Wisdom And Not-Wisdom In Action, Plus Sweet News

There’s “ordinary” news: market whiplash; leadership/not leadership; greed, hatred, and delusion. But there’s sweet news, too: the child of a friend and benefactor who cleans houses for a living - a child who’s been planning to be a lawyer since they were five - got into Princeton undergrad with a full ride. Princeton, full ride, with a solid foundation of love and goodness underneath them: leadership in the making.

In the middle of the muck (from the incredibly hard work of scrubbing toilets), a triumph.

From the deep mud, a gorgeous lotus.

Transcript

So welcome everybody,

It's Judy Cohen and this is Wake Up Call 486.

Nice to see you.

So on Monday night,

I got to sit with the Working Group for Lawn Meditation and many of you know we've been sitting together for a long time.

In fact,

When I wrote that on my notes for today,

I wanted to go back and check the precedence and I saw that we've been sitting together since Bill Clinton was president,

Which I don't even know how that's a thing.

It just seems like a million years ago.

Anyway,

So on Monday night we were talking about the law firms,

Those who have capitulated,

Those that are resisting to the administration demands,

Which is another thing,

I don't even know how it's a thing.

But anyway,

One thing we landed at was the obvious,

Which is that in a way,

It's an object lesson in the three poisons of mindfulness,

Which are greed,

Hatred,

And delusion.

Jaw-droppingly high-salary people acting in their own interest in keeping their huge businesses going,

And yes,

Also interest in serving their clients and taking care of the people who work there,

And the two aren't necessarily separate in acting this way,

Becoming complicit in violating the rule of law.

And we especially wondered what the people who are voting complicit are saying to their siblings,

Their friends,

Their kids who lead ordinary lives and don't have gazillions to protect,

And wondering if they're justifying what they're doing or if they're defending it,

Or if maybe they don't feel like they have to.

So,

I invited my law students to debate this yesterday because I figured they would figure this out,

They would have a lot of good ideas,

And it was perfect because we were talking about the middle part of the path.

So wise communication,

Wise action,

Wise livelihood,

Right?

I think I mentioned last week on the call about wise communication and this acronym I like to use of thinking.

So,

Saying what's true,

Helpful,

Interconnected,

Necessary,

And kind,

And then listening with curiosity,

Attentiveness,

And patience,

So that's thinking.

And then wise action,

Which is doing no harm,

And not taking anything that's not freely offered or essentially not stealing,

Not misusing sexuality,

Not taking in substances that cloud the mind,

Which Thich Nhat Hanh taught us includes media,

Social media,

Advertising anything we take in,

And not just intoxicants per se,

Not using unskillful communication,

So it loops back to wise communication.

And then wise livelihood,

Which also overlaps,

So all of the above,

Plus not dealing in intoxicants,

Not dealing in poisons,

Weapons,

Or humans,

And doing no harm.

And you know,

That doing no harm is that big bucket that the law students,

Anyway,

They have an interesting time with that one.

So I invited them to plug in these precepts and then debate the merits of complicit versus resistant,

Imagining they were partners at the table of one of the firms being hit with an executive order.

And the resist group argued,

Here's what they said,

The resist group argued that the firm should resist in order to stand by the rule of law,

Protect its reputation as a strong independent firm so as not to lose clients,

And because economically it would impact the firm more negatively in the long run to lose their good reputation than it would benefit them in the short run.

They were very practical.

The capitulate group argued,

And then I saw a lot of them out in the hall continuing to argue after the class,

Which was kind of fun.

The capitulate group argued that their duty to their clients and employees was paramount,

That the work they were doing in federal court was too critical to abandon,

And that pro bono work was per se in alignment with their values,

Even if the work they would be required to do might not be.

And this was just before the news broke about Steve Banks at Paul Weiss,

Their chair of pro bono,

Leaving the firm.

So the two sides were debating,

And they were using mindful communication and mindful action really beautifully,

I'd say.

And we were kind of coming to a close,

And then one person in the complicit group,

And this is a younger person,

This is a person in one of the younger years,

I think they're either a 1L or a 2L,

Said,

Kind of took the stage,

If you will,

Took the room,

And in a moment that it clearly had not been rehearsed,

Said,

You know,

We're placing too much focus on values.

If we're being truthful,

We didn't come here for that.

Remember,

The context is this big.

We didn't come here for that.

We came here to grow the firm and make money.

And there was pretty much general non-cynical agreement to that.

And by the way,

If there's anybody here from class,

I'm just kind of looking.

I've mischaracterized anything.

Forgive me for that.

But I don't disagree.

And I'm also trying to not be too cynical about it,

Because I feel like,

You know,

This is a place where folks are feeling like they need to live right now,

You know,

In a moment where there's a need to protect what we have.

And if that means making concessions on values for what this perception could be like a short period of time,

You know,

Then I think people are doing it.

And I just have this curiosity about if maybe this is one way,

One element of the way that democracies fall.

So that's that.

And then I wanted to shift into a love story,

Because in the middle of all of this moment,

Which is so anti-diversity,

Anti-equity,

Anti-inclusivity.

And of course,

That's some of the pro bono work that these firms are agreeing to do,

Right?

A beautiful thing happened.

So we have a friend,

Benefactor,

And they slipped into the U.

S.

25 years ago without any documentation,

Raised some kids,

Watched the older one graduate from college and become a medical professional,

And just found out that the second one who graduates from high school in June got a full ride,

Full ride,

Tuition,

Room and board,

Transportation to Princeton.

And so there have been a lot of tears of joy in the neighborhood.

And,

You know,

There's no doubt that the kid made this happen.

This kid deserves this scholarship.

They worked insanely hard and this entree into this elite institution.

And obviously,

There's no legacy,

Obviously,

Right?

So they did it 100 percent.

And I think of this friend who worked herself to the bone,

But with so much gladness to be in this country,

Right?

And reported every drop of income and paid every tax and is sending her youngest off to Princeton on a scholarship.

Oh,

And the kid wants to be a lawyer.

So this is our country right now,

Right?

It's a place where many people,

Including partners at huge law firms,

Feel unsafe and are making choices because they feel unsafe.

And yet it's still someplace where somebody can slip in,

Raise a family,

Watch their children rise to the most elite top of the ladder.

And of course,

I get the irony,

Right?

Because in both cases,

The law has been broken.

So anyway,

Princeton is flying the parents and the kid out for New Student Week.

And the parents are going to be in peril because they're flying with only a driver's license.

So since a meta towards Sonoma and towards the flight between here and New Jersey,

They get out there and back without incident.

And I talked to this friend and she told me that she said,

You know,

It's OK.

She said,

I'm not ready to be deported.

But if I'm caught,

I mean,

She's not ready to be deported because she wants to mother these children for many more decades up close.

But if she's caught and she's deported,

She said,

It's OK.

I feel like it's a job well done.

So we have these law firm partners who are taking home between what?

I don't know,

$800,

000 and $5 million a year in some ways of looking at it.

I looked it up.

And they appear to be motivated by greed,

Hatred and delusion or fear or all of the above.

And then we have this person who's motivated just by love,

Just by love to do this incredibly hard work of the world so that one of the kids can rise to the top.

And maybe she's going to be a lawyer,

Run this old tired world one day.

That's my story for today.

So finding finding your posture for for today.

For the next few minutes,

Just sitting quietly,

Standing quietly,

Maybe lying down,

Maybe driving.

One person wrote me this morning that they'd be flying.

So if you're listening to the wake up call from 30,

000 feet up.

Welcome.

And finding that comfortable posture.

That's relaxed,

But also dignified.

Hey.

Because there's so much dignity.

In taking a few moments of silence.

And finding the breath.

I'm just beginning to follow the breath from the bottom of the in breath.

All the way to the top of the in breath.

The pause.

And then as the breath flows back out.

And that little pause before.

The next breath flows in.

And if either of those stories is still alive for you.

I was thinking about the story,

The Cherokee story of the two wolves.

It's a parable about inner conflict,

But that we all have these two wolves inside of us.

And the one that is going to win is the one that we feed.

And so I was just thinking in terms of what you're sitting with.

You know,

It's kind of a tale of two countries.

So now,

Where is your heart?

What do you want to live to?

Which story?