I may become aware—' of when I've fallen into wrong speech.

When I have fallen to wrong speech.

'I pray that I may become aware—' of when I become intoxicated. But when I become intoxicated, no blame, no blame. Be kind, be kind. Love everything, love everything.

Inexhaustible are deluded passions.

We vow to transform them all.

Immeasurable are the Dharma teachings.

We vow to master them all. Infinitus, the gorgeous way, we vow to fulfill it completely.— I'm going to meet a boo.

So on Saturday I went down to London for the last JSO, Just Stop Oil, march. Before they apparently hang up the high vis and dissolve and allow something new to arise, because they have actually achieved their main goal, which was for a law to be passed to make that there'll be no new oil and gas extraction in the UK, which is Pretty amazing. It had been quite a long time since I'd done any activism. I used to do a lot of it, and One of the upsides of doing a lot of it was that I was regularly giving myself space to really feel all the complex feelings that come up for me around the climate crisis and all of the other crises which are linked into it. So something that happens not doing it so often is I don't turn towards it so much. So Saturday was emotional, and the tail of it, it's still quite emotional. For me, it's an— it's incredibly healthy. It's really needed for me to give myself those kind of opportunities to really get in touch with the anger and the grief and the guilt of not doing more, even when I was doing loads. I was like, I'm just not doing enough. And I think that's part of it. I think that's a very, very common response because individually nobody can do enough. And because it's a collective issue. And even collectively, we can't— what does doing enough actually mean? We can't do enough to reverse the inevitable climate collapse that is occurring. We can do things that will improve it, that will minimize the harm to some extent. So there's some kind of acceptance in me that there, that there will always be an aspect of where I feel like, oh, why, you know, I, I'm not doing enough. And yet I do feel that we can be enough, that I can be enough, that simply being present with the situation, with the suffering, from time to time is enough. Is powerful. Casper last week was talking about how they are perceiving that we can lean into the boundless support of the infinite, of Amida, and be resourced by that to then be able to face some of the suffering in the world as much as we can, and then maybe dip back out and back into that resource. They said it obviously much more eloquently and complex more complicated even than that. But I, what I took from what they said was that, and I feel that, I mean, that's completely— I really agree with that. I feel it's completely necessary if I'm constantly facing the profound suffering and situation of the world. I just can't function. I can't do my therapy work, which feels like in some way, some small response, it's like that, a microcosm, you know. I can face the suffering of the individual that I'm with. I can be with them in that, and I can have times, ideally quite well-contained times when I really give myself permission to really be with all of the feelings that come up around the situation, and times when I'm not, and times when I'm absorbed in, in everything else, other, you know, beautiful and positive things. Because there's also As you know, as is fundamental to Buddhism, that when we face suffering, we also come into contact more and more and more fully with our profound interconnectedness. And I completely experienced that. Så, when I let myself face my grief for the climate crisis, for the species already lost, for the others in decline, for the humans that have already died and health has been impacted already by the climate crisis, from all the plant life and insects and trees and, and everything, all these wonderful things. I come more and more into contact with my love for all of it, more and more in touch with how my body is part of the shared body. That we all share, the one body of the Earth and everything that lives on it, in it. As I was leaving London, I was walking into Bakerloo Underground station and there was a homeless woman sat by the steps and she was distressed. She, she was a bit distressed as I started to walk towards her and then some little children walked past her, and she just looked at the children and she started crying. And she lifted her hands that were huge and swollen and red and scabby and really dirty up to cover her face that was covered in sores, to hide, you know, to try and hide. Her distress and her shame, and it was absolutely heartbreaking. And I really wanted to just go and sit next to her, to just sit with her. But I was worried about missing my train, so somehow I got caught up in the flow of people moving into the underground station. And maybe there is a little part of me that's still imagining that I'm sat there with her, or that she's still— she's where she's here with us. You know, she's been brought into the room. She's definitely in my heart. So we don't, we don't get wildfires in this country, really. So we don't really get major droughts. We get storms, we get flooding, but not like, you know, tidal waves that wash away huge parts of the country. So we don't, we don't experience so much of the extremes of weather that are indicators of the climate crisis. But we have other wild— our wildfires like that woman Satya Robyn, like all of the homelessness, like all the people accessing food banks, like all of the oppression, because all of these systems are linked to the social economic system and crisis and all the infinite ways that people are being prejudiced against are all interlinked. And when I turn towards all of those, my heart breaks and I feel that love connecting us to everything else. Namaste.

With gratitude, we make this offering to all Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, throughout space and time. May it be as fragrant as earth itself, collecting a careful evidence, a wholehearted mindfulness, and the fruit of understanding slowly ripening. May we and all beings be companions of the Lotus and Bodhisattvas. Maybe we can cultivate mindfulness and realize our true home. Um, announcements.

I think we're having another fundraising or and spreading the Dharma meeting at some point soon. If it's something you want to get involved with, then let me know and I'll pass you on to the right people. What are you saying?

This Saturday, I think.

Okay, it's this Saturday.

Let's inspire Amitabha's light when we care for all living things on our holy land.