The idea of Sangha has been on my mind a lot for the past month or two. Sangha is a Pali/Sanskrit word that describes one of the Three Refuges (a.k.a. the Three Jewels) that make up manifestation along with Dharma and Buddha. This triumvirate has some conceptual parallels. For Buddha: first person manifestation (I), art/aesthetic value, Plato's "the Beautiful"; for Sangha: second person manifestation (We), moral/cultural (shared) values, Plato's "the Good"; for Dharma: third person manifestation (It), science/objective truth (facts), Plato's "the True." In Buddhist practice, the Sangha is the group of people who practice Buddhism, i.e. the community of shared support that everyone can rely on (but the concept can obviously extend beyond that narrow definition and into any community of similarly intentioned people).
One of the questions Dante asked me in his email was what I do to improve and grow. Some of this is painfully obvious: I make very intentional decisions about what I eat and how I exercise, decisions that have paid off many times over so far in my life in regards to health and wellbeing. Also, not so obviously, for about the past five years I've cultivated the ability for compassionate introspection, which allows me to investigate whatever's going on in my life with curiosity and compassion. This really started with non-violent communication, which focuses on identifying feelings and their stimuli as the first steps toward honest resolution and acceptance of emotions. This by itself has gotten me a long way as well, and the first-person practice allows an easy transition into second- and third-person compassion, i.e. empathy. At a certain point I realized that this could only take me so far, and I started using HoloSync (which I've had conversations about with some people; basically, meditation tapes that stimulate brain wave patterns typical of experienced meditators. The results are pretty much identical to those of classical mediation) this past summer and just this past month started a daily meditation practice after a waning in HoloSync use. There is a unifying thread here: everything I practice on a daily basis I make non-negotiable (within reason) and pursue with the clearest intention and joy possible.
The problem, however, that I started to come to terms with in the past month or two is a serious lack of Sangha in my life. Pretty much everything I'm passionate about and practice and pursue regularly I do almost exclusively by myself, with a few exceptions here and there. I've been used to this for years, however, and I think I started to forget how powerful it is to have a community in which to pursue what you love. This blog is certainly a Sangha, but there are clear limits of distance that stop it from being as effective as it could be. When I hear about everyone else having conversations and hanging out I'm overjoyed sort of vicariously, but it tends to remind me how far away I am from the people that understand me the most. (Incidentally, once I started to investigate those feelings they started to resolve and I'm feeling better about the situation now than I did a few weeks ago; but still, the distance remains.) I remind myself, however, that there is a payoff at the end of this separation: the big Sangha in the sky (that sounds trite, but it won't in a minute).
Last week my friend Colin had a friend in town from the Bay area, a girl named Chloe who I'd met briefly this summer. The three of us were hanging out, and conversation turned to spiritual practice (she's a practicing Buddhist), intention, and community. Long story short, we had a conversation that I'd needed to have for a long time, and it brings me to my next point: a challenge to all of us.
Years ago, when we would spend ungodly numbers of hours in cars and on farms with nothing else to talk about, conversation would turn, generally speaking, to the multitude of ways in which society could collapse. So we tried to figure out the best way to deal with the possibility of apocalypse, and the general conclusion was: buy land. Build a community. Make it sustainable. Stock up. There were a lot of these conversations (I know Tevon and I spent a week straight talking about that shit when we were on our farm in New Zealand), and they haven't stopped since. But at a certain point (probably a series of points) I (and I think I can safely assume We) started to realize that there is a "better" way to live, one that can maximize human, cultural, and ecological (Buddha, Sangha, Dharma, anyone?) potential, and that this is actually the same thing as preparing a life based around the coming apocalypse. What a happy coincidence! But it's hard to maintain vision when lives move quickly and passions and motivations change even quicker. With that as a given,
Fuck That.
We have a tremendous, unavoidable responsibility to ourselves and to the world to design our lives and our lifestyles from the ground up exactly as we would have them. Why? Because we can. Because there's absolutely no reason not to. Because we have an exceedingly talented and creative group of people that have the capacity for truly transformative personal and cultural change. We are obligated to settle for nothing less than an idyllic, life-affirming vision of the future that radiates compassion and love in its every action and movement, that strives for perfection, however unattainable, every day of every year. So ask yourself: what did I do today that moved me closer to my highest potential? What did I do today to move someone else closer to theirs? And what am I doing that will have a lasting, building, cumulative impact on the manifestation of a brighter future? Are you honest with yourself about your short and long term commitments? Is it really that hard to get off of the computer and spend twenty minutes engaging in contemplative practice? Is it worth getting angry and upset and living with daily dissatisfaction? Is it worth giving less than everything for what you believe in?
I've asked myself this again and again for the past few months, and the answers have become less disappointing the more I ask and the more I organize my life in a way that cultivates compassion, intention, and love. I haven't been this happy and certain about and open to my future for a long time. So look inside, and be honest with yourself. There is no better time than right now, and there never will be. We have the opportunity to create a beautiful life, and a beautiful Sangha, but it will take vision and commitment. It's time to stop compromising our intentions and our future, and reaffirm out commitment to the future that we all know is possible.
9 comments:
Matt we really need you to be here--we need to have these conversations--i'll speak briefly in that i have been talking about moving this to a more formal collective that could work as our jumping point for networking, collective projects, supporting the interests of each--the list doesn't end. with that i would like us to work on developing a manifesto, visual image reflecting our identity, a name that encompasses us and our direction. matt i am so happy to hear what you have to say and the mindset you are traveling along--lets make this happen. i'm in the water- lets go swimming
This definitely echos a lot of my thoughts/recent conversations about the future that seem to be on just about everyone's mind. We had a dinner conversation the other night at the condo right after Tevon got back that was prompted by a question from mom towards tevon, "Do you have hope." Naturally that was countered with a blank-ish stare and then a little laugh. "i don't think i can answer that" "oh just pick one!" "no then" The conversation went all over the place from that point, flowed across personal morality and responsibility, skated through generational and gender differences, dripped on cultural relativity (india questions kept coming up) and really got everyone thinking.
What I found myself returning to was the idea of personal responsibility. Mom said something about having a duty to "fix the world," which i pointed out to be a generation difference. I do not feel that we ultimately have a duty to anyone or anything other than the duty to make ourselves happy, however you want to view that.
"We have a tremendous, unavoidable responsibility to ourselves and to the world to design our lives and our lifestyles from the ground up exactly as we would have them. Why? Because we can. Because there's absolutely no reason not to."
This hits that mentality nail on the head. We are responsible to ourselves to live our lives for the LIFE, and really for nothing else if we don't feel like it. What else are we going to do with our time on this earth besides live? So we might as well do it right. We only get one shot at this, and it would be a slap in the face to not live life to it's fullest. sounds a bit cliche but it just rings so true.
Just fuck it - i've noticed the phrase being thrown around a lot lately in reference to making decisions about almost anything (Dante). It means - fuck the standards, fuck the norm, just fuck it and do it - (nike had that one right) I think it is crucial that we all say fuck it and go towards living the life we want to live. There is absolutely no point in wasting our time working ad dumb ass jobs that we don't care about, or for some cause that really wont make a difference, or for any reason other than fulfilling our potential to live the good life.
There is no higher cause than our own lives and the lives of those around us. I'm all for helping impoverished brown babies, but only if it is something you feel truly compelled to do. Yes, we were born into privilege, but i do not believe that such a placement makes us indebted to the rest of the world. This is a path i don't feel like continuing down at the moment and i need to go so I can go swimming (something i've been talking about for ages and just decided to stop making excuses and go do it), so i'll stop there.
Basically -- Word. This made me think, more than i may have been doing lately. I am going to re examine my intentions in life and see if i am actually living the way i want to be.
The Buddhist idea of the "precious human birth" speaks to this as well; it reminds us not only that every life is precious, but that our own lives also deserve to be treated as such. Awareness of privilege brings responsibility along for the ride.
At first when I read this post I was intimidated, because lately I have given up the habit of free thinking. Thats not to say that I havnt been thinking, I have been doing my homework and problem solving my way through the days, but I have been ignoring the intimidating questions of how I feel as an entity apart from society. Critical thinking is so taxing and it rarely ever pays practical dividends. I have been assuming that society knows best and that I can follow its prescriptions. Get an undergrad degree, go to graduate school, develop career, have kids, retire, die. While this may be a perfectly adequite life I am thinking that Van gauge, gengis kahn, romeo and juliette did not have this mentality. There is too much to explore, too much to feel, too much too think about to sacrifice for the doldrum of security and ease! All of this of this I knew already and my passivity thrives inspite of it because I thought, "if I pursue meaning and satisfaction on my own terms I might fail and lose too much". What I forgot is that I have a group of friends that is, sincerely, more similar to me, more hungry for life, and more able to fulfill that hunger than any othe group I have encountered in highschool or college. Im not entirely sure the implications of all this, or even how realistic this perspective is, but I will certainly have plenty to think about in the coming weeks.
On the theme of developing cultural values that fit us as individuals and us as human era/circumstance there is one relevant idea i have been thinking aboot. I have been questioning (in large part as result of the previously posted video) the paradigm of growth and consumption. Perhaps happiness could be more prevalent in society if we worked less, shared more work, and consumed less. This would allow us to spend more time with relationships, healthy physical activity and community building.
fucking awesome nathan :)
Nathan for the win. It almost makes too much sense, consume less to work less to be more fulfilled and healthy...
Isn't it remarkable that we are all coming to similar conclusions, solidifying values, and envisioning futures that are all generally the same? Our studies are distinctly separate yet some quality within them is universal. Whether it is design, philosophy, community studies, social justice, human health, or personal introspection, these myriad paths are all leading to a similar place. My life is reorienting around this imagined place we are all seeking. i am studying place-making, the art of designing physical space in a way that promotes human connectivity, resilience, creativity, spirit. I am fully on board with keeping this dialogue fed and flourishing, i feel it to be moving forward at a pleasant pace. These things cannot be rushed; Rome was not built in a day. Solid courses of action are emerging from the fertile thoughts we are sharing. EXAMPLES: Lopez Island, starting some sort of school/organization/business, creating a collective.
For me this is beyond self-preservation, i am not looking for a societal escape route manifested as a utopian island fairytale. For true self-preservation we need to nurture the sangha, and for me, that involves forging connections and solidarity beyond the borders of my immediate friend group. Call it civic duty, moral code, human sense- i feel it strongly that service is my highest duty. Only through service to others will I myself feel served and full. A school built loosely around the umbrella of community-based learning interests me because of the wide variety of our expertize. We become the faculty, we bring guest faculty, we attract students across the globe who are interested in reclaiming community. Our community then becomes a model and not just an escape. And we send emissaries out to learn and share with other communities. Via the internet we join a growing network of communities. That is the most succinct version of this vision and I want to continue to flesh it out with you all. Also this community must develop a self-sustaining local economy, so as not to draw resources and energy from other regions. This is where all of my visions have been orienting around, informed by and forming the content of our recent conversations (chris, dante, mikail).
Matt, are you coming home for thanksgiving? Let's make a commitment to sit down for some real talk on this subject. Guys game? Looking forward to being in your presences, I wanna invite you all down to Oly for friday, I am playing a concert at adam's (he just built a bar in his basement and is throwing a speakeasy-themed party.) Also, I have a new ladyfriend in my life. She will be coming to the island and I want you all to meet her. JAH LOVE!!!!!!
Well. I'm outta step.
I'm not going to be home for thanksgiving, unfortunately, but winter break is like two weeks after, I fly home on the 12th of december
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