EYE of the NEEDLE -Spiritual-Political Walking My Talk

EYE OF THE NEEDLE: Threading My Spiritual and Political Talk and Walk
By Rev. Marcia Singer, MSW, CHt

I’ve been contemplating how to live in and serve a country and a world that elects the Donald Trumps and their hate-spewing, fear-mongering cohorts, elects them to dictate policies that claim to make us great and keep us safe ---but in fact are insanely misguided. Or purposely segregating and self-aggrandizing.

May I offer a two day meditation, a channeling of sorts from Myself to me, off the cuff, to share with kindreds, ‘awake’ and similarly committed to a nonviolently-oriented spiritual Path, in a harsh time.

HOW TO PROCEED:
1. Be vigilant, without succombing to cynicism, apathy or vindictiveness. Keep educating myself about how our government systems work, about what the Trump regime is up to, who is providing a counter to the worst of it, what my/our alternate Vision is. Be vigilant also means do not let Trump-ism be ‘normal’ for me, nor become complacent….And my spiritual path also asks me (even implores) to wish him well…. And all his team….for all our sakes. Pay attention, don’t go to sleep, and yet lean towards Thriving at each turn in my own life, for all our sakes.

2. Join the fight ---as a peaceful warrior, one whose arsenal has the power to blow up old, harmful mind sets that set people deadly against each other. Enter the fray with courage, and keep learning how to keep a calm center in the storm. Be the Eye that sees between the worlds, that sees via remembering the Divine nature of each soul here on Earth. Be the Ears that hear all the people, perhaps especially the pain-- and the potential (for ‘good’?)--of my so-called enemies….

3. Appreciate, enjoy, revel in the expressions of others that speak to truths in my own psyche. Seek these truths even in those I’ve rejected automatically as unlike me. I.E., embrace all the parts of myself, of Us, more fully, more willingly, being fear-less. Let the opinions and expressions of other thinkers, pundits, writers, cartoonists, politicians, neighbors! --move into the field of my consideration: Breathe, be porous, retain only what feeds my soul, let the rest go. Pause and consider what ‘disowned’ parts of my own Self that others are expressing –especially when it is outraged, scared shitless, deeply cynical, venomous or victimized (typically hardest for me to tolerate.) Listen to the values and unmet needs underscored by these less-than-owned parts of me, and of the Collective. Integrate a more fully mature me.

Analogy: pretend I’m the consumate Actor, willing to don the masks, play the roles of dispicable persons in order to appreciate and fathom their dark –and light sides. To better know the context of what they’ve been through, what they know --and don’t know yet that might be a saving grace. Continue to embrace ALL the inner selves, parts, characters –with impartial Awareness. Hold conscious ‘at’tension’ between opposing, yet complementary poles of opinion and points of view. Then, make choices, decide with an “aware ego.” (Thank you, Voice Dialogue.)

4. Go about my business carefree whenever I can. Be genuinely playful, humorous, creatively daring, ‘upbeat.’ Operative word: genuine. Discern more clearly the difference between authentic optimism, and the glib or perfunctory guises, arising from anxiety. Notice when “ego” --with its necessarily limited vantage point-- has temporary displaced my true joy. Push the reset button. Mindfulness will always be essential, to know I’ve forgotten, strayed, ‘sinned’ (“missed the mark”) ---temporarily. Come home, again and again. Breathe, come home. Be happy.

Why focus on this? Genuine joy is so needed in our world, just for well being. It’s a potent, life-giving reminder of who I really Am. This tells me that artificial, pretend glee is a distraction from real happiness, and leads me away from vibrant Service. It takes discernment to tell the difference. When I am ‘off,’ breathe away the performance anxiety, false faces, return to a more centered experience.

5. Distingish between the kind of grandiosity I see readily via the Donald Trumps –a sense of entitlement and majesty that runs roughshod over others, from the true entitled empowerment of a realized master. Their proclamations and promises may sound the same to unmindful, naive ears, but their vibration, their ‘energy’ is quite different.

Conversely, distinguish between the energetic of shamed humility brought on by hubris exposed –and the simple ‘ordinary’ humbleness of a person deeply informed by Spirit. There may be a fine line between the two, determined ‘simply’ by whether fear is the primary driver. Fear drives both a boastful announcement or a prideful fall; love and knowledge of the Greater Selfhood inspires invincibile empowerment, and true egoless humility. Trumpdom thus offers a ‘contrast’ to help me discern true power and realization, from its opposite, and, at the same time, to potentially inspire me to state my own magnificence. (This is a major lesson for me in this life!)

6. Educate myself about the politics of fear, because it is dominant in the world, and displaying itself in epic dimensions in our nation. “We have nothing to fear but fear itself,”said FDR: a brilliant note. Lesson One: remember that humans are animals, creatures with an instinct to do one of four things when they are afraid –whether the danger is real and immediate, or imagined. These knee-jerk reactions are to Run away, flee; to Attack, assert aggressively; to Freeze, play dead, become apathetic, disassociate; to Faint, space out, lose awareness and consciousness altogether. All of these native reactions can be life-saving when danger is real. Yet I have the potential to evolve, to develop my ability to mindfully Be Present, and access moves beyond the reflexive. I want to be able to access my deeper inner wisdom, and inspire others to do the same. --Sorely needed in a world in need of kindness, consideration, curiosity about Other, willingness to surrender animosity, cynicism, defeatism, revenge….

Reminder: there is a scale of sorts, for emotions. At one end are the worst feelings: Terror, feeling utterly alone and unsafe –Powerless. Next comes Rage –outrage, enrage, firey anger, vindictiveness, revenge –but it’s a step better than feeling terrified without power. Agression, lashing out, violent acts, are base, instictual attempts to relieve terrible fear, or overwhelment by pushing away (real or imagined) danger. Frustration comes along next, and Hope isn’t far away….nor Gratitude and Optimism…..And at the far end of the emotional spectrum, joy, elation, ecstacy, revelling, bliss await us.

6. Become savagely willing to cut through my own illusion and delusion, about who or what is ‘creating’ the ‘reality’ I experience….Ultimately, I either believe anOther is preventing me from happiness, peace and the sense of being blessed, or I look within myself for where I have resistance to allowing my own dream [experience of Good] to unfold more fully. My cosmology is key: do I really believe I am a “Source energy being,” part of which is “me” here on planet earth? Am I feeling connected to the All There Is, and to a Loving Intelligence at work in everthing? When the answer is “yes,” I am living with Vision about my Part in the blessed unfolding, focused on what I DO want to be, do, have, experience, with expectation that it IS mine to live). When the answer is “no,” not right now, I am subscribing to a disconnect, feeling flawed in my divine wholeness, subject to victimization by others, disempowered to live my Dream, and ‘give my power away’ to that Other I fear, loathe, despise, fight against… creating my sorry, negative expectations as ’reality.’

Metaphysics boot camp….We humans mostly base our concept of‘reality’ and what is possible, on what we are observing as ‘true’ in any given moment: rather than just as an indicator of what we’ve ‘created’ thus far…. Giving far too little credence to the realm of Infinite Possibility for Good…. Deepak’s “pure potentiality.”

Metaphysics Lesson Two: Realize that the “contrasts” we live, the good and bad, the dark and light, the saintly and evil, are the impetus to Wake Up, and co-create a far more fulfilling world for us all. And that may be enough! -Shining deLight, Marcia