Day 20 | Common Humanity | Waning Gibbous | MWTM

This is day twenty of a 29 day journey where you will learn the fundamentals of mindful meditation while syncing yourself with the cycles of the moon, the gorgeous feminine mass in our solar system. Begin this podcast on the new moon to follow the cycle that is outlined over the next Synodic month: The harmonization of the movement of both the sun and the moon.

Today, we will explore the common humanity of us all. We will start with a short dharma talk and then drop into a 20-minute meditation where we can practice bringing different humans to mind and saying, "That person is just like me." This allows for us to feel our interconnectedness so that we will take care of each other and rebuild a more connected and kind world.

Music | Sleep Well (Lauge Rework) - Endless Melancholy + Quiet Dust - Blurstem + The Circle - Chihei Hatakeyama, Field Works

Transcript

Welcome to day 20 of mindfulness with the moon.

Today we will be talking about common humanity of us all.

The first we'll start with talking about the moon.

We are currently transitioning into the waning gibbous phase.

This phase occurs between the full and the last quarter and describes the moon when it is more than half lit but not fully lit like it was in the full moon.

So at the beginning of this stage in the northern hemisphere we see a disk almost fully lit except for a tiny sliver on the right side that is in darkness.

And in the southern hemisphere the same thing happens only the light shrinks from left to right.

We are now in the time where our flower is turning into fruit.

Where you're able to actually taste the fruit of the true expression that you yourself have created and in this fruiting we remember that we're all connected that we all share what we call in Buddhist philosophy and Buddhist psychology common humanity.

Common humanity is when we see ourselves and when we see ourselves we can also see ourselves in one another.

We start seeing wow this being is just like me.

Anyone we pass on the street who's a stranger can we check in and say this person is just like me or maybe it's a political leader.

This person is just like me or maybe it's a spiritual leader or a friend or maybe it's someone who we don't relate to at all and we can ask ourselves and say this person too is just like me or when someone has wronged us we can say I've done that or we start asking ourselves and seeing ourselves as a part of this web of life.

Asking ourselves even if we would in our mind never do something like that we get to ask ourselves how is this person just like me?

This person has a body and a mind just like me.

This person has feelings and emotions and thoughts just like me.

This person wishes to be safe just like me.

This person is learning just like me.

Jack Kornfield reminds us of what Dr.

Martin Luther King shares about how we are holding and we are also woven into the fabric of all parts of the world.

The joys and the conflicts and to become a part of the world helps us to hold on to what's genuinely true and what's true is that on a personal and a collective level we cannot be separated we are actually all in it together practicing to see our common humanity is how we start to soften these walls of othering where we can see from a place that no longer separates us from other human beings and when we dissolve the separation we can start to feel how we are truly all connected to each other and when we feel that we are connected to one another we create a world of harmony and peace in our minds in our hearts and in our world.

The holiness the Dalai Lama shares realizing that the other person is also just like me is the basis on which you can develop compassion not only towards those around you but also towards our enemy.

Normally when we think about our enemy we think about harming him instead try to remember that the enemy is also a human being just like me.

Let's drop into our meditation.

You will hear three bells to begin and three bells to end as I lead you through a just like me common humanity meditation.

Notice how you would like to sit today what feels good to you in your body and perhaps noticing how today feels like today what's arising today in this moment every day we choose to sit in meditation is so different can you notice what it's like now and as you slow yourself down and you take your deep breaths tune in to all of the beings in your world all of the humans who are just like you.

As we meditate today see if you can allow all the beings to come and then go from your conscious awareness as I read through different scenarios where we get to say wow they're just like me I'm gonna leave some space in between each phrase and just notice who comes to mind there's no right or wrong you can stick with one person you can cycle through many allow for your imagination and your awareness and your presence to lead the way.

Allow for my voice and the music simply to be a guide trusting first and foremost yourself your own intuition trusting what arises as we do the common humanity meditation.

So as you breathe allowing for someone to come to mind this person wants to be content with life just like me this person has at some point been sad just like me this person was a baby just like me this person has a body just like me this person has longed for friendship just like me this person has experienced emotional pain just like me this person worries and is frightened sometimes just like me simply noticing what's arising noticing who's coming to mind without judgment anger or even contentment just staying as neutral as you can as different humans come into your awareness as we play with this common humanity meditation this person has thoughts and emotions just like me this person is learning about life just like me this person wishes to be loved and cared for just like me this person is learning about life just like me this person wants to be caring and loving to others just like me this person wants to be free from suffering just like me this person longs to be joyful just like me now i'd be curious if you could allow some wisdom to come to your mind this person wishes for well-being to arise with whomever comes into your awareness finding the phrases that resonate with you and speaking them silently in your mind to whoever comes i wish that this person had strength and resources to navigate difficulties in life with ease can you send metta to whomever arises loving kindness i wish that this person be free from pain and suffering i wish that this person be peaceful and joyful i wish that this person feel loved so i wish for this person to feel belonging i wish for this person to learn the skills to navigate the highs and lows of this life with ease and joy and grace i wish that this person be loved because this person is a fellow human being just like me thank you so much for your practice for bringing this common humanity forward for trying it on i wish for you to carry this forward in your day and in your life so we may be more peaceful and more loving towards one another and towards ourselves and towards this beautiful earth see you tomorrow