The Serenity Prayer - A Roadmap For Crisis

This is the 2nd lesson in the “Weathering a Storm” series. We have heard that even the most difficult of times will pass. That can relieve us from a sense of desperation. But we need a framework to make decisions about how we proceed.

I propose that the Serenity Prayer offers such a framework which will help us to focus upon that which we can change and to gracefully accept those things that are beyond our control and which we are powerless to change.

Transcript

Namaste and welcome. So this is going to be our second talk in the series Weathering a Storm. And I've used us storm rather than the storm because the principles that I'd like to try and share with you are things that can actually help us in all areas of our life and throughout this journey that we call life, The time that we spend here in this world within this particular body. So of course the fact that we have this current crisis related to this virus, A pandemic, It's really making people quite deeply reflective. And I noticed in a news report today that they said one of the main things that people are doing now in isolation, The biggest single thing a lot of people were doing was looking towards self-improvement. And that was just like, Wow, That's wonderful. And I'm really glad that this is the result of this particular event that people are looking at these things. So what I'm going to try and do is with a series of videos is lay down some series of things. And hopefully they'll be in some order that will actually help us with the current crisis that we face and in our life going forward. So the previous video that we did, It was titled This Too Shall Pass. It's a famous, Apparently originally from Persia, Very ancient statement. And that's echoed in all the old cultures around the world, This embracing of this fact that this too shall pass, That everything both good and bad will come to an end, That nothing is permanent. That is the nature of our life in the material world and embracing that reality actually makes people a lot more resilient and able to face life and the different things that will come our way. So today what I wanted to push forward a little bit on is the idea of what it is that we're looking to do is build a framework to actually deal with adversity rather than when we encounter adversity we sort of like lose the plot and become a little off balance and not sure exactly what to do and how we're going to do things. And it just points to this really, This major need for a framework to help us deal with adversity and of course life in general. And so what I'm going to be proposing with these steps that I will try and share with you, These are not just purpose built for or a type of strategy just for this particular event but for the broader reality of life as we know it and as we experience it. So one of the things that something like this or a tremendous natural disaster I've been through hurricanes, I've been through, I mean monumental hurricanes, Earthquakes, Situations, Living in Asia, Other kinds of epidemics, Cholera epidemic one time in India, Refugee crises, All kinds of things. And in some ways I feel fortunate to have been able to experience these things because that coupled with my spiritual training has really, Makes it so I can be in a space and operate from some position of calmness even in a tremendous crisis. But I think one of the things that is becoming apparent now with this practically worldwide lockdown is that people are sort of coming to recognize that the current model for our life is not at all resilient in the face of crisis. There is no capacity almost to withstand immediately everybody's freaking out that there's going to be an economic collapse and there's this big focus on trying to keep the economy going which points to some degree to this idea that we are meant to exist to support the economy rather than the reality that the economy should be something that assists and supports us, That should serve us rather than us serving it. And so we see when at first the outbreaks started many world leaders were telling people it's okay just go on with things, Everything is going to be fine. The whole idea was of course they wanted the economic situation for the country for everybody to be good and to remain somewhat stable but they became obviously prepared to put people at risk for the purpose of trying to keep the economy pumping along. But the model that we've kind of built, The economic model where people have become so incredibly dependent upon credit, I saw a stat in the paper just a couple of days ago in America the vast majority of the population was not able to access $400 in the time of a crisis, Meaning they weren't putting money away. We'll deal with some of these things as we go forward. There was quite a brilliant article in I think it was the New York Times about how the financial irresponsibility of society and individuals has become exposed that people even when they're on a rather good salary, You know, They're earning $150, 000, $170, 000 a year, They're still tending to live from almost like paycheck to paycheck. As more money comes in we just increase our standard of living, We become more accustomed to spending money on all types of things that really don't last and don't matter in the long run. And we don't do what people in previous times did, Which was in good times they stored up surplus to help them over bad times that they knew were coming. And the fact that we're living in this whole new paradigm, We see it in businesses with just in time inventory management where nobody wants to keep more inventory than absolutely necessary on the shelves. And they get these ordering systems down, They've got these supply chains and it's all calculated so that the moment I'm almost running out of something, A certain amount of that stock will just arrive and I restock the shelf with it. So I'm just not carrying inventory, Banks apply the same mentality in terms of reserves, They want to put as much as possible into play. And people that have surplus money, They tend to live in this way in terms of investment and everything as well, Where everybody's kind of just really living on the edge. And then you run into something like this, That it's beyond our control, And all of a sudden we're faced with crisis. And so many people are struggling financially. I mean, There's all these promises governments are making to try and provide financial support and things, But we really don't know how that's going to work. We don't know how long it's going to go on. The reality is that until they come up with a vaccine for this virus, It is going to cyclically re-emerge, Maybe then fade out and then re-emerge again. And so the chances of going back to where things were prior to this is just actually not true. We're not going to be able to do that for some time. And so it's almost like in many ways we've become addicted to certain types of lifestyles where living a life very much like an addict lives, Where it's all about the next hit. And you don't think about the future. You don't think about repercussions. You don't think about consequences. It's just about the hit that you need at the moment, Securing that and then just getting loaded, Getting stoned. And this is not a good way to live. And now that we are suddenly faced with the current situation, It's almost like an addict going into withdrawal that, You know, Now what am I going to do? How am I going to manage this? When I speak about addiction, I've had quite a bit of personal experience in dealing with people that have suffered from addictions, Many different types of addictions, Even some family members, People that were close and watched them go through these struggles. But because of that, I became exposed to AA and how they run quite successful rehab type programs. And one of the things that sort of really caught my attention when I first got exposed to these things was something that's called the Serenity Prayer. I find that the Serenity Prayer is probably one of the most important things that a person could meditate on, Reflect on and actually attempt to live by. It is utterly, Utterly transformative. So within AA system, I don't know how many people are familiar with addiction and dealing with it. They've found that most of the highly successful programs, There is this recognition of the limitations of my own control over my life and circumstances, That there are things, In fact many things that are beyond my control and a person that suffers from addiction, They have a practical experience of feeling that they cannot control the urges, They cannot control the decision making process and it's like they've lost control over this part of their life. And so in this Serenity Prayer and the 12 Steps that they use, There is this recognition that we are in reality in many ways dependent upon some form of higher power. I know that word God has become so unfortunately so out of style as it were and people have, Due to the influence primarily of other people of peers and things, You know, Chosen to turn away from any concept of a higher power. But at the same time, At least in the form of God or some deity, But they will at the same time make their intentions known to the universe, They will send out their prayers or requests to the universe and let the universe answer them. So I mean whether you're saying that God exists or He doesn't exist, Everybody's practically in the same headspace, There is a recognition and there is an acceptance that we are very small in the big picture, In the big scope of things and there is much power and things that are, You know, Much greater than us. The mere fact that the whole world is shut down over a bit of DNA, A bit of rogue DNA really points to the fact of how little actual control we have over our life and things. And so in the AA program, They really ask people to embrace that reality and to really to live in that reality because it's incredibly helpful in terms of now figuring out where am I going to place my next step, How am I going to be able to move forward. So the prayer is actually really incredible. It goes, Lord, Grant me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change, To grant me the courage to change the things which I can and the wisdom to know the difference. This is an amazing idea. This is really, This is life changing to really completely embrace this principle where we are seeking from, We are seeking the help, We want courage, We want courage to be able to accept things. There are going to be many things, There have been and there will continue to be many things that will come our way and ultimately the biggest one of them is death itself. Being able to accept that which I cannot change completely transforms a person. You know, We have this tremendous tendency and I'll talk about it in the next talk, To become overly focused on the things that we actually can't change, Wanting to change them, Stressing about them, Being just like really preoccupied about those things and spending very, Very little time in comparison to become focused on that which I can change. Like for instance, I cannot change how somebody is going to deal with me but I can change how I take that on board and how I respond to that. That's my area of responsibility, How somebody else is behaving towards me or acting towards me. That is not my responsibility but yet I'll spend all of my time focused on that person and wanting to change them and wanting to change what they said and what they did rather than being able to just accept the reality of this is where that person is at, This is how they're perceiving things, This is what's going on with them at this moment and then choosing to focus rather on whether I allow that to deeply affect me or not and how I will respond to that. There is this tremendous need for us to become hugely more focused on things that we can change and then putting the effort and the time and the thought into how we are going to be able to do that. And in this Serenity Prayer, To be able to know the difference between these two things, The things I can change and the things I can't is categorized as wisdom and I completely embrace that and accept that. Being able to know that difference and being able to respond in our life accordingly will really make the difference as to whether we are going to live a successful life, Whether we are going to be a good partner, Parent, Friend, Whether we are going to be a good neighbor and how we are going to live. One of the really, Really important things that this all points to is the need to have a bigger idea, A broader idea as to what is my purpose, To have a purpose that brings meaning to my life. This will make it so that my ability to deal with situations, My ability to deal with others is going to be just infinitely better. I mean, Like just really, Really infinitely better. So you know, This is in considering this Serenity Prayer, We are actually asking you not to become overly focused on controlling everything. You know, The reality is that we are not totally in control. There are limits to our control and I need to begin to focus on that which I can do, That which I can change, Those areas where I can contribute something of importance and significance to my own life, But more especially to the lives of others, Those that, People that depend on me, Or people depend on me, Whether it's for friendship, Whether it's for some form of leadership or guidance. So what I would like to do is really ask you to just think about this. I'm going to put it up on the screen and we'll just play a little bit of meditative music. And what I would like to ask of you is to actually pause and to begin to reflect on these words of this prayer and think of them in relation to our own life and where we are right now and how we can become a better person. A better person doesn't mean a great hero, Somebody that's just rock solid, Incredibly strong. No, A person may be very humble. A person may be in many ways a weak weakness of physical strength or power is not a bad thing. If in our humility we can embrace this advice and learn to apply it within our life, Then we will be able to weather any storm. And that is what I'm hoping you will take away today as we listen to some meditative music and reflect on this message. Thank you very much. Go round, I'll go round. Go round, I'll go round. Oh, Ranga Oh, Ranga Oh, Ranga Oh, Ranga Oh, Ranga Oh, Ranga Oh, Ranga Oh, Ranga Oh, Ranga Oh, Ranga

Reviews

I agree that the Serenity Prayer is profound. I am thinking I may try to start my days with that. The most tricky and key bit, for me, is the wisdom to know the difference. I meditated on that and came to accepting that often I don't know the difference. Accepting not knowing. Thank you.

Very helpful... many thanks!

Excellent, reflective and informative

Acceptance is the answer. Thank you. DOS 10.2.88