#673 Forced to Care about Others, the Big Picture

     "When China burns coal, that pollution doesn't just stay above Chinese skies, nor does nuclear radioactivity from Fukushima stay only in Japanese coastal waters. The same is true generally for humankind and the rest of the natural world: when the ecosystems of the earth become sick, we become sick. In short, the ecological crisis is also a spiritual*** crisis: we are challenged to realize our interdependence - our larger 'self' - or else. What the earth seems to be telling us is Wake up or get out of the way."
       David Loy. "Awakening in the Age of Climate Change." Tricycle, Spring 2015.                               ww.tricycle.com


     *** "spirituality ... ‘the personal quest for understanding answers to ultimate questions about life, about meaning, and about relationship to the sacred or transcendent’."
       Greeson JM et al. "Changes in spirituality partly explain health-related quality of life outcomes after Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction." J Behav Med 2011; 34(6): 508-18.

     Atheists also recognize the critical role of spirituality - see:
       Sam Harris. "Waking Up. A Guide to Spirituality without Religion." Simon & Schuster, 2014.

#354 Upgrading Models of Reality - Traumatic OR Gentle?

     We tend to ignore (avoidance) perceptions that don't fit our current worldview (ideas, self-concepts, preconceptions, diagnostic boxes). So we live our lives according to, identify with, & understandably cling to, stunningly simple models of reality. One way or another, we squeeze all perceptions to fit this model. Were it not so, we'd remain perpetually amazed & immobilized by this incomprehensibly complex, rapidly changing universe.
     But as time passes, we're forced to recognize discrepancies between reality & our models. Periodically, this disconnect completely overwhelms our model, causing our entire current worldview to crumble ("suffer a breakdown", "loss of faith", "existential crisis", "shipwreck" etc) and we're forced to build a new, more adequate model that's a closer approximation of reality. Initially, this can be quite traumatic, yet this is an absolutely normal part of maturation - see: http://www.johnlovas.com/2013/06/shipwrecks-meaning-meaning-making.html

     Mindfulness practice is an evidence-based, surprisingly gentle, effective way of learning about reality, by intentionally, gently, slowly but progressively approaching & embracing our entire experience, including fears, and thus learning to be at home with & finding joy in this very life. It's a very effective way of constantly, intentionally upgrading our operating system, so our software doesn't need to crash.

Udayan Sankar Pal   www.facebook.com/UdayanSankarPal

#236 Porous & Grounded vs Existential Crisis

     The quality of porousness seems at first blush to be radically different than being grounded. Porousness is about fully recognizing and accepting the aspect of life marked by constant change - how all phenomena arise, remain for a while, then abate. Phenomena constantly pass through our awareness, like a bird might fly in through an open window on one side of a house, and then fly right out an other open window on the other side of the house.
     Grounded refers to stability, like a house built of stone. Stability is achieved because and after we consciously accept and embrace the fact that everything and everyone - ourself, every person, animal & thing we love - is in flux, transient, only here for a moment in time. 
     One becomes increasingly porous AND grounded as one lets go of trying to hang on to anything, lets go of trying to push anything away. No longer chasing nor being chased, one learns to dwell peacefully in the present moment with an open heart. This all comes about through mindfulness training. Otherwise ...
 
     "An existential crisis may occur ... when (people) realize that their death may be imminent. ... the meaning of life itself is at stake. In dealing with an existential crisis, it is important to have the courage to confront the loss of meaning and security. Then, a new sense of meaning may emerge which is essentially a receptive experience of connectedness with an ego-transcending reality, such as mankind, nature, or God. This reduces existential fear and despair and leads to acceptance of 'life-as-it-is', including its finitude."
       Yang W et al. Existential crisis and the awareness of dying: the role of meaning and spirituality. Omega (Westport) 2010; 61(1): 53-69.

     See also: http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2013/11/432-i-try-and-i-try-but-i-cant-get-no.html
     and: http://healthyhealers.blogspot.ca/search?q=Lesser

"We are so lightly here" (Leonard Cohen)