It is so simple, and often so difficult.
We are individuals, bringing our unique capacities into the world, AND we are all cells of one body. This is not philosophy only; it is the living reality.
One With the World
Gene Gendlin famously wrote: “We are relationship first!” Before we are individuals, we are inextricably part of the greater world. This is obvious, yet we easily fall into the delusion of separation. This is a costly error, as emphasized by Buddha and other great teachers.
Feldenkrais liked to say that “eyes and light are a functional unity.” We are one with and inseparable from our environment. Without air — no lungs; without water — no thirst; without food — no hunger; without connection and longing — no love. We are already, always, an extension of the greater world.
“How grass can be nourishing in the mouth of lambs”
“How two hands touch and the bonds can never be broken”
From the poem “Mysteries, YES,” by Mary Oliver
Meditators often fall into a trap of focusing only within. We cannot find ourselves only within ourselves. Mind and body don’t exist without the outer world. Ironically, this internal focus can reinforce a sense of separation, where self and world feel divided. Big Mistake! Our practice of “Embodied Meditation” places equal emphasis on body, mind, and outer world. We sit with our eyes and ears open, learning to listen to one world — inner and outer as a unity.
The true purpose of inner practice is to create a deeper sense of connection to all of life. If our presence is not benefiting our various circles — family, close friends, larger community, country, and eventually all of life — our practice is incomplete. How can we know?
Paying Attention to Attention
Paying attention to attention is central. Choosing where we place our attention is the great power of the free human being. Even after all these years of practice, I am disappointed but not surprised by the tenacity of my self-oriented thinking. The pain of noticing these habits of attention, encourages me to widen my gaze, open to the world around me and sense the ever-present inter-connectivity. Bringing attention to the greater body is healing and whole-ing. This is not meant to devalue individuality. Our unique self can be a glorious gift to the world. The intention is to attend to self, other, and the needs of the whole situation with fluidity.
When I am tuned to the world first and myself second or, even better, to the two together, there seems to be a positive influence on the whole situation. We all have self(ish) oriented genes and generous, inclusive ones. Asking “where am I focusing attention”, with honesty and perhaps humor, often shifts my engagement with the moment.
This is where cultivating an “attitude of gratitude” is so helpful. Unlike many virtues, gratitude is always both inner and outer directed. When we are grateful for anything, we are connected to the greater body. When we receive a gift, no matter how small – a breath, a color, a smile – and we give back our thankfulness, the moment is complete. This giving and receiving makes a whole circle, the moment resolves into its completeness.
The great Tibetan teacher Chöygam Trungpa used a potent expression for living in harmony: “collaborate with reality”. For me this means to listen to what the moment needs, wants and asks for from me, as a cell in the greater body. For example, our kidney cells are different than our heart cells – all cells have individualized functions, differing contributions, in service to the whole body. This is a model for being in harmony with life. How is this moment inviting me to participate? We are participants in and co-creators of every moment of our lives. Living from inter-connectivity, we are cells of a greater body, collaborating with reality in life-giving ways. When in harmony like this, we are manifesting our true and authentic Self.
So simple, yet often so difficult.
I wish you well on your unique journey.
Thank you…….Russell
If you don’t know, (and even if you do), Thich Nhat Hahn’s great poem,
“Clouds in each Paper”, enjoy this profound expression of inter-connectivity.
If you are a poet, you will see clearly that there is a cloud floating in this sheet of paper. Without a cloud, there will be no rain; without rain, the trees cannot grow: and without trees, we cannot make paper. The cloud is essential for the paper to exist. If the cloud is not here, the sheet of paper cannot be here either. So we can say that the cloud and the paper inter-are.
“Interbeing” is a word that is not in the dictionary yet, but if we combine the prefix “inter” with the verb “to be”, we have a new verb, inter-be. Without a cloud, we cannot have paper, so we can say that the cloud and the sheet of paper inter-are.
If we look into this sheet of paper even more deeply, we can see the sunshine in it. If the sunshine is not there, the forest cannot grow. In fact nothing can grow. Even we cannot grow without sunshine. And so, we know that the sunshine is also in this sheet of paper. The paper and the sunshine inter-are. And if we continue to look we can see the logger who cut the tree and brought it to the mill to be transformed into paper. And we see the wheat. We know that the logger cannot exist without his daily bread, and therefore the wheat that became his bread is also in this sheet of paper. And the logger’s father and mother are in it too. When we look in this way we see that without all of these things, this sheet of paper cannot exist.
— Thich Nhat Hanh