Author: Blase Masserant
Prompt: Idea Faire 1: August 2023 Summary
I don’t have all the answers. I don’t necessarily think I’m right and others are wrong. The following are all just based on the subjective and personal way I understand the world. They are not facts, more like opinions or values maybe. But for the sake of ease and good writing, I feel I must unfold these thoughts with a tone of confidence, as if they were fact. It will be a much lengthier, more confusing, and less enjoyable read if I do not. This is all just what I’m thinking right now, based on the way this world seems to me, and on who I am.
A particular and peculiar challenge feels like one of the most important things. The challenge is something like this. It could begin to be seen in two realities which do not sit well with one another.
One is, the planet is withering away. This is due to a massive collective impact humans are having on the Earth’s systems: the climate, the biosphere, etc. Given all this, if our current biosphere is to survive as it is, including humans, we must significantly transform our way of life: habits, patterns, norms, expectations, standards of living… This transformation could be one which makes us happier, it itself is not a bad or scary thing. The difficulty arises in the size of the task. Many many humans must all collaborate in this effort. And so many of us are so habituated and accustomed to how things are, it is very difficult to change. Even when we are aware and want to, the systems that have been built upon around us for so long steer us back to the status quo, like a major gravitational mass pulling us back which we struggle to escape from. Even worse, so many people are unaware or in denial, or are too consumed with their own suffering to feel capable of being part of a solution. Those that have central positions of power and decision making in these systems are also many, and even in these positions one’s good intentions are easily snuffed out by systemic patterns from within and from outside any individual.
So, we need tremendous change, and this situation is very difficult. This can invoke a lot of fear, anger, anxiety, depression, desperation, and urgency. These emotions only add to our suffering, add to the challenge. They tend to get in the way of effective action rather than facilitate it. So it becomes a vicious cycle.
And so arises this other reality. It seems that in order to have the energy, mindfulness, and positivity to do what we must, we have to except our current circumstances exactly as they are. We must accept a paradox that, as individuals we are small and we cannot control the Earth or its future. No matter how hard we try and how much we accomplish as an individual, alone it will not be enough for us to change course. Yet at the same time, it is imperative that we do transform ourselves and work for the betterment of the world. We must fully and lovingly accept ourselves and the world as it is, yet we must also transform it. Doesn’t this seem like quite the conundrum?
I believe that the limiting factor is always love. I’ll share some of what I mean by love by describing four facets of it.
One is loving kindness. It is good to be kind to oneself, one’s mind and body. Also to be kind to others. This can seem paradoxical at times… we must prioritize self-love, since if we don’t give ourselves kindness, we will have nothing to provide for others. Yet our culture is saturated with false ideas of happiness. It’s easy to believe that we need X Y or Z in order to be happy, and that pursuing this thing we desire will lead us to happiness. This creates a situation where happiness is not present, it seems always somewhere in the future, taunting us. True happiness exists only in the present. For us to become aware of all the conditions for happiness that we already have in this moment is a tremendous act of kindness to ourselves. In so doing we can more easily have kindness to offer others.
Another is compassion. Compassion is a tender response to suffering. It is empathetic and understanding. We might feel dissatisfied with ourselves, our lives, or others in some way. It is good to be aware, and understand that any shortcomings in ourselves or others are due to an underlying suffering within that we have not yet healed from. When we truly realize this, we can’t help but to well up with compassion or ourselves or others. We come to experience suffering as our own, whether we’ve previously believed it to be separate from ourselves as the suffering of an “other”, or because we’ve avoided or denied or hidden our own suffering because we felt incapable to cope with it.
A third is equanimity. This means wishing good for all people, and caring for the suffering of all people, equally. If we draw lines, we pick and choose who we wish well, and upon some we wish ill, we are really only hurting ourselves, as ultimately we are all one. All humans, animals, all species, the entire biosphere, the whole cosmos, one. What we do to another, we do to ourselves. This can be confusing, as we must take care of ourselves first, but when we recognize how we are connected, through interbeing and through impermanacne, it makes more sense. We are responsible for the vessels we inhabit, our own body and mind… these are our greatest gifts and tools.
The last to mention is joy, an empathetic joy. It is like the inverse of compassion… The joy of others also brings us joy. We do not wound ourselves through jealousy or envy, we simply feel happy in the midst of the happiness of others.
All of these things are difficult to truly explain and say well. And yet even still, they can be much easier said than done. How is any of this relevant to the challenge I mentioned before? The two realities of… we must change, and we must accept things as they are…
I sense that the answer is somewhere in here, in understanding and practicing love. Perhaps that’s just an act of faith on my part. I certainly have not mastered any of this. But I’ve experienced momentary glimpses of all this. I’ve also been able to sustain it for short periods of time through practicing mindfulness, and remembering what I have come to know to be true. I remember it with my full body, my full breath, my full heart. Yet over and over again, I still forget. It is important to keep trying. It is important to remember, remember who you are.
I believe that we are love. We are the Earth itself, the cosmos itself… We can choose to be love actively, becoming channels for it to pour out into the lived material reality. Or we can forget, as we often do… and live mindlessly in these miraculous bodies in this wonderful world full of beauty. The world, and this moment, are indeed wonderful. The world is also indeed terrible. There will always be suffering, it will never go fully away. But with all the joy that is available to us if we recognize it, that far outweighs the suffering, even now in the terrible state we are in. It is good to work towards a better world, to reduce the suffering in ourselves and others. So much suffering is unnecessary, caused by us humans. So much of it is caused my misperceptions. There is so much room for improvement. But everything we need: love, joy, peace, solidity, freshness, compassion, mindfulness, insight, concentration, freedom… all these things are available to us right now. All it takes is awareness and practice.
I believe all of this, but it is not always easy to believe, to practice, to remember.
There’s still so much I’d like to say. There are all kinds of great ideas out there, visions with which we can be inspired and find guidance as we work at transforming ourselves and our world. But even just establishing a new habit, or stopping a bad one, can be very difficult, and can take some a whole lifetime. We are all born into different circumstances. We have varying types of privileges and support we start out with, and varying kinds of wounds or unmet needs. The positive things early on in life give us advantages in the long term, and the negative things can echo through trauma which shapes counterproductive beliefs and behaviors, things that usually served us in some past difficult circumstances as a coping mechanism, but now serve us no longer.
There is so much pain and suffering. Love is the key to recognizing this and healing it. Love brings healing, healing brings transformation, and this transformation is our path to a better future.
All these things are made easier when we have a community around us which supports us, and which we contribute to as well. It can be difficult to support each other and to feel supported though. We all have our fears, our wounds, our suffering. Some understand their suffering well, and are well healed. Others are still caught in it. Most of us are probably somewhere in between.
Finding the balance between caring and supporting oneself, and leaning in on the support and love of others takes mindful awareness. One day, hopefully it won’t be such a challenge. But again, all things are made easier with mindfulness.