A Loving, Fearless, Life

Is this a world where we can be loving and fearless at the same time, no matter what? I ask myself that a lot. Conditions seem to be conspiring against us right now, don’t they? And yet….
And yet don’t we always have that choice? The choice to be loving, remembering that we’re all in this incredible mess together, and the choice to be fearless, remembering how to speak only the truth, and to speak truth to power, no matter what?
In fact, if we aren’t loving and fearless right now, when will we be? And what will we have left?

Transcript

Good morning, Good afternoon. Hi, Everybody. It's Judy. This is Wake Up Call 552. And this is the last wake up call for about six weeks. I'm gonna be traveling, Then it's Thanksgiving. So after today, I'll see you on December 3rd. We are on chapter 19 of the Dhammapada, Which also feels like a good place to pause. The title of the chapter is The Just, Right? So it's kind of perfect for us to sit with for a few weeks. And the chapter begins with this verse. If you determine your course with force or speed, You miss the way of the law. And the law here refers to the law of mindfulness in Pali, The dharma, In Sanskrit, The dharma. But seems like this applies to law and society too. If you determine your course with force or speed, You miss the way. That sounds about right. And then the verses continue, Quietly consider what is right and what is wrong, Receiving all opinions, Equally, Without haste, Wisely observe the law. Who is wise, The eloquent or the quiet person? Be quiet and loving and fearless. And then it says the true master lives in truth. In goodness, In restraint, Non-violence, Moderation, And purity. Okay, So that's our frame. And really I have, I would say the best lawyers I know, The best. Thinkers I know intuitively follow at least this first part of the invitation. They don't move overly quickly unless circumstances require speed. Um. . . They determine their course of action slowly and deliberately. They also receive all opinions equally, Which I take to mean with an open mind or with beginner's mind. They consider an act without haste, Wisely observing at least the secular law, Right? So that feels like we're there already. But then the chapter is inviting us to examine our decision-making and actions with more than deliberate, With more than an open mind, More than beginner's mind, And even with more than discernment for secular law. It's inviting us to do all of that informed by, Or you could say suffused with quiet and love and fearlessness. It's asking us to live in truth, In goodness, In restraint, And to practice nonviolence, Ahimsa in Sanskrit, An element of the first limb of the eight limbs of yoga. And it's inviting us to live with moderation and purity, So it's a bigger invitation. So the invitation to be quiet, It reads like it's directed towards monastics from the later verses in the chapter, Like a person may shave their head, But if they still lie and neglect their work. If they cling to desire and attachment, How can they follow the way? So it seems like it's directed to monastics, But. I feel like we can look at it from a secular perspective. And that's where most of us probably live. So that's probably what feels relevant anyway. So I don't know about you, But quiet is available to me when I'm practicing. When I skip my practice for really any length of time, This mind gets very unquiet. So, I mean, That's not to say there's not plenty of busyness no matter what. Unless maybe I'm at a long retreat. But as an ordinary matter, If I don't practice, I notice the busyness and then the busyness brings up irritation. Irritation, Impatience, Grumpiness, Those sorts of states of mind. In the mind, That's how it feels. And then those states tend to inform what I say and what I do. So when I say practice, I really mean stillness and quiet. For me, My life isn't inherently frenetic anymore, Not like 30 years. 20 or even 10 years ago. But external conditions only go so far. I still need to cultivate quiet in the mind and body by giving myself time on the cushion, Time on the mat, Time in the chair, Walking practice. Otherwise, I notice I'm just not easily able to quietly consider what is right and what is wrong. Or at least it won't be my initial response. So practice gets me to quiet. And then the next invitation is for love and fearlessness. Together. And the only way I know to have a mind that's fundamentally loving is by practicing that. In the sense that I have to practice quiet, Same. Right. So for me, That means meta practice, Wishing myself and everyone all being safety, Happiness, Well-being and ease. Pretty much every day, The practice of doing that every day on the cushion out in the world. I practiced metta daily for a year, You all know, Many of you know, And I really noticed that that sense in the mind became more durable. It became more durable and more reliable. And I don't want to stop now. I mean, I really notice because look at the default mode in the world. You know, We just don't seem to be living in a world or in a moment that's oriented around love, Right? So to cultivate durable loving kindness in our own minds in this moment is a little bit revolutionary. Yeah. And I'd say we have to swim against the stream. Which is what mindfulness is all about. So anyway, Unless our practice is kind of floating us, You know, Just using this stream metaphor, It feels really easy for me to get kind of flipped around. Or even to go under. Okay, So that's love. And then there's fearlessness, Right? And fearlessness feels like being willing to look at our intention, Our words, Our actions, Our impact. You know, Quietly considering what's right and wrong and then owning any moments. When we communicate or act in ways that are wrong or harmful, Even the slightest bit. So, And it's also doing the same thing in the world right quietly considering what's right and wrong in the world, And then speaking and acting from and also for. What's non-harming, What's right. And right now that might look like fighting for democracy or speaking truth to power or taking on a battle for justice, The title of this chapter, The Jest. And then sometimes fearlessness is as simple, But maybe not easy, As swimming against the stream of hate in the world by practicing love on a moment-to-moment basis with no matter who, With no matter what. So I do feel that all of us, All practitioners, We do this and we become more and more quiet and loving and fearless. And then we naturally begin to live with goodness and restraint, With nonviolence, With moderation, With purity. So here's this process that I've named before on the wake up call, Which is a process that I think can gentle this wisdom along, Right? And then help us to course correct when whenever we notice that we're not. Being loving and fearless at the same time and it comes from the instructions that the Buddha gave his son Rahula. So many of you know these instructions. Set an intention to be loving and fearless and good. That's the first part. Watch quietly and thoughtfully and lovingly before we speak, Before we act, While we're speaking or acting, After we're done, And for a while after, And see if we've caused harm. And in that is being fearless to not forget to watch or to not turn away or justify or deny. And then third, When we do notice that we have been anything other than loving and fearless and good, May it commence. So write an email, Pick up the phone. If it's safe, Invite the person for coffee. Since it's going to be six weeks before we're together again, I just want to invite us to use this love and fearlessness practice. And so that's the invitation for the next six weeks is just to do that for whatever Whatever moments that you remember to do it. And see how it goes. And. I guess what I also want to say is it's not only a personal invitation, But it's an invitation in the world. So especially those of us in the US to act with love and fearlessness over the next couple of weeks, Protecting our democracy, Helping to get out the vote and voting. So I think that that would just have to be considered part of what we're doing, Right? And let's sit. You Yes, Everybody. All right. So finding your posture and settling in. We only have like a five minute sit today. Sorry for all the interruptions. But Somebody put in the chat, This is why we practice and it's true. This is why we practice. So finding your posture, Closing the eyes if that's your practice, Lowering the gaze to the heart if that's more accessible for you. Inviting the attention to the breath. And then just beginning to follow the breath. And maybe checking your attitude or your approach and doing that with love and fearlessness. So starting right now. Bye. Someone recently asked me about like a Q&A period for the wake up call. And. We could do that at the end. I can't do it today, But we could start that. So anyway, Think about if that's interesting to you, And then I'll maybe offer it the next time. Have a good rest of October and early November. I will miss you all. Yeah, Get out there and vote and do all the things and yeah. Be safe out there. Love you all.