SIT WITH IT

(Note: this is not, or not yet, part of a radio show, but it is certainly fundamental “deep green perspective” material. It was originally intended as a social media post, but it seems substantial enough to be worth  preserving here.)

Sit with it. Sit with the genocide. Sit with the threat of nuclear war, with governments becoming ever more repressive “in defense of liberty,” with the pandemics and epidemics, with the climate chaos, with the greed, power, and cruelty of those who have too much already and will never feel satiated, with the millions of refugees fleeing violence and hunger, with the increasingly shaky global supply chains that enable the comfortable way of life that we, the wealthy of the world, have taken for granted for so long. Sit with how hard it seems to be to change these things for the better, with how painful it is to accept things as they are.

But all that stuff and all those people out there are only a part of it.

I sit with my own failings and inadequacies, the way I don’t live up to my high ideals, the ways I let myself and my friends down, with my seeming powerlessness in the face of what looks like one gathering Gotterdammerung of a storm. I sit with the fact that, storm or no storm, I will almost certainly die in the next twenty-five years. I sit with all this because there is nowhere else to sit. This is what is, this is what and where I am, where we are, and there really is no way out but through, and the way through, whether it leads to sanity or extinction, begins with accepting this reality, with all its threats, crises, pain, and personal failures. There is nowhere to run to and escape any of it. Trying to ignore all or any of the factors, internal and external, will certainly make them worse. What we can control about all this is whether we are calm, clear-eyed, and compassionate. If anything can make a difference, it is that.

Oh, yeah—sit with the good stuff, too, with the beauty of this planet, with the miracle that there is life here at all, with the wisdom and compassion, the generosity, the love that so many people demonstrate daily in so many ways. Sit with everything you know of out there, all the things you’ve felt or done, that make you feel good. Sitting is not about falling into hell, nor is about rising into bliss. It is about finding balance in the middle..

The quote in the graphic mentions a teacher and a website I had never heard of before. It doesn’t really matter to whom the quote is attributed, because there are so many people who have said the same thing. It could have come from any Buddhist, Taoist, or Hindu teacher, any Christian, Muslim, or Jewish contemplative, from any indigenous shaman, from any secular therapist. That’s because this instruction, like the ability to understand mathematics and engage in extended, ecstatic lovemaking, is part of being human, part of everybody’s mind, discoverable by anyone who takes the time to look and learnable by anyone who is willing to apply themselves. Call it “self-realization,” call it “Christ Consciousness,” call it “Buddhahood.” It is our birthright. May enough of us claim that birthright to lift this world and all the beings in it out of this morass of delusion and danger, and into a saner, more honest and compassionate reality..

Much thanks to the social media friend who sent me this reminder and provoked these thoughts. That’s what friends are for!

music: Richard and Linda Thompson, “First Light”