In reply to your comments about politics and listening to a variety of news and commentary, both liberal and conservative: I have listened to Donald Trump directly, his own words as you have suggested, There is no way to see a side of him that I agree with. This country is in deep trouble. Things change all the time as you observe AND it took a very long time to recover (change) from the horrors of the Nazis, for example. I am 78. I will age out unto death in a country that will sicken me. When every present moment is tinged with deterioration of truth and justice, the present moment is almost unendurable. Yes, I love my chai latte and the incredible beauty of the natural world: I know you talk about the sounds and smells of the present moment. Please consider becoming political once more and join the resistance. Sitting and watching the present moment is well and good and something to pursue ----if you are not an undocumented worker...
We're roughly the same age. I spent my whole adult life on the left, most of it securely inside a left information silo (in which I include liberal mainstream media, so everything from NBC and PBS to Democracy Now -- and I wouldn't be caught dead listening to anything on Fox.) Since breaking out of that, I have found aspects of Trump I like and agree with, and many I don't. I'm not surprised that he won, nor am I entirely disappointed. I'm not assuming that I know what the upcoming years will look like. And I definitely won't be joining "the resistance," although I'm sure I'll disagree with some things he does, maybe with many things he does. However, I don't want to turn the comments here into a political debate, as that wasn't the point of this post, and I've been involved in way too much of that recently.
I'd just suggest you might question your absolute assumption that you will "age out unto death in a country that will sicken me." Is that true? Can you really know that? How does it affect you to believe that? I'd recommend you contemplate the Taoist old Chinese farmer story (https://youtu.be/sWd6fNVZ20o). Living in presence is not just something that applies to drinking chai latte and strolling in nature. Where the rubber meets the road in my experience is when life gets difficult, when we face pain and painful circumstances, when things don't go our way. And the nondual perspective to which I point includes EVERYTHING. It all goes together. One seamless whole that cannot be pulled apart.
Thank you, Joan. Both the nominally spiritual and nominally political aspects of the stance, viewpoint, outlook, attitude, (non-)position you describe are deeply wholesome, as in unifying and helpful to the whole, at a time like this. Or rather, all the time. The realization or recognition that it's possible to take a non-partisan stance on people and circumstances -- "non-partisan" in the most deeply, even cosmically organic sense, the nondual sense -- while still acting helpfully in the world, and that in fact this stance is itself the most helpful thing because it short-circuits the mutual polarization and demonization that energizes and even creates the evil ("evil") things we hate -- this realization/recognition is so deeply needful right now.
Lately it has been such a pleasure to read, take in.. and let wash over this i your words and Amaya Gayle and John Astin❣️ Over thirty years of studies..meditation..retreats etc have led to Just This. Experiencing Life which We all are with all the ups and downs and side paths , which Amaya calls
Dear Joan, I experience the same "truths" that you describe and I come to your writing with a serious study of and background in all the latest neuroscience with a huge impact from Karl Friston's work on "active inference". I wanted to share a recent metaphor that came to mind. We can think of awareness/attention as a flow that can vary it's viscosity: it can vary from almost "solid" fearful, contracted, defensive egoic states (necessary for survival in the face of extreme threat to the continuance of life) to the ultimate fluidity and flexibility of the "freedom of groundlessness". The characteristic of "enlightenment" or as Sam Harris would say "waking up", is a skill in modulating this varying viscosity of attention/awareness so that our life proceeds with safety and homeostasis in our bodies and communities; with instant access, when appropriate, to the wholesome natural endowment of total fluidity of attention/awareness in a vast beautiful, living Universe of ever flowing energy.
On the political front, I think it is important to note the mechanisms of totalitarian control. We are ultimately social beings designed to tone down fight or flight, sympathetic autonomic activation, when we feel safe and co-regulate and cooperate around one another, face to face. In America, 60% of people don't have this option and are lonely; which then gives rise to free floating anxiety which is tapped by totalitarian political systems to permanently increase the "viscosity" of awareness/attention; ultimately to do horrible things like Nazi concentration camps. I would highly recommend the following book by Demet Mattias. If we understand what is happening we may be able to create a countercurrent to mitigate the worst impacts by reconnecting with others in the right sort of way.
The Psychology of Totalitarianism Hardcover – June 23, 2022
The viscosity metaphor is an excellent one. One can sense how thick it feels for so many right now.
Regarding the camps, I'm re-reading Man's Search for Meaning. It's a reminder of how conditioning can bend behavior in drastic ways, and of the value of acceptance, perseverance, and hope. If the round ups start there will be opportunities to activate compassion to mitigate harms as a natural response.
Your Non-Partisan Reflections and the following conclusion are very much appreciated here, rings very true. Thankyou as always. Can I share this para from another author along the same lines..."Whether we know it or not, we are vibrating energy fields. And to the degree that our personal attention is captured by some finite notion of ourselves, so that we are defending a particular territory or trying to rationalise our world through very specific ideas, to that degree we are much smaller than we can be."
A friend once said, "in lucidity of, 'the centerless boundless seamless' as you put it, (and concept- less, I might add) 'nature of present experience' -- just remember, you don't remember this."
That really speaks to me because it is plain for me to see that no thing endures for even a split second so what is there to remember except interpretations and stories signifying nothing. :)
I don't know for certain that we can't step out of it to see how it all goes together. Not conceptually of course, but who knows. As our lovely friend Peter Brown said in his last meeting," it does not matter what you do" which can be heard in different ways. Lately, I hear it as, do whatever you like, seeing and holding it lightly, as a kind of portal into deepening into this very subtle fact of alive beingness, without it becoming another framework or trap.
Just one quick comment on the political part. Yes to everything you said. It would be nice!
My sense about the current political zeitgeist is, I don't know why anyone sees any fundamental differences between the two parties anymore. "Trump" "Kamala" "JaBiden", and company, are mere figureheads in a cult of personality covering up a state of plutocratic oligarchy. Isolating and putting folks against each other as distraction to the fact that a small group of billionaires runs everything. Of course it is inevitable that power will be unevenly distributed especially in large complex societies. The point is, can those in power be replaced and oligarchy limited? The average American has little influence on politics and their requests/needs/ demands can only be met if wealthy Americans also want them. The experiment the visionary founding fathers saw was a far more egalitarian society. We'll just have to wait and see. <Chinese farmer story here>.
Absolutely spot on and refreshing as always Joan. You have inspired me to start my own Substack. Thanks for being you and stating that with us all. 🙏🙏🙏
If I may comment on an earlier post. For me, freedom from discomfort requires that I FEEL the discomfort. For example, my everyday state is one of tension which manifest in my abdomen.
A discomfort which is unnoticed until practicing stillness. At that point, I become aware of, focus on and allow the discomfort which seems to evaporate only to again begin thinking. My practice, be it my abdomen or what ever emotional state I'm in, is to engage/embrace/feel that state. Come back to that discomfort, watch it evaporate. Repeat Enjoy, Repeat Enjoy, Repeat Enjoy. Presence is a practice.
I'm not sure what earlier post you're commenting on, but I resonate with what you describe. The word presence is used in two different ways. In one sense, it refers to everything--this whole happening--it is ALL this undivided radiant presence, even thinking and daydreaming. In another sense, and in the way you are using it here, the word refers to being consciously present to the immediacy of present experiencing, "being here now," mindfulness, as opposed to being lost in thought or daydreaming. To avoid confusion and misunderstanding, it's always helpful to see how the word is being used in any particular context.
I often emphasize the first, all-inclusive sense of the word, and the completeness of everything as it is--no practice needed. Instead of working to "be here now," recognizing that all there is, is here-now-being. But unlike some radical nondualists, I don't deny the value of practices. In fact, perhaps I may write about practice in my next substack article. We'll see. 🙏
As long as I return to "uncertainty" from whatever rambling/stories my mind creates, I am at peace with "this" it is so comforting and can be so fleetingly easy to skirt. Thank you as always for your ceaseless focus on presence awareness. Cindi Smith
In reply to your comments about politics and listening to a variety of news and commentary, both liberal and conservative: I have listened to Donald Trump directly, his own words as you have suggested, There is no way to see a side of him that I agree with. This country is in deep trouble. Things change all the time as you observe AND it took a very long time to recover (change) from the horrors of the Nazis, for example. I am 78. I will age out unto death in a country that will sicken me. When every present moment is tinged with deterioration of truth and justice, the present moment is almost unendurable. Yes, I love my chai latte and the incredible beauty of the natural world: I know you talk about the sounds and smells of the present moment. Please consider becoming political once more and join the resistance. Sitting and watching the present moment is well and good and something to pursue ----if you are not an undocumented worker...
We're roughly the same age. I spent my whole adult life on the left, most of it securely inside a left information silo (in which I include liberal mainstream media, so everything from NBC and PBS to Democracy Now -- and I wouldn't be caught dead listening to anything on Fox.) Since breaking out of that, I have found aspects of Trump I like and agree with, and many I don't. I'm not surprised that he won, nor am I entirely disappointed. I'm not assuming that I know what the upcoming years will look like. And I definitely won't be joining "the resistance," although I'm sure I'll disagree with some things he does, maybe with many things he does. However, I don't want to turn the comments here into a political debate, as that wasn't the point of this post, and I've been involved in way too much of that recently.
I'd just suggest you might question your absolute assumption that you will "age out unto death in a country that will sicken me." Is that true? Can you really know that? How does it affect you to believe that? I'd recommend you contemplate the Taoist old Chinese farmer story (https://youtu.be/sWd6fNVZ20o). Living in presence is not just something that applies to drinking chai latte and strolling in nature. Where the rubber meets the road in my experience is when life gets difficult, when we face pain and painful circumstances, when things don't go our way. And the nondual perspective to which I point includes EVERYTHING. It all goes together. One seamless whole that cannot be pulled apart.
Thank you, Joan. Both the nominally spiritual and nominally political aspects of the stance, viewpoint, outlook, attitude, (non-)position you describe are deeply wholesome, as in unifying and helpful to the whole, at a time like this. Or rather, all the time. The realization or recognition that it's possible to take a non-partisan stance on people and circumstances -- "non-partisan" in the most deeply, even cosmically organic sense, the nondual sense -- while still acting helpfully in the world, and that in fact this stance is itself the most helpful thing because it short-circuits the mutual polarization and demonization that energizes and even creates the evil ("evil") things we hate -- this realization/recognition is so deeply needful right now.
Lately it has been such a pleasure to read, take in.. and let wash over this i your words and Amaya Gayle and John Astin❣️ Over thirty years of studies..meditation..retreats etc have led to Just This. Experiencing Life which We all are with all the ups and downs and side paths , which Amaya calls
ACTUALITY infinity at play❣️🙏
Dear Joan, I experience the same "truths" that you describe and I come to your writing with a serious study of and background in all the latest neuroscience with a huge impact from Karl Friston's work on "active inference". I wanted to share a recent metaphor that came to mind. We can think of awareness/attention as a flow that can vary it's viscosity: it can vary from almost "solid" fearful, contracted, defensive egoic states (necessary for survival in the face of extreme threat to the continuance of life) to the ultimate fluidity and flexibility of the "freedom of groundlessness". The characteristic of "enlightenment" or as Sam Harris would say "waking up", is a skill in modulating this varying viscosity of attention/awareness so that our life proceeds with safety and homeostasis in our bodies and communities; with instant access, when appropriate, to the wholesome natural endowment of total fluidity of attention/awareness in a vast beautiful, living Universe of ever flowing energy.
On the political front, I think it is important to note the mechanisms of totalitarian control. We are ultimately social beings designed to tone down fight or flight, sympathetic autonomic activation, when we feel safe and co-regulate and cooperate around one another, face to face. In America, 60% of people don't have this option and are lonely; which then gives rise to free floating anxiety which is tapped by totalitarian political systems to permanently increase the "viscosity" of awareness/attention; ultimately to do horrible things like Nazi concentration camps. I would highly recommend the following book by Demet Mattias. If we understand what is happening we may be able to create a countercurrent to mitigate the worst impacts by reconnecting with others in the right sort of way.
The Psychology of Totalitarianism Hardcover – June 23, 2022
by Mattias Desmet (Author)
The viscosity metaphor is an excellent one. One can sense how thick it feels for so many right now.
Regarding the camps, I'm re-reading Man's Search for Meaning. It's a reminder of how conditioning can bend behavior in drastic ways, and of the value of acceptance, perseverance, and hope. If the round ups start there will be opportunities to activate compassion to mitigate harms as a natural response.
Wonderful post Joan. Thank you again. You really hit the target in my opinion. Whatever the hell the target and “my opinion” are.
Your Non-Partisan Reflections and the following conclusion are very much appreciated here, rings very true. Thankyou as always. Can I share this para from another author along the same lines..."Whether we know it or not, we are vibrating energy fields. And to the degree that our personal attention is captured by some finite notion of ourselves, so that we are defending a particular territory or trying to rationalise our world through very specific ideas, to that degree we are much smaller than we can be."
Brilliant, Joan ❤️
A friend once said, "in lucidity of, 'the centerless boundless seamless' as you put it, (and concept- less, I might add) 'nature of present experience' -- just remember, you don't remember this."
That really speaks to me because it is plain for me to see that no thing endures for even a split second so what is there to remember except interpretations and stories signifying nothing. :)
I don't know for certain that we can't step out of it to see how it all goes together. Not conceptually of course, but who knows. As our lovely friend Peter Brown said in his last meeting," it does not matter what you do" which can be heard in different ways. Lately, I hear it as, do whatever you like, seeing and holding it lightly, as a kind of portal into deepening into this very subtle fact of alive beingness, without it becoming another framework or trap.
Just one quick comment on the political part. Yes to everything you said. It would be nice!
My sense about the current political zeitgeist is, I don't know why anyone sees any fundamental differences between the two parties anymore. "Trump" "Kamala" "JaBiden", and company, are mere figureheads in a cult of personality covering up a state of plutocratic oligarchy. Isolating and putting folks against each other as distraction to the fact that a small group of billionaires runs everything. Of course it is inevitable that power will be unevenly distributed especially in large complex societies. The point is, can those in power be replaced and oligarchy limited? The average American has little influence on politics and their requests/needs/ demands can only be met if wealthy Americans also want them. The experiment the visionary founding fathers saw was a far more egalitarian society. We'll just have to wait and see. <Chinese farmer story here>.
Thank you!
Absolutely spot on and refreshing as always Joan. You have inspired me to start my own Substack. Thanks for being you and stating that with us all. 🙏🙏🙏
Your writing is so welcome to my being, unconditional love,laying aside the struggle to be correct I enter real peace.🙏❤️🙏
;)
If I may comment on an earlier post. For me, freedom from discomfort requires that I FEEL the discomfort. For example, my everyday state is one of tension which manifest in my abdomen.
A discomfort which is unnoticed until practicing stillness. At that point, I become aware of, focus on and allow the discomfort which seems to evaporate only to again begin thinking. My practice, be it my abdomen or what ever emotional state I'm in, is to engage/embrace/feel that state. Come back to that discomfort, watch it evaporate. Repeat Enjoy, Repeat Enjoy, Repeat Enjoy. Presence is a practice.
I'm not sure what earlier post you're commenting on, but I resonate with what you describe. The word presence is used in two different ways. In one sense, it refers to everything--this whole happening--it is ALL this undivided radiant presence, even thinking and daydreaming. In another sense, and in the way you are using it here, the word refers to being consciously present to the immediacy of present experiencing, "being here now," mindfulness, as opposed to being lost in thought or daydreaming. To avoid confusion and misunderstanding, it's always helpful to see how the word is being used in any particular context.
I often emphasize the first, all-inclusive sense of the word, and the completeness of everything as it is--no practice needed. Instead of working to "be here now," recognizing that all there is, is here-now-being. But unlike some radical nondualists, I don't deny the value of practices. In fact, perhaps I may write about practice in my next substack article. We'll see. 🙏
As long as I return to "uncertainty" from whatever rambling/stories my mind creates, I am at peace with "this" it is so comforting and can be so fleetingly easy to skirt. Thank you as always for your ceaseless focus on presence awareness. Cindi Smith