What Do Wisdom & Compassion Look Like Right Now?

Mindfulness is many things but it's definitely not about hiding out. One thing mindfulness can help us to do is to cultivate greater wisdom and compassion - fierce compassion. This Wake Up Call explores what that means right now. Happy listening.

Transcript

Good morning or hello everyone and welcome to the Wake Up Call.

This is Judy Cohen.

This is call number 284.

It's January 14,

2021.

Let's see,

Six days before the inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States.

And one day after the 45th President was impeached for a second time and a week and a day after the US Capitol was attacked for the first time since the British invasion of 1814.

Also,

58 years since Dr.

Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speech at the Lincoln Memorial,

225 years since the founding of the country,

400 years after Africans were first kidnapped,

Brought to these shores,

Sold into slavery in a place that was then called by white people,

The new world,

But by the people who inhabited the land for hundreds of generations,

Turtle Island.

And 500 years since the beginning of the annihilation of the people of Turtle Island.

Also,

1550 years since Mohammed was born.

Let's see,

2070 years since Cleopatra ruled Egypt,

2020 years since the birth of Jesus,

2400 years since Socrates and Plato and Aristotle,

2600 years since Gautama Buddha lived in India,

And about 3000 years since Moses parted the Red Sea.

So,

Yeah,

When I keep this in mind,

Oops,

We're going the wrong way here on our slides,

There we go,

Trying to keep this in mind,

It's a little mind boggling.

It also makes it easier to see this as just one moment in a long,

Continuous string of moments that stretch back into ancient time.

And I think it makes it even more important to ask,

What now?

Which is the title of this wake up call,

What Now?

Last week I talked about don't know mind.

Not that I know what that is,

Except I do have these tiny fleeting glimpses,

And probably you do too,

And from those we maybe all know that it's this mind that's wide open,

That's not trying to say or know what is.

It's a kind of a recollection of our human lineage,

A kind of humility.

And when you're doing legal research,

When you're arguing in the courtroom,

It's hard to have don't know mind.

You have to know,

You have to not not know.

So you do know,

Which is appropriate.

But at the same time,

You don't really know.

You know your case,

Your goals,

Your client,

And what they want.

You know what's expected of you.

You know the possible outcomes or you know some of the possible outcomes,

But you never know what a witness will actually say,

Or how a jury will decide,

Or what your boss will think of your memo or your partner will decide to do next,

Or how the world will receive whatever it is that you're offering.

You don't even know what's going to happen on the way home from work,

Even if the way home is right now just from one room to another.

So you never really know.

Like who knows what's going to happen with this pandemic.

I talked to a physician yesterday who said,

You know,

We don't know so many things,

Will we still be contagious after we're vaccinated and how long will the protection last and when will herd immunity really occur?

And you know,

A very big one right now for me anyway,

Maybe all of us,

Is what's going to happen next week.

You know,

What's going to happen at this inauguration and around it and throughout the country.

And who knows what 46 will mean and what 45 has really meant and what 44 meant.

I mean,

In some moments I think I know,

But I really don't.

The Dalai Lama was once asked what the French Revolution meant,

And he said,

Too soon to say.

So we live in these very uncertain times.

And then again,

That's the nature of being human.

So what now?

And I guess what I want to say is just because we don't know,

Doesn't mean we don't know.

You know,

We still know a lot.

We each have a great deal of wisdom.

And we still care a lot.

We each have a great deal of compassion.

Wisdom and compassion,

The two wings of mindfulness.

And we need wisdom right now more than anything except compassion,

Because as the poet Gary Snyder says,

Who's also a longtime Zen student,

Wisdom without compassion feels no pain.

And maybe if you hear that,

Your response is,

Whoa,

Whoa,

Whoa,

Whoa.

Let's just go with wisdom then,

Because I've felt enough pain already.

And I feel that too.

And on Monday,

A friend and a teacher said that they got a call from a student from the hospital on oxygen battling COVID and over the line from their hospital bed.

They took off their oxygen mask and they said to my friend,

My teacher,

Please pray for me.

I'm scared.

Please pray for me.

So I don't want any more pain and I don't know anyone who does.

And here it is anyway.

So what now?

So yeah,

We need wisdom right now more than anything except compassion.

And we need compassion right now more than anything except wisdom.

There's the old Zen story about Wu Men,

The great teacher who was asked on his deathbed what was the goal of a lifetime of practice and who said an appropriate response.

So what is an appropriate response right now?

Well,

Maybe it's placing ourselves in the vast expanse of history.

Maybe it's deciding to not know.

Maybe it's rolling up our sleeves and doing whatever we can to support,

To love our clients,

Our students,

Our families,

Our friends,

Our communities,

Ourselves.

Maybe it's all of those things.

Maybe it's remembering Dr.

King's reminder that the time is always right to do what is right.

And maybe wisdom without compassion feels no pain really means that wisdom without compassion is cut off.

Wisdom without compassion is cut off,

Meaning an appropriate response without compassion is a cut off response.

So what now?

Maybe we come closer.

Maybe whatever it is,

Whoever is in front of us,

Whatever is inside of us,

Whatever is coming up in our solitary practice,

When we sit in silence,

We come closer.

Maybe whoever is in our home,

In our community,

In our line of work,

In our line of sight,

Maybe we come closer.

Maybe we keep our mind open not knowing and we keep our heart open too,

Even though it's enough pain already.

Because if wisdom without compassion feels no pain,

Meaning wisdom without compassion is cut off,

Then for sure this is no time to cut off.

For sure this is no time to cut off.

I mean,

Also for sure we need breaks.

I take breaks.

Please,

You know,

Take a lot of breaks.

Watch Netflix.

Drink a little wine.

Read a romance novel.

Go for a run.

Hide under the covers.

But when you come out,

Choose a wise,

Compassionate,

Appropriate response.

Or,

Better yet,

Notice you're already doing that.

You know,

Aren't each of us every day deciding and changing and shifting and considering and then choosing an appropriate response?

So maybe the appropriate response to what now is just remembering that you know what's right.

Maybe it's taking a few minutes in silence each day to give yourself the space to see that you know what's right,

To know that knowing,

And then to decide how to take action.

To see that you're already doing that,

That you're already doing what's right,

What's wise,

What's compassionate,

What's appropriate.

And so maybe right now it's sati,

It's recollecting,

It's mindfulness,

It's reminding yourself,

It's all of us reminding ourselves that we're doing what we believe to be wise,

What we believe to be compassionate,

Reminding ourselves over and over.

Keep doing that.

Do our best.

Do what we can.

Okay,

So let's sit together.

Finding a posture that's comfortable and supportive and dignified and helps you to remember that you are placing yourself every day in the path of wisdom,

In the path of compassion.

A posture that is not only remembering what wisdom and compassion are,

But really remembering that each of us is placing ourselves on that path as well as we possibly can every single day.

And taking some conscious breaths.

Settling in,

Inviting the nervous system to settle.

If it's not already,

It may already be.

And then with wisdom,

Seeing what's here.

Whatever is here is what's here.

Settledness,

Agitation,

Hope,

Fear,

Love,

Hate.

The wisdom,

The courage to see what's here.

The wisdom,

The courage to see what's here.

And also the kindness,

The compassion,

The care to turn towards whatever is here and welcome it.

Bringing a kind of a grace to this moment,

To your practice,

To yourself.

Thank you.

A beautiful,

Beautiful human just here for a flash.

And always doing the very best that you can.

Thank you.

And also remembering that just by remembering sati sati,

By remembering to be present,

To be here with what's here,

That very act is cultivating greater wisdom,

Cultivating greater compassion.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And if you have a practice of putting your hands together in Anjali mudra prayer position at the end of a sit,

Or even if you don't and you want to try that today and bowing,

Then just a suggestion today,

Make your bow be for yourself,

For your practice.

Thank you for being here,

Everyone.

Lovely to see you all.

There were over 50 of us today.

Take care and yeah,

Take care this week.

I'll see you next Thursday.