Israeli-Hamas War

I hesitate to talk about and to not talk about the war. The war that has everyone’s attention. The war that has at least two sides which people are lining up on. And many of us in the middle not wanting to be forced to choose. From a distance, we have the option of not choosing. A privileged option that those living in the war zone can’t imagine. All of us frightened of what will happen next. Most wanting a cease-fire, and yet understanding why that doesn’t feel like an option. Most of us have strong feelings, even if we don’t know too many facts. But war is not about facts. It is about an inner truth – a moral knowing. I offer this response to a question posed by the poet Padraig O’Tuama.

THINGS I DO NOT KNOW ABOUT THE ISRAELI-HAMAS WAR

In the long run, what is it about?

What is going on behind the scenes that is not reported?

For whom is this war a proxy?

What do the death tallies mean?

Under what conditions did soldiers on all sides grow up?

At this same time, what other wars are being fought that I don’t know about and why?

Who is being asked to sacrifice what?

I don’t know the names of the dead, or of those who kill.

I don’t know the names of the hostages or the hostage-takers.

What do the soldiers eat for breakfast?

Who holds the hands of the soldier’s mothers?

What causes war?

How am I warlike?

~ Penny Hackett-Evans

Meditation as an exploration of your heart

Occasionally I need to give myself a shot in the arm for my meditation practice. Sometimes my practice just feels dull and like a task I have to push through. But I have found if I occasionally attend a longer meditation retreat, I get reminded of what it is that meditation provides and why I want to keep up this practice . So, off I went this week-end for a retreat which worked its magic on me!

At this retreat, I picked up a book by the late Ram Dass, “Polishing the Mirror” and I’ve found his recounting of his life and his stories about what meditation can do for us to be engaging and convincing! He talks about meditation as a “pilgrimage into your own heart” that takes time and attention. And he also talks about the idea of being a witness to your own mind, thoughts, feelings… and how we need to have what he calls “unbearable compassion” for what we find inside ourselves.

He compares meditation to women in remote Indian villages who must go daily to fetch water in a jug which they balance on their heads as they walk home – talking and laughing with friends. They journey home gossiping and laughing but they never forget the jar of water on their heads. They don’t forget their main purpose. Just so, we might carry around our own meditation practice with us more or less all the time as we go through our daily life. Just reminding ourselves what is important.

So that’s my book report for this week! I wish you well in your spiritual practice, whatever it is. And let us all be reminded that it takes time and attention and commitment to follow through on our practice --- and that it is this time and attention which is part of the goal. To stick with the pursuit of journeying into the center of our own heart.

I do also recommend the practice of occasionally attending a longer meditation (or yoga or writing or whatever your practice is) retreat as a way of renewing your commitment to yourself and to your own heart.

I honor the place in you

Where the entire universe resides.

I honor the place in you

Of love, of light, of truth, of peace.

I honor the place in you

Where if you are in that place in you and

I am in that place in me,

There is only one of us.

Namaste.

~ Ram Dass

Morning Meditation

I like the Plum Village app on my phone that offers dozens of different guided and also silent meditations from the center where Thich Nhat Hahn resided. This morning I stumbled on a 20 minute silent meditation preceded by a lovely "Morning Chant". After hearing the chant I found myself just falling into a deep sense of peacefulness such as I so rarely feel during my meditations. Like everyone, I can get caught up in "trying" , in feeling bored, in trailing offing in long minutes of random thinking during meditation. But, for whatever reason, this morning I was completely captivated and transported to peacefulness by this chant. The words are;

In stillness we sit.

Our hearts are at peace.

A smile is on our lips.

This is a new day.

We vow to go through it

in mindfulness,

so the sun inside

can rise and shine

in every direction.

If you would like to listen to it for yourself, you can click HERE.

May you have a peaceful and mindful day.