Hey everyone,
It's Judy Cohen and this is Wake Up Call number 352.
And we are embarking on a study or exploration of the Parmités.
And that word,
According to Norman Fisher,
And as I mentioned last week,
Is translated,
He translates it as gone to the other side or gone beyond the past.
Well,
I also hear the word,
Parmita,
Translated as perfection.
And behind this definition is the idea,
Or this is one idea,
That as we practice the six perfections,
Which are generosity,
Ethical conduct,
Patience,
Joyful effort,
Meditation,
And understanding or wisdom,
We are perfecting our minds and hearts.
And you can probably understand my reluctance to go to that word perfection because I always talk about perfectionism being one of the four perils of the law,
Along with overwhelming activity and living surrounded by conflict.
Plus,
I personally have a very strong and unhelpful perfectionistic streak myself,
And I love what Brene Brown says about perfectionism in her book,
The Gifts of Imperfectionism.
She says,
Perfectionism is not the same as striving to be your best.
Perfectionism is the belief that if we live perfect,
Look perfect,
And act perfect,
We can minimize or avoid the pain of blame,
Judgment,
And shame.
And it's a shield.
It's a 20-ton shield that we lug around thinking it will protect us when in fact it's the thing that's really preventing us from taking flight.
And yet we have these six paramitas,
These six perfections,
Which is why I appreciate Norman's approach so much,
Which is to invite us to imagine that we are or could be fully 100% generous and ethical and patient,
And that we are full of joyful effort,
And that we have a perfect meditation practice,
And that we're brimming with wisdom.
To imagine that while knowing it's not only not true,
But really not even possible.
And in doing that,
I think he's saying that then we can bring at least some of each of these qualities to fruition.
So sort of let our imagination of these six qualities take flight and live not only in the real world,
You know,
The possible world,
The world of calculated wins and losses and rights and wrongs,
Which we lawyers are so good at,
But also live in the imaginal world.
These six paramitas are the qualities of a bodhisattva.
And a bodhisattva is a word you've probably heard somewhere,
Maybe here.
In the tradition of meditation,
I first studied and still study Insight Meditation.
Our practice is about personally waking up.
Meditation practice,
The ethics we study and try to employ in daily life,
Whatever we call,
Whatever wisdom we can call our own,
We can cultivate.
All of that is pointing towards personal liberation,
Liberation from suffering.
It's personal liberation that invites everyone to be free and supports the idea or the truth that no one can be free until everyone is free.
But nevertheless,
Liberation that points at personal transformation and how that supports a wider transformation interpersonally and in society.
The path of the bodhisattva is another path,
And it's one that's directly about serving others.
It's a path in which not only do we understand that no one is free until everyone is free,
But also that we are responsible to free others.
And not just others,
But everyone,
Which of course is impossible.
But the path is aspirational,
Which is why Zen students who are part of this path chant,
Beings are numberless,
I vow to save them all.
When we embark on the bodhisattva path,
The first thing we have to try to understand is just that,
That the path is aspirational.
We're not,
We're never going to get to the end.
We're never going to save everyone.
We're never going to completely heal the world.
And I think this is something we know,
We can see it,
But in the law and also in activist circles and maybe elsewhere,
You know,
Sometimes we forget.
Or we misunderstand that.
And instead we think,
You know,
We can never stop that we have to keep working until we're completely used up,
Spent because there is just so much work to do.
But it's crucial to remember because otherwise we don't stop and then we don't have the space or the time to take care of ourselves.
And to be on the bodhisattva path to cultivate the paramitas is to remember to take care of ourselves so that we can take care of others.
As we look at cultivating generosity and ethics and patience and joyful effort and a nurturing meditation practice and wisdom,
We have to remember to cultivate those things.
Well,
Towards and for ourselves first,
So that we can understand and have the energy to take care of others.
And so that we can remember that we're signing up for,
You know,
A fathomless job,
Walking a path with no end.
You know,
And I love what Mother Teresa,
Saint Teresa said when asked how she could do the work she did knowing it was endless.
There were so many people in need in Kolkata,
Kolkata,
And she said,
You know,
I just picked up one body at a time.
And the second thing we have to remember is that we're going to encounter endless difficulties,
You know,
Difficulties that are external,
Too many to name,
Right?
And internal difficulties,
Like our own afflictive emotions,
Our fears,
Our anger,
Our hopelessness.
You know,
Part of being human is encountering internal and external difficulties.
Part of the bodhisattva path,
This path of impossible perfection,
This path of pure compassion is what it is,
Is bumping up against difficulties all the time.
But the main thing that we can maybe start to see when we embark on this path is that even though we'll never arrive at the end,
And even though the path will be,
You know,
Strewn with obstacles,
We have no choice.
You know,
We start to see that we've decided to dedicate ourselves to helping others,
To taking care of others,
To helping others wake up and just to helping others,
To being compassionate.
And as lawyers and law professors,
You know,
We've definitely dedicated ourselves to that,
You know.
And so we just do it.
We just pick up one body at a time.
And the third thing is,
And this is something that St.
Therese talked about as well,
We add love because otherwise it's not genuine.
So that's one of the ingredients that has to go in.
And then like all the great teachers we had,
We add one last quality.
And that quality might sound counterintuitive,
But it's a sense of humor.
And I'm not talking about a sense of humor about a client being deported or something terrible happening in the world.
But I'm talking about a sense of humor about ourselves.
You know,
That we're on this difficult path and that day after day,
Still we have to see how imperfectly we're trying to do the impossible.
And so we bring in a sense of humor and we shake our heads and remember that we're doing our very best for dedicating and rededicating ourselves every day.
And we're not really getting anywhere,
Right?
But still,
You know,
We're doing some good.
We're doing some real good.
So let's sit.
And taking a moment to find your own meditation posture,
Whatever will best support you.
Today.
And beginning to notice the breath in the body just flowing in and out.
Maybe reminding yourself or reassuring yourself that there's nothing.
To do right now,
Other than be with the breath.
And then beginning to open the awareness to your immediate surroundings,
Not engaging in any cognitive sense,
But simply sensing into your immediate.
Surroundings.
The space where you're sitting or standing or lying down or walking.
And then sensing where those surroundings are located on the land on the earth.
Maybe in the sense of.
On flat ground near the mountains,
I like.
On the hill in a city.
Sensing the other beings.
Human beings,
But all the other beings.
Wherever you are.
Maybe even sensing all of the beings.
And then taking one step back.
Stepping into.
Awareness.
The awareness that.
You're sitting that all of these other beings.
Are here.
Connected and formless.
And just resting here.
You.
Noticing when the mind tends to want to grab onto something concrete and when that happens,
Just gently let go.
And then locating the breath.
Sensing the breath in the body.
Taking a few deep conscious breath.
Wiggling the fingers,
Wiggling the toes.
Fluttering open the eyes if they were closed.
You.
Thanks everybody for coming to the wake up call today.
Have a great Thursday.
Have a great weekend.
I'll see you next Thursday.
Take care.
