Finding Common G.R.O.U.N.D.

Another big week and this time some good news, with the Chauvin verdict and the Minnesota Attorney General's powerful speech. Keith Ellison invited us to create transformation in the law: "empathetic, compassionate, and affirming" were his words.

Can mindfulness move us closer to that transformation? I think so. Listen to this episode of the Wake Up Call. See if you agree.

Transcript

This wake up call,

297.

And the title for today's call is Finding Common Ground.

Just really nice to be in community with all of you right now.

I feel like since Tuesday's verdict,

There's been a little wake up call maybe in the US,

A little hope.

What Keith Ellison,

The Minnesota AG said,

A moment of accountability.

And I've been thinking about accountability since hearing Mr.

Ellison's speech after the conviction of Chauvin for George Floyd's murder.

And if you didn't see Ellison's speech,

I highly recommend it.

You can find it on YouTube.

So I've been thinking about accountability and what Keith Ellison said and wondering what accountability would look like if it were widespread in the law.

And Mr.

Ellison issued a kind of an invitation,

Maybe a challenge.

He said,

We need to put unaccountable law enforcement behind us and move from people feeling mistrustful,

Suspicious,

And frankly,

Terrified of law enforcement to a system that is empathetic,

Compassionate,

And affirmative.

And so I've been thinking about what if the challenge or the invitation is to law in general.

In other words,

What if accountable lawyering is legal system,

Lawyering,

And a whole system that's empathetic and compassionate and affirming.

So if you're like me,

You might've looked Keith Ellison up.

I didn't know much about him before,

Certainly anything before the trial and before the speech,

I really,

He wasn't on my radar.

He's the first black person in the United States to be a lawyer.

He's the first black person ever elected to statewide office in Minnesota.

And he's the first Muslim American elected to statewide office in the whole country.

And he's been fighting for black lives his entire career.

And so hearing him speak on Tuesday,

It was very clear how committed he is to his work,

How committed he is to accountability and to justice.

And he also,

To me,

Seemed really grounded.

He seemed connected to his team.

Rooted in his community.

He seemed like a lawyer whose feet were really firmly planted on the ground.

And the teachings of mindfulness invite us also to start there.

They're about understanding the mind and heart,

Training the mind and heart,

Bringing fierce compassion out in the world,

But they begin with teaching us how to become grounded.

And there is history here.

In the ancient tale of the Buddha's awakening,

Gautama,

Who was the prince,

Who would later become the Buddha,

Had studied with all the great teachers in India,

But he still hadn't found a path to awakening.

And finally,

He just decided to sit down under a Bodhi tree and meditate until he became fully liberated,

Figured out for himself.

And as he sat there,

Mara,

This is the legend,

Mara,

Who was a demon,

Sent a temptation upon temptation to sway Gautama from the path.

And when nothing else worked,

Finally,

Mara whispered into Gautama's ear,

What gives you the right to attain enlightenment?

And he said it as in,

Who are you to wake up?

What have you got that anybody else doesn't?

And Gautama took his finger and touched the earth and said something like,

Is there anything I can do to help you?

And he touched the earth and said something like,

Is the earth as the earth is my witness.

And he was saying he was part of the earth and that all beings are part of the earth and that in this way we're all connected.

And that's why taking Keith Ellison's invitation to transform the law and society into one that truly supports justice for all and taking in the transformations all of us have been going through for over a year in the pandemic and also the new ones we're entering into as we slowly emerge from sheltering in place and taking in our own continuous internal transformations.

To me,

It feels so important.

That's why right now it feels so important to connect to the earth,

To the ground beneath our feet,

And also in doing this to connect with one another on what is truly common ground,

The earth is really common ground as a foundation for our mindfulness practice.

And that's why last week I started talking about this new practice called GROUND,

An acronym,

G-R-O-U-N-D,

And it begins with G for ground.

So I looked up ground and the noun definition is the solid surface of the earth and the verb definition,

One of the verb definitions,

Is to give something abstract,

A firm theoretical or practical basis.

And,

You know,

Putting those two together,

I'm thinking to reach down from wherever we are and to touch the solid surface of the earth and to know that we're part of it and to know that we're part of each other.

And maybe metaphorically we're doing that if we're two stories up or maybe we're 30 stories up and maybe actually we're doing that if we can get outside and reach down into the soil.

And either way,

It's really an affirmative act to connect to the earth,

To let the earth be our witness.

And also,

As we sense into the ground beneath our feet,

So to speak,

To connect to every other human on the planet and to all the other beings to see how it is that to touch the earth is to see and feel that the earth,

The ground by its very nature is that common ground.

I think of the earth where I live back in Sonoma as common ground.

It was inhabited for millennia by the Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo tribes in probably much older people whose names are lost to the ages.

It was inhabited then as well by bear and deer and elk and snake and rabbit and bobcat,

Coyote,

Pig,

Too many birds to name,

Insects,

Rodents and many more animals.

And it's now inhabited by human migrants from every continent on earth.

So the earth as common ground right beneath my feet.

I also think of the law as common ground.

It's a place where I've been working and learning my whole adult life and where so many of us have been doing the same,

Collaborating and working against one another,

But sharing a language,

Sharing practices,

Hopefully sharing aspirations.

So the law as common ground.

And then I think of walking on common ground with other human beings who identify as women and the many experiences and perspectives that I share with all of you who do identify as women and who have chosen the law as a path.

So for me,

Women as common ground.

And then as a Jew,

I walk common ground with an ancient lineage of Jewish women upon whose shoulders I stand,

Whose recipes I make,

Whose prayers I speak.

And I feel the connection to my daughter and all of the next generation of Jewish women and the next to whom one day I'll pass on my own recipes and my own prayers.

So my Jewish tribe as common ground.

And if I can open my heart to the And if I can open my heart wide enough every once in a while,

I can sense into common ground with all human beings,

Maybe with all beings entirely and with the earth herself.

So I don't know,

Maybe you could call that universal common ground.

Maybe that's where Keith Ellison is calling us to.

Maybe that's the place where empathy and compassion and affirmation can arise.

Where there can really be true justice for all.

Maybe that's a place where there are no more others.

And maybe that's a place where there is no more ground.

The great eighth century Chinese poet Li Po,

Whose work continues to influence modern poets and it influences the mindfulness community as well,

Wrote this beautiful poem.

The birds have vanished into the sky and now the last cloud drains away.

We sit together,

The mountain and me,

Until only the mountain remains.

So let's sit together.

And wherever you are,

However close to the earth,

Far away from the earth you are right now,

See if you can sense into the ground beneath your feet.

If you're sitting or standing or walking,

The ground beneath your body if you're lying down.

If you happen to be fortunate enough to be right on the earth,

Touch the earth.

If the earth is somewhere below you,

Imagine touching the earth.

Let the solid surface of the earth,

The ground,

Let that be your witness.

Maybe let her be your witness.

Feel the solidity of the ground.

Let it hold you.

If there's grief or sorrow of any kind,

Let the earth be there for you.

Prop you up.

Be your foundation.

Absorb your tears.

If there's struggle,

See if you would be willing to release your struggle just for a few minutes to the earth.

She can hold it.

Maybe she can even untangle it a little for you.

Whatever burdens you're carrying,

You can lay them down for a few minutes if you're willing.

The earth will not complain.

And if there's joy and gladness,

If you're in the northern hemisphere,

You only need to look and see.

If you're in the northern hemisphere,

You only need to look and see the spring to know that the earth can meet you in your gladness.

And if you're in the global south,

That the fires that keep us warm does also come from the earth.

Whatever you're carrying,

You can lay it down just for a few minutes.

And then looking up a little bit,

Consider who you share this ground with,

The physical ground where you sit or stand or walk or lie.

Who do you share this ground with?

Who are you on common ground with right now?

What people right now,

What ancestors of this land that you're on?

And who else do you share common ground with by virtue of?

Other elements in your life.

So it could be the land itself,

Could be identities,

Gender,

Culture,

Ancestry,

Religion,

Sexuality,

Politics,

Family.

Could be profession,

Maybe it's the law.

Maybe you find common ground in the law.

See if you can feel into the connections with all of the humans with whom you share common ground.

So there's a kind of vertical connection between your body and the earth.

And there's a kind of horizontal connection.

Between yourself.

And all of the humans with whom you share common ground.

Can you imagine that common ground being open enough and safe enough and big enough to include empathy and compassion and affirmation for all human beings?

Is that within your imagination in this moment?

And if so,

Go for it.

Sense that horizontal connection with all human beings.

All beings.

And if you want to take it to the last step,

Not just all beings,

But all structures,

All systems.

All of them infused by,

Not just infused,

Structured by empathy,

Compassion,

Affirmation.

Can you imagine that?

Thanks,

Everyone,

For being on the wake up call.

It's great to see you all stay grounded.

Keep touching the earth.

I'll see you next week.