Good morning,
Everyone.
I decided to switch this up to a meeting format and put us all on,
Put myself on the screen and that you can turn your video on if you would like to,
But you don't feel,
Don't feel like you have to.
So welcome to today's wake up call.
I'm Judy Cohen and this is wake up call 465 and it's really nice to be on screen after all of these years of kind of sitting behind the curtain.
So how are you?
I feel like between Tuesday and now I've been so many things,
You know,
Scared and sad and stunned and confused and shocked and,
And also joyful and grateful,
Right?
Because life hasn't stopped happening.
So what I'm just trying to remember to do is to take a breath and yeah,
I mean,
It's been a wild several months of a political ride and it could have ended differently and it didn't.
So yeah,
I think just what I want to talk about today is to stop and take a breath and,
And maybe stop and take another breath and do it again and again and again,
James,
James Barras,
Beloved teacher to me and so many people,
He sent a note,
Maybe you got it as well.
It said keeping the heart open in uncertain times.
And he says,
Essentially keep our hearts open with self-compassion and within our window of tolerance.
So he starts out with this beautiful paragraph.
He says,
Because we care so much,
We can easily get caught in worry,
Fear,
Anger,
And despair when we think what is best for our loved ones and society is threatened.
This is when spiritual practice is needed most.
How can we use our practice to develop a balance of mind in unpredictable circumstances?
Have love be the source of our engagement and deepen compassion for those who are motivated by hate without getting caught in othering.
How indeed,
James.
I feel like James's words are such powerful wisdom,
They're this clear window on how things are or maybe for some of us,
How things are right now.
And we,
You know,
Lawyers,
Members of the legal community,
We care so much,
Right?
We care about justice.
We care about safety,
About security,
About belonging.
This is our work.
This is our work.
And I'm guessing also,
There's not just care here,
There's fear,
You know,
I have some because those values do feel threatened.
And so fear and worry and anger and despair,
It's all here,
Right?
And still right now,
I feel like all I can do is breathe.
And so James asks,
How can we use our practice to develop a balance of mind in unpredictable circumstances?
And the only answer I can come up with right now is to breathe.
You know,
I feel like there will be time.
There is time.
Life is long.
You know,
Dr.
King taught us the arc of the moral universe is long and bends towards justice.
And right now,
What I can do to cultivate balance of mind is to breathe.
And to the inquiry about love,
How can we have love be the source of our engagement?
Well,
I feel like those of us who are celebrating and those of us who are mourning aren't different.
You know,
In the same way that there's a moment when a jury delivers a verdict or court delivers a ruling or the final game of a long season is won and the contestants and everybody that's helping them and all of the fans and all of the minions are also not different.
You know,
We all want the same things.
We all want happiness.
We all want well-being.
We all want the ability to live with ease,
The feeling that we belong.
We all want to have what we need to thrive and to help our loved ones to thrive,
You know?
And I feel like if only we can remember that,
You know,
Top of mind,
Front of heart,
Heartful of not different,
Heartful of seeing what true non-harming looks like,
Which is loving ourselves so we can love our neighbors,
So we can love everyone,
Then we can see that there's there's no path forward without love as the source of our engagement,
Right?
And still right now,
I feel like all I can do is breathe.
The ancient instruction,
You know,
Find a tree,
Go sit under the tree and breathe.
That's what that's what the Buddha did to awaken.
And and we can do it,
We can awaken in each moment,
We can awaken by sitting under a tree,
We can awaken by sitting at our desk and closing our eyes,
Not closing our eyes and breathing,
You know,
Awaken from the delusion that we're separate,
Different,
Unaligned,
Misaligned,
That that the we that maybe we all here or many of us here would use is more intelligent,
More well-educated,
That we care more or work harder or deserve better,
Or that anything at all should be different than the way that it is right now.
Can we awaken from the delusion that sets us apart and keeps us apart?
The text,
The instructions,
It says,
Yes,
It says we can do that just by following our breath,
Just by breathing.
Paying attention.
Norman Fisher,
Another beloved teacher,
He wrote that this moment is an invitation to pay close attention to your life,
Your breath,
Your daily tasks and relationships,
Not to be baited into confusion and despair.
You are alive in a world that's everywhere alive.
Pay attention to this and to kindness.
So again,
Yes,
Yes,
Yes,
Yes to this wisdom.
And today,
The permission,
I think yes to the permission for today,
For as long as as you need,
As long as we all need,
I feel like it's OK to just breathe.
Norman also wrote,
Watch the government and society just as carefully listening for the rhythm underneath the jagged melody.
It's beautiful.
Build counter movements and strengthen counter movements that already exist every day,
Day after day.
Yes,
Yes,
Yes,
Yes,
Yes.
And.
For now.
Also,
Just breathe.
The last thing Norman says,
Pay attention to what matters,
Know how to take care of yourself and your friends.
And right now.
Just right now,
Right in this moment,
What if it's.
OK to do that by just being together and breathing.
My rabbi sent out a story.
About another rabbi,
A beloved rabbi in Israel,
A reservist father of eight killed in Lebanon.
I guess apparently very well-known person.
So a bunch of politicians wanted to come to his shiva,
Which is the seven days of mourning that his family would hold.
And the family posted this.
The family welcomes politicians from all camps to our shiva,
But we ask that you come in pairs.
One from the coalition and one from the opposition.
That you come in pairs.
One friend yesterday told me that they were listening to John Lennon's Imagine all day,
Like on a loop.
And so I'm just imagining,
Imagining choosing someone from the side opposite to mine and walking with them in a pair into something important,
You know,
Maybe a shiva,
Maybe a courtroom,
Maybe a conference room,
Maybe a birthday party,
Maybe a place of worship,
Maybe,
Maybe into my home.
Imagine,
Imagine doing that with love as the source of your engagement,
As James is inviting us to do.
Or doing that while listening to the rhythm underneath the jagged melody.
Imagine all of that or or just breathe.
Right now,
I feel like it's it's OK to imagine nothing at all.
And just take a little while,
Whatever time we need,
And just breathe.
So let's let's do that together.
Let's do that together.
So finding whatever posture will best support you right now.
And closing the eyes or leaving them open,
But cast downwards,
Cast towards the heart.
Feeling your body sitting,
Standing,
Walking.
Driving.
Whatever you're doing,
Wherever you are.
Feeling your connection to to the earth.
Feeling your connection to each other,
We can see each other now.
Or see our names,
At least our pictures.
And also.
Connecting to to your own heart.
How is your heart right now?
And then finding the breath.
Maybe the the rhythm of the breath,
Maybe that's what Norman meant,
The rhythm of the Maybe the the rhythm of the breath,
Maybe that's what Norman meant,
The rhythm under the jagged melody.
Of thoughts and emotions.
Just the breath.
Just giving yourself the space,
The permission to breathe,
Just to breathe and be with whatever is here.
Just taking in,
Maybe there's a lot of love in the Zoom room.
Yeah,
So.
Let that be a source for you.
Let that in.
Nothing to give,
Nothing to offer,
Just letting in the love that's here.
Just letting in the love that's here.
Coming back to the breath whenever.
The mind wanders off whenever that jagged melody starts to play too loudly.
And then really giving yourself permission to take the love that's here,
Take it with you.
And let it be,
Let it be that source of your engagement.
Thanks everyone for being here.
It's really nice to see you,
See so many of you and to just be seen.
Yes,
Take care and be safe out there.
See you next week.
