Submitted by Brian C. Taylor
“These are crazy times,” many say, “so polarized, conflicted and disturbing. How do I not sink into fury, frustration, or despair?” There is plenty of practical advice to be had: limit your exposure to social media and political news; learn how to dialogue respectfully with someone with whom you disagree; get involved in some service or social action; connect with others in the community. All good counsel, well-supported by expertise and research.
There is another approach I’d like to suggest, one that can augment all these concrete suggestions. It won’t appeal to everyone but for many, it can be very helpful when we find that after we’ve done all we can, we’re still left with irritation and worry. It is to take a spiritual approach.
Now the word “spiritual” is loaded for some, associated with stodgy or rigid religion, fuzzy mystical connotations, wishful thinking, or as a self-absorbed substitute for much-needed social action. What I mean by the word is a way of being curious about ourselves as we have become in life, remaining grounded in something boundless that cannot be completely knocked down by disturbances, and being a helpful presence in this world.
These qualities can be cultivated in many different ways – through traditional religion, therapy, recovery groups, or immersion in nature. My path has been, for many years, the practices of contemplative meditation and Zen Buddhism. What follows in this column comes from that background. (If you find yourself interested in what I have to say, you might come to our Wednesday morning Zen meditation group, 10:30-11:30 a.m. at the Village of Corrales Community Center. All are welcome, and it is free of charge. Our website is www.corraleszen.org.)
Regardless of what approach one takes to spirituality, it usually includes both an inward direction and an outward one.
Inwardly speaking, many religious and spiritual practices begin with oneself, learning to become more self-aware and curious about how we habitually react to challenging people, events and circumstances. It is a shift from seeing difficulty and unpleasantness as always being caused by something “out there” that shouldn’t be, and instead, wondering about what’s going on “in here.”
We learn to ask ourselves, “What about this irritation I carry; is it always justified, and even if it is, is that how I want to be? What about this fear that things have gone terribly wrong; shall I become a person who cowers before life? What about this compulsion to obsess about the news, or this tendency to avoid it entirely and live in a bubble of my own making?”
By paying attention to our habitual thinking patterns and reactivity to circumstances and other people, we get to know ourselves more intimately. This process can be humbling and uncomfortable, but if we do it with patient kindness rather than self-judgment, we can eventually learn to gently set these habits aside in the moment.
An example: let’s say a relative, neighbor, or even someone online or on television, says something that triggers our outrage. The mind starts spinning in habitual ways, and it’s all about what we think about them, and how we might correct or prevail over them. Just put the brakes on for a minute. Take a breath, and ask yourself, “What am I doing right now? How does it feel? Can I gently lay it down for a bit?” Then, in the calm waiting that follows, we might see the other differently: perhaps with a little more respect for their personal history and the narrative that they feel they must carry, just as we do.
A spiritual approach is also outwardly-focused, looking beyond the self. It keeps its eye on the boundless “something more” that we are a part of, and yet are dwarfed by, all the time: the sky, the good old dirt beneath our feet, the traces of hidden suffering and love that are visible in a stranger’s face, the richness of everyday life with all its human interactions, and the constant and infinite energy of life that animates everything. Some Zen teachers call this perspective “Big Mind.”
Keeping an open heart to this richness, placing our trust in the “something more” of life right around us, often leads naturally to gratitude and the desire to respond to this wondrous world with more generosity. It also puts into perspective the clamor of the issue du jour, the frantic voices crying “Crisis!” at every turn.
None of this is easy. It takes humility to look at ourselves honestly, and intentionality to look beyond the self. The benefits are great, however, not only for ourselves, but also for others among whom we live. The world needs our best selves, especially in these times. And our best self functions like the ripples in a pond when a stone is dropped into it, expanding ever outward and benefiting all being.
A spiritual approach to dealing with the stress of living in crazy times
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Submitted by Brian C. Taylor
“These are crazy times,” many say, “so polarized, conflicted and disturbing. How do I not sink into fury, frustration, or despair?” There is plenty of practical advice to be had: limit your exposure to social media and political news; learn how to dialogue respectfully with someone with whom you disagree; get involved in some service or social action; connect with others in the community. All good counsel, well-supported by expertise and research.
There is another approach I’d like to suggest, one that can augment all these concrete suggestions. It won’t appeal to everyone but for many, it can be very helpful when we find that after we’ve done all we can, we’re still left with irritation and worry. It is to take a spiritual approach.
Now the word “spiritual” is loaded for some, associated with stodgy or rigid religion, fuzzy mystical connotations, wishful thinking, or as a self-absorbed substitute for much-needed social action. What I mean by the word is a way of being curious about ourselves as we have become in life, remaining grounded in something boundless that cannot be completely knocked down by disturbances, and being a helpful presence in this world.
These qualities can be cultivated in many different ways – through traditional religion, therapy, recovery groups, or immersion in nature. My path has been, for many years, the practices of contemplative meditation and Zen Buddhism. What follows in this column comes from that background. (If you find yourself interested in what I have to say, you might come to our Wednesday morning Zen meditation group, 10:30-11:30 a.m. at the Village of Corrales Community Center. All are welcome, and it is free of charge. Our website is www.corraleszen.org.)
Regardless of what approach one takes to spirituality, it usually includes both an inward direction and an outward one.
Inwardly speaking, many religious and spiritual practices begin with oneself, learning to become more self-aware and curious about how we habitually react to challenging people, events and circumstances. It is a shift from seeing difficulty and unpleasantness as always being caused by something “out there” that shouldn’t be, and instead, wondering about what’s going on “in here.”
We learn to ask ourselves, “What about this irritation I carry; is it always justified, and even if it is, is that how I want to be? What about this fear that things have gone terribly wrong; shall I become a person who cowers before life? What about this compulsion to obsess about the news, or this tendency to avoid it entirely and live in a bubble of my own making?”
By paying attention to our habitual thinking patterns and reactivity to circumstances and other people, we get to know ourselves more intimately. This process can be humbling and uncomfortable, but if we do it with patient kindness rather than self-judgment, we can eventually learn to gently set these habits aside in the moment.
An example: let’s say a relative, neighbor, or even someone online or on television, says something that triggers our outrage. The mind starts spinning in habitual ways, and it’s all about what we think about them, and how we might correct or prevail over them. Just put the brakes on for a minute. Take a breath, and ask yourself, “What am I doing right now? How does it feel? Can I gently lay it down for a bit?” Then, in the calm waiting that follows, we might see the other differently: perhaps with a little more respect for their personal history and the narrative that they feel they must carry, just as we do.
A spiritual approach is also outwardly-focused, looking beyond the self. It keeps its eye on the boundless “something more” that we are a part of, and yet are dwarfed by, all the time: the sky, the good old dirt beneath our feet, the traces of hidden suffering and love that are visible in a stranger’s face, the richness of everyday life with all its human interactions, and the constant and infinite energy of life that animates everything. Some Zen teachers call this perspective “Big Mind.”
Keeping an open heart to this richness, placing our trust in the “something more” of life right around us, often leads naturally to gratitude and the desire to respond to this wondrous world with more generosity. It also puts into perspective the clamor of the issue du jour, the frantic voices crying “Crisis!” at every turn.
None of this is easy. It takes humility to look at ourselves honestly, and intentionality to look beyond the self. The benefits are great, however, not only for ourselves, but also for others among whom we live. The world needs our best selves, especially in these times. And our best self functions like the ripples in a pond when a stone is dropped into it, expanding ever outward and benefiting all being.
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