Sanctuary Is Where We Are

I don't doubt for a minute that your practice and mine bring us at least a little peace, sometimes. We're fortunate in that way. And also, here at the Wake Up Call we're sharing tools & strategies to help others find peace, and maybe you're doing that, too, in your office, at home, maybe a lot of places in your life.

But what if, not "in addition" (because: that endless to-do list), but instead, just your presence could provide peace? What if you could be a sanctuary?

Transcript

Hi everyone,

It's Judy Cohen and it's Wake Up Call 317 on September 9th.

So today let's look at chapter seven of the Dhammapada,

Which is called the Arahant,

According to the venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi,

Who is actually the former Jeffrey Bloch from Brooklyn,

But also one of the greatest mindfulness scholars of our time.

From a classical mindfulness perspective,

An Arahant is someone who has attained two things,

The four jhanas or the four levels of concentration and the three,

What are called the three higher knowledges,

Which are the recollection of past lives,

The knowledge of the passing away and rebirth of beings according to their karma,

And the knowledge of the destruction of something called the asavas,

Which are the defilements that sustain us in our rounds of rebirth that have make us keep getting reborn.

So it's all very mystical stuff.

And then the Dhammapada gives us the qualities of an Arahant,

Or maybe what it feels like to be an Arahant.

And these are excerpts from chapter seven.

For someone at the journey's end,

Meaning someone who's reaching awakening,

Freed of sorrow,

Liberated in all ways,

Released from all bonds,

No fever exists.

And I take that to mean there's no clinging,

There's no grasping,

There's no wanting,

And there's just an ability to be with each moment,

Just as it is,

And just as it arises.

And it goes on to say,

For such a person,

There is no more wandering.

Calm in mind,

Speech,

And action,

Such a person is fully at peace.

So in the classical sense,

Arahantship,

I think it might be called,

Can only be achieved by someone who has given up all worldly attachments.

And that's probably none of us.

But it's interesting to wonder what it might look like to be an ordinary human living in these times,

Living a life in the La,

And who is Arahant-like.

And Bhikkhu Bodhi offers some additional guidance when he talks about the four types of humans.

And this is in the same piece.

He says,

Those concerned only with self-good are becoming a better person.

That's one type of person.

Those concerned only with others' good,

Which means those devoting themselves to caring for others.

Those concerned with the good of neither,

Which is,

I'm sure no one here on the wake-up call.

And those concerned with the good of both themselves and others,

Who are the humans that Bhikkhu Bodhi calls the best.

And some students of mindfulness might say that an Arahant is only concerned with self-good.

But I think an Arahant,

In the way of thinking about it as a lay person,

Is the best kind of human.

What Bhikkhu Bodhi calls the best kind of human.

Someone concerned with both themselves and others.

And even if we ordinary humans,

Ordinary lawyers,

Who are being good to ourselves and being good to others,

Might not reach complete freedom from sorrow,

Complete liberation in all ways,

Release from bonds,

With no fever at all,

As the verses say,

It's still worth it to point in that direction because there's this big incentive.

For such a person,

There is no more wandering.

Calm in mind,

Speech and action.

Such a person is fully at peace.

So I've experienced these tiny momentary,

Tiny glimpses of that kind of peace.

And maybe you have too.

Here's a photograph of it,

Actually,

Or a way of thinking about it.

In the early mornings these days,

In the synonyms,

There's this racket.

Because we have a nest of hawks in this really majestic oak that's up the hillside outside of my office.

And they make a high pitched keening sort of sound.

The parents and the babies,

I think,

Are keening to one another in the early morning.

Get food.

So I hear them when I'm practicing.

And when I can just let go into listening,

I do get a sense of being fully at peace.

So maybe take a moment right now and recall a time when you felt fully at peace.

Maybe you were in nature.

Maybe listening to music,

Just sitting quietly.

Maybe holding someone's hand,

Someone you love,

And you felt at peace.

So can you conjure that feeling up right now?

So can you conjure that feeling up right now?

And really how wonderful if we could be in the practice of looking for,

Really,

And then paying attention to those moments,

However fleeting,

Of being fully at peace so that we can recollect them whenever we want.

And I'd say this is really self-good,

You know?

And I've been wondering if maybe it could also be that this is good for others,

Just in and of itself,

Without anything more.

And I was thinking about that this week in particular because Tuesday was Rosh Hashanah,

The Jewish New Year.

So happy New Year,

Wishing you all a sweet year.

And I attended the live stream services at my synagogue.

And at one point,

A slide came up and it said,

Sanctuary is where you are.

And to me,

Remembering that is why recollecting moments of peace is not only being good for ourselves,

But it's also being good for others.

Or I guess maybe another way of saying that is it's why recollecting peace and it's why sanctuary is where you are really all the same thing.

Me.

Because the four perils,

You know,

Overwhelm,

Reactivity,

Perfectionism,

Living surrounded by conflict,

It's painful.

And the things our clients are dealing with and when they bring them to us,

That's painful and climate collapse and racism and COVID are frightening and painful.

But it's not just those things.

It's also that we so much want things to be different,

You know,

Better,

Safe,

Or more peaceful,

More loving.

And the way that plus amplifies the pain and causes so much more suffering.

So what if we practice being calm in mind,

Speech and action and fully at peace?

What if we practice listening to the hawks or the wind or the music or silence or holding the hand of someone we love?

And what if we practice recollecting that peace so that we can bring it into our experience anytime?

Maybe by doing that,

We can become a sanctuary for others.

In other words,

Maybe instead of always doing all the things we do to serve others,

We could carve out and dedicate a few minutes and stop all the doing and a few times a day,

Not do anything,

But just be a sanctuary,

Practice being a sanctuary.

Maybe we could even set an intention to provide sanctuary,

To provide safe space,

A calm mind peace for anyone who walks into our office or anyone who enters our virtual space.

And that would be,

Sure,

Our clients and our students and our staff,

But also our family and our friends.

Maybe in the classical sense,

We could do that for all beings.

If as Bhikkhu Bodhi says,

The best humans are devoted to the good of both themselves and others,

And if those are the true aspiring arahants for whom there is calm in mind,

Speech and action and no more wandering,

Then imagine offering that to everyone,

To our colleagues,

Our students,

Our families,

Our clients,

Our friends,

And imagine how much they'll appreciate and really cherish that sanctuary.

In fact,

Imagine if everyone in our lives could look for us and know that whenever they find us,

Wherever they find us,

They could count on that sanctuary is where we are.

I really think if we practice,

Then that peace,

That sanctuary can become ours to offer.

So let's sit.

Taking a moment to drop in,

Really feeling the body sitting or standing or lying down or walking.

Connecting to the earth and to each other and to ourselves.

And then recollecting that sense of peace.

Whatever glimpse of peace you can locate,

Remember,

Maybe it's here right now.

Letting that sense of peace be our own sanctuary.

We believe for ourselves first.

And then maybe being a sanctuary for one another.

Maybe expanding to invite sanctuary for anyone near you in your office or in your overall.

Thank you.

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Maybe even extending that sanctuary to all of your colleagues,

Family,

Friends.

Just imagining each of them coming to know you as a place of sanctuary,

A person of sanctuary.

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