MWA Newsletter, Zen, -  Jul 05, 2022

Appropriate response – and some ordinary news

The United States is falling apart. Forgive me for not writing sooner.

A few months ago I started saying “This is what societal collapse looks like,” and I don’t see any reason to take that back. You can look at the list of symptoms if you need to be convinced, but otherwise don’t bother. The Supreme Court seems determined to disassemble every good thing that has happened in the past century or so.

I’m aware that I keep saying this. It continues to be true, and the emergency is escalating.

The question is what to do? The conversation is happening in a lot of places.

First thoughts:

• Elections:
  • Working on electing candidates is not enough, but you might find it necessary. In a year when the media has decided Trump wins Congress, and is reporting in a way that just about guarantees that, there are Senate races and House races. State governments are also very important for what actually happens. Hopelessness is not a good plan.
  • The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact changes the rules to bypass the Electoral College. It’s three-fourths of the way there.
  • Ranked Choice Voting is being used in more places, and it allows people to vote for the candidate they want without risking electing a monster.
  • In the ordinary world we have right now, there’s becoming an election judge (honest pollworkers matter), supporting a local candidate or a chosen one elsewhere, sending postcards with the Unitarians or an organization of your choice. Donating wisely, of course.
• Then what? Strikes and general strikes, sure. We just had a 3-day shopping strike in response to the cancellation of Roe; hastily planned; there will be more.
• Masses in the streets, sure; parades in front of SCOTUS buildings and homes, sure.
• Prepare for disaster by storing food, practicing kindness, getting to know your neighbors …

Looking for what might add to all of this:

The basic understanding of Mountains and Waters Alliance is that we are not the only ones here, and we are not the only ones with agency. By “we” I mean humans, especially industrial humans, especially members of the American capitalist economy, including those of us who consider ourselves progressive, radical, or better than others in any way. Thus these proposals:

• Ask for help from others.
  • World-wide prayer and meditation events. Humans everywhere can gather and send energy (prayer, loving-kindness, ceremony, every kind of healing and life-giving energy) to the whole world, to the centers of destruction in particular (the U.S., Canada, Europeans, every dictatorship and oppressor around the world) to open up and become human again. And to those who are being harmed (Western Sahara, Palestine, Ukraine, and the whole list of people affected by militarism or climate disaster or tyranny).
  • One form is going to a natural place close to you, a sacred place if there is one you recognize, and asking for help from that place, just as you would ask for help from a friend, because we are not the only ones here, nor the only ones conscious. You might bring an offering of some kind – incense, tobacco, food, water, candles, flowers, or chanting, dance, making yourself beautiful – approaching with respect and asking in sincerity.
• Accessing wholeness through meditations that invoke the deep nature of existence.
  • Allowing your awareness to settle into your own physical self, then expand to the area around you, then larger and larger, to city, state, country, continent, world, solar system, galaxy – all impartial, all neutral, just what is. From the largest place, there can be perspective on our fears, faults, and angers. They dissolve. And when you return to this embodied self, allow the wide perspective to come back with you. How small we are; how vast the universe; how vast our being which is the universe itself. (I can write and record this; today I simply propose it.)

Yes, I admit to still dreaming of escaping climate disaster and political catastrophe. But I only propose work that will help us regardless of what happens in the so-called outside world.

There will be a date for this work, or a series of dates, but meanwhile go ahead. I’m looking for people to help, or to co-create. Email me.

Ordinary life goes on.

Here’s a list of upcoming events. Please respond by email to anything that does not have a link.

Ongoing groups online:

• Sunday evenings, 7 pm Central Time, The Gift of Fearlessness. We are discussing current events, appropriate response, and effectiveness.
• Wednesday evenings, 6:30 pm Central Time, Zen study group. We are currently studying Zen Questions by Taigen Leighton. We’ll start a new topic at the beginning of September, for a 6-10 week session, and another in January.
• Monday morning zazen, 6 am Central Time. This will be re-evaluated at the end of August. We may start a group sitting at another time. You can come now using at the link on the front page, or express interest to be informed about changes.

Dharma talks (hybrid)

I will post links and titles on the website as soon as I have them.

• August 28, Sunday morning, talk at Hokyoji Zen Monastery in southern Minnesota.
• October 2, Sunday morning, talk at Northfield Buddhist Meditation Center
• November 27, Sunday morning, talk at Hokyoji.

Farm events:

• Workdays at the farm – unspecified, but possible dates include July 16, August 13 or 20, September 10.
• September 5, 1-4: open house at the farm. See progress on new construction, gardens, and paths, enjoy being in the country. Likely will include some music/poetry reading/open mic time. (Covid safety will be planned as appropriate to the time, with special arrangements for those who are vulnerable.)

Retreats:

• August 1, in Atlanta at Midtown Atlanta Zen, 9-5, one-day retreat.
• August 27, at the farm, Introductory retreat:
  • Saturday morning 9-12, formal instruction in zazen, style, and basic teachings, with time for questions and discussion.
  • Saturday afternoon 12-5, lunch, work practice, mindful engagement with plants and wild spaces, closing circle.
• September 23-27 (Thursday night to Tuesday noon) Sesshin at the farm: silent sitting and walking meditation, simple meals, residential option. Private meetings possible after sesshin.
• October 14-16 (Friday night to Sunday afternoon) land care retreat – combining zazen, dharma talk and conversation, private meetings, and engagement with the land; residential option.
• December 1-8 (Wednesday night to Thursday noon) Rohatsu sesshin at the farm, 7 days, as in September, honoring Buddha’s enlightenment.

There will be some reports later about progress on the farm and buildings – moving closer to sustainability, and more comfortable for both guests and multiple residents.

Emailing is always a good way to start. It’s also fine to register for an event that has registration set up.

Love and respect,

Shodo Spring

And a poem to finish.

Do not try to save the whole world
or do anything grandiose.
Instead, create a clearing in the dense forest of your life
and wait there patiently,
until the song that is your life
falls into your own cupped hands
and you recognize and greet it.
Only then will you know how to give yourself
to this world
so worthy of rescue.

—Martha Postlewaite