For me personally, this is immediately what I think of when a buddhist tells me “there is no right and no wrong”. (I know this isn’t what you are saying Kim, but it was something I was thinking about a lot in the Heart Sutra class)
“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”
Another great piece Kim! I love the imagery of the morning walk and the slow shower and being outside. I am also neurodivergent and find it very very hard to be present in my body. I used to love slow walks outside all the time and being quiet in my body, but the past few years has felt like everything is disrupted in my nervous system. We did the teacher training together, and truth be told I almost never recommend meditation to anyone for the very reasons you mention. As I sit more, it feels like I am seeing more of the truth, and the truth is heartbreaking. It is very very uncomfortable. What is even more heartbreaking is that what I see is our economy and political system is falling apart before our eyes, and how that affects my day to day life as a college student. It seems most of my friends and family don’t even seem to care, don’t even recognize what is going on, or how much they are really suffering, or how much I am suffering. I know on an ultimate reality there is no right and wrong, and there is no… anything. But I don’t live in ultimate reality as far as I know… my everyday experience is in relative reality, and relatively, there is a lot of evil in the world right now. Buddhist teachings talk about “evil” regularly. Lojong slogan 11: “when the world is filled with evil, transform all mishaps into the path of bodhi”… maybe I’ll work with this one today. The dedication of merit: “defeat the enemy:
wrong-doing”. If nonduality or compassion is being able to contextualize an enemy’s actions or know they are suffering too, then I have been able to do this for a long time. I am also aware that most people are not able to do this: most people I know do not know how to put themselves in someone else’s shoes, even the adults in my life. It’s really surprising to me and heartbreaking. Anyway, thanks for your share. You do such good work Kim ❤️
I recently listened to a dharma talk Kyle that talked about the difference between empathy and compassion and how empathy is the first step, and also can be exhausting if we don't tap into it as compassion. I'm still working with all this too. I think where my heart breaks is that there is no justice in a non-dualistic world so we are then left only with our heartbreak to deal with. I guess that's the task.
For me personally, this is immediately what I think of when a buddhist tells me “there is no right and no wrong”. (I know this isn’t what you are saying Kim, but it was something I was thinking about a lot in the Heart Sutra class)
“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”
-Desmond Tutu
Thanks as always for reading and sharing Kyle. I love how deeply you think about all the things. We need more of yous in the world.
Another great piece Kim! I love the imagery of the morning walk and the slow shower and being outside. I am also neurodivergent and find it very very hard to be present in my body. I used to love slow walks outside all the time and being quiet in my body, but the past few years has felt like everything is disrupted in my nervous system. We did the teacher training together, and truth be told I almost never recommend meditation to anyone for the very reasons you mention. As I sit more, it feels like I am seeing more of the truth, and the truth is heartbreaking. It is very very uncomfortable. What is even more heartbreaking is that what I see is our economy and political system is falling apart before our eyes, and how that affects my day to day life as a college student. It seems most of my friends and family don’t even seem to care, don’t even recognize what is going on, or how much they are really suffering, or how much I am suffering. I know on an ultimate reality there is no right and wrong, and there is no… anything. But I don’t live in ultimate reality as far as I know… my everyday experience is in relative reality, and relatively, there is a lot of evil in the world right now. Buddhist teachings talk about “evil” regularly. Lojong slogan 11: “when the world is filled with evil, transform all mishaps into the path of bodhi”… maybe I’ll work with this one today. The dedication of merit: “defeat the enemy:
wrong-doing”. If nonduality or compassion is being able to contextualize an enemy’s actions or know they are suffering too, then I have been able to do this for a long time. I am also aware that most people are not able to do this: most people I know do not know how to put themselves in someone else’s shoes, even the adults in my life. It’s really surprising to me and heartbreaking. Anyway, thanks for your share. You do such good work Kim ❤️
I recently listened to a dharma talk Kyle that talked about the difference between empathy and compassion and how empathy is the first step, and also can be exhausting if we don't tap into it as compassion. I'm still working with all this too. I think where my heart breaks is that there is no justice in a non-dualistic world so we are then left only with our heartbreak to deal with. I guess that's the task.