Please find this and other writing on Substack.

Post World War II Priorities: After World War II, people prioritized materialism and security, leading to a focus on economic growth, better housing, and welfare states.

• Shift in Values: The younger generation (Boomers), exposed to economic prosperity and technological advancements, prioritized different values, leading to the rise of social movements in the 1960s and 1970s.
• Global Protests: Protests against the Vietnam War in the 1960s and 1970s, particularly in Washington, Tokyo, and London, highlighted the emergence of a younger generation with different priorities, and, I would argue, better music.
• Social Movements: The rise of various social movements, including the environmental movement, protests against climate change, anti-nuclear weapons protests, the women’s movement, and the LGBTQ+ movement.
• Post-Material Values: A shift in values from material affluence to post-material concerns like freedom, autonomy, and diverse lifestyles. Meaning, once your basic needs can be met (post-material), there is a tendency for cultural shifts to lean into things you can’t buy. On a side note, this happened notably during the Axial Age, when, after a high degree of affluence, the world saw wisdom traditions (in Persia, India, Greece, the Middle-East), rise in popularity and influence.
• Silent Revolution: A gradual process of social change driven by the replacement of older generations with younger generations holding different values. One. Funeral. At a time.
• Political Cleavage Shift: The traditional left-right economic cleavage in politics has been replaced by a new cultural cleavage.
• Cultural Cleavage Issues: New issues like women’s rights, childcare, welfare policies, and reproductive rights have become more important in political debates.
• Impact on Political Parties: The cultural split leads to a reshuffling of political parties, with new issues and new leaders emerging.
• Women’s Equality Movement: Post-World War II, women transitioned from traditional roles to industrial work, then back to domestic roles. The 1960s and 1970s saw a rise in feminism, demanding equal pay and challenging gender norms.
• Secularization Trend: As societies became more secure, the importance of religion declined, as documented in the book Sacred and Secular co-authored with Ron Inglehart.
• Secularization Trend: Dramatic change with declining religious affiliation, particularly in Europe, affecting both Protestants and Catholics.
• Data Sources for Secularization: Eurobarometer, Pew surveys, and World Values Survey show a decreasing proportion of people identifying as religious.
• Environmental Concerns: Growing concern for environmental issues, exemplified by the rise of Green parties, though initially supported by a small group.
• Climate Change Impact: Climate change is a major issue impacting politics, society, and values.
• Generational Shift in Values: A significant change in values is driven by successive generations with distinct political and cultural views.
• Generational Change vs. Life Cycle Effect: The shift is not due to individuals becoming more conservative with age (life cycle effect) but a generational change in values.
• Socialization Process: Formative years (childhood, adolescence, early work life) shape values, attitudes, and norms.
• Value Influences: Role models like teachers, family, community, and society contribute to shaping values.
• Value Stability: Values tend to remain stable after the formative years, influenced by early life experiences.
• Generational Value Shift: Values in society changed as younger generations with different values replaced older generations.
• Impact of Social and Political Changes: Social and political changes, such as the legalization of gay marriage and marijuana, reflect shifts in societal values.
• Influence of Historical Context: The values of individuals are shaped by the historical context in which they grew up.
• Generational Change Speed: The speed of generational change is unprecedented compared to historical norms.
• Deterministic Theory of Modernization: The idea that every generation is more liberal and tolerant is outdated and doesn’t reflect the diverse paces of change globally.
• Impact of Events on Generational Change: Short-term events like economic crises and terrorist attacks can temporarily reverse or slow down the progress of generational change.
• Generational Differences in Values: Older generations tend to be more socially conservative, while younger generations are more liberal.
• Impact of Period Effects: Short-term societal shifts, like recessions or security threats, can influence public opinion, but they don’t erase generational differences.
• Values of Older Generations: Older generations often perceive traditional values like patriotism, religion, and family as under threat and push back, especially at the ballot box.
• Social Liberalism’s Impact: Social liberalism’s expansion led to a minority status for traditional values, impacting those who felt their values were being lost.
• Rise of Authoritarian Populism: This shift fueled support for authoritarian populist parties, advocating for a pushback against social liberalism and the “woke agenda.”
• Authoritarian Populist Parties’ Agenda: These parties, while not always economically right-wing, aim to restore traditional values, often opposing immigration-driven diversity and advocating for positions like anti-abortion laws.
• Political Ideology of Right-Wing Parties: These parties oppose LGBTQ+ rights, globalization, and the European Union, advocating for national borders and nativism.
• Rise of Right-Wing Parties: These parties have gained significant support, votes, seats, and even entered governments in European countries, significantly impacting European politics.
• Understanding the Psychology: Beyond specific policy stances, there’s a deeper psychological aspect involving a sense of losing power, feeling silenced, and perceiving the world as changing against one’s interests.
• Free Speech and Cultural Shift: People feel their beliefs are becoming unacceptable, leading to a backlash and a sense of disorientation.
• Disorientation and Political Response: Disorientation, particularly among older generations, is a key factor in the rise of political movements that promise to restore a familiar past.
• Nostalgia and Political Appeal: These movements offer a nostalgic promise of returning to a past that feels familiar and less disorienting, appealing to those who feel left behind by societal changes.
• Cultural Issues’ Significance: Cultural issues, unlike economic ones, deeply impact social identity and one’s tribe, making the issues themselves more contentious and more personal, and more threatening to entire groups.
• Nostalgia and Social Change: People’s resistance to cultural changes stems from a nostalgia for past social structures and a desire to preserve their sense of identity. “Back-in-my-day-ism,” is more than just annoying. It’s a resonant misrepresentation of historical realities, that ignorance can inspire.
• Kinda’ like Brexit: Brexit, and its impulses, exemplifies the appeal of returning to a perceived (albeit fantastic) past glory, despite the practical implications of, in the UKs case, leaving the European Union.
• Brexit’s Impact: Boris Johnson viewed Brexit as a way to re-establish Britain as a major global player, similar to its role during World War II.
• Populist Party Appeal: Populist parties, like Trump’s Republican Party, capitalize on societal changes and promise to represent the “silent majority” who feel marginalized by the establishment.
• Materialist vs. Post-Materialist Appeal: Ezra Klein seeks to understand the material and post-materialist appeal of politicians and parties, drawing on global examples and knowledge.
• Transgressive Aesthetic in Politics: A transgressive aesthetic, characterized by challenging norms and institutions, is a recurring element in the politics of cultural backlash.
• Trumpism and Popular Policy Views: There is an argument that the appeal of politicians like Donald Trump lies in their adoption of popular policy views, such as opposing cuts to social security.
• Role of Transgressive Rhetoric: Transgressive rhetoric, including informal language and challenges to authority, is a key aspect of populist appeal.
• Populist Leaders’ Appeal: Populist leaders appeal to the “ordinary people,” often coded as white and native-born, by rejecting experts and authorities.
• Economic and Social Stances: Populist leaders often adopt left-center economic positions, supporting welfare and public services, while holding socially conservative views.
• Examples of Populist Parties: Examples include the Sweden Democrats, the Norway Progress Party, and the British Conservative Party under Boris Johnson.
• Rejection of Institutions: People feel that institutions and experts no longer respect their views, leading to a desire for leaders who reject these institutions.
• Appreciation for Transgressiveness: Even those who don’t agree with a leader’s excesses may appreciate their willingness to defy societal norms and institutions.
• Transgressiveness as a Political Strategy: Transgressiveness reflects a commitment to not be intimidated by societal pressures, resonating with voters who feel marginalized.
• Leader’s Appeal: Transgressive leaders appeal to outgroups by defending their values, using controversial language, and criticizing the establishment.
• Transgressive Leaders’ Actions: Transgressive leaders often transgress democratic norms once in power, engaging in patronage appointments, breaking the law, and facing corruption scandals.
• Outgroup Support: Outgroups, feeling excluded by the establishment, find resonance with transgressive leaders who challenge the status quo and advocate for their interests.
• Populist Transgression in Governance: Populist leaders often challenge democratic norms, with varying degrees of success depending on the political system.
• Impact of Political Systems on Populism: Majoritarian systems like the US and UK may see more transgressive populist leaders, while coalition governments in Europe tend to moderate populist parties.
• Turning Point in Populist Authoritarianism: Around 2010, there was a significant increase in the success of populist authoritarian tendencies, potentially due to various factors like economic crises and technological changes.
• Far-Right Parties’ History: Longstanding parties, often neo-Nazi, marginalized and below voting thresholds until recent years.
• Factors Contributing to Rise: Precipitating developments and long-term dissatisfaction, including dealignment in party politics and weakening of class identities.
• Party System Fragmentation: Mainstream parties lost support from the 1960s onwards, leading to fragmentation and a shift in voting patterns.
• Rise of Smaller Parties: The decline of major parties created opportunities for smaller parties, including progressive and populist ones.
• Populist Party’s Image Shift: Populist parties have become more moderate in their image, focusing on immigration and abandoning explicitly anti-European Union stances.
• Factors Contributing to Populist Support: Economic crises, immigration, and the rise of migrants contributed to the support for populist parties.
• Populist Party Growth: Populist parties are gradually gaining support and influence through electoral processes.
• Example of Giorgia Meloni: Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party, with roots in fascism, gained respectability and increased electoral success by moderating its image.
• Rise of Marine Le Pen: Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party in France has seen a steady increase in support, reaching 41% of the vote in the 2022 presidential election.
• Rise of Populist Parties: A gradual rise of minor parties, often with populist or nationalist agendas, is observed in various European countries, including France, Belgium, Poland, Turkey, and Hungary.
• Shift in Political Parties: Mainstream political parties have become more moderate, leading to a decline in their support and the emergence of new political forces.
• Demand-Side Factors: Profound demographic and cultural changes are creating a demand for politicians who offer a sense of security and identity in the face of societal shifts.
• Political Landscape: Analogous to economic markets, political systems have demand (public opinion), supply (party responses), and regulations (rules of the game).
• Tipping Point in Politics: A tipping point occurs when a minority group’s influence surpasses the majority, leading to a shift in political dynamics and potential resentment.
• Populism and Social Change: Populist movements, like the MAGA movement, capitalize on social changes, such as demographic shifts, to gain support from groups feeling left behind.
• Media Influence on Perception: The rise of algorithmic and engagement-oriented media, particularly post-2010, contributes to a perception of rapid societal change, even if not reflected in reality.
• Impact of Social Media: Social media platforms, with their comment sections and focus on identity-based content, create an environment where people feel increasingly scrutinized and silenced.
• Connection to Political Trends: The author suggests a link between the rise of populist authoritarian figures and the media’s role in amplifying fears and divisions within society.
• Internet as a Tool: The internet, as a tool, can be used both positively and negatively for democratic engagement and political communications.
• Information Access: The internet provides broader access to information, allowing people to break out of their local bubbles and access global events.
• Potential for Misinformation: The internet can also reinforce misinformation and disinformation, creating echo chambers and contributing to the spread of false information.
• Media’s Role in Politics: Debate on whether media, particularly social media, primarily drives support for authoritarian populists or reflects societal shifts.
• Impact of Social Media on Elections: Argument that social media significantly influenced Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign and Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, potentially changing the trajectory of American politics.
• Social Media’s Influence on Political Systems: Suggestion that social media’s ability to bypass traditional gatekeepers and amplify fringe voices can alter the political landscape and the types of candidates who gain traction.
• Algorithmic Influence on Information Consumption: Algorithmic media can create echo chambers by serving users content similar to what they’ve previously interacted with, potentially leading to polarization.
• Impact of Social Media on Politics: Social media has revolutionized campaigning, returning to a more personalized approach and significantly reducing the time and distance between political events and public awareness.
• Viral Spread of Marginalized Content: Social media’s ability to rapidly spread content, including marginalized ideas and figures, can significantly influence the political landscape, as seen in the example of Bolsonaro’s supporters.
• Social Media’s Impact on Society: Social media amplifies and expands existing societal phenomena rather than fundamentally changing them.
• Information Consumption Habits: Despite the rise of social media, television remains the most common source of information for people in various countries.
• Political Polarization and Media Consumption: The internet, like talk radio before it, contributes to political polarization by providing platforms for diverse viewpoints and fostering a sense of community among like-minded individuals.
• Twitter’s Influence: Twitter’s influence on politics is not direct but indirect, as it shapes the information and decisions of media, political, and technological elites.
• Public’s Political Engagement: The public’s engagement with politics is not solely through Twitter, as they also consume other forms of media like entertainment.
• Historical Context of Backlash: The current cultural backlash might not be unique, as history has seen similar populist authoritarian figures in the past.
• Reemergence of Authoritarian Movements: Authoritarian movements, including fascism, are reemerging due to the fading memory of their past discrediting.
• Impact of Historical Context: The interpretation of trends, such as the rise of authoritarianism, depends on the starting point of analysis.
• Global Spread of Authoritarian Leaders: Authoritarian leaders are emerging globally, exemplified by figures like Narendra Modi in India, Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines, and Recep Erdogan in Turkey.
• Populism’s Global Spread: Populism, defined broadly, has become a significant political force globally, particularly in developing countries, with examples like Venezuela, Argentina, Mexico, and Nicaragua.
• Populism’s Threat to Democracy: Populism, often associated with authoritarian tendencies, poses a threat to liberal democracy, contributing to democratic backsliding observed in various regions.
• Economic Factors and Populism: The 2008 financial crisis is cited as a contributing factor to the rise of populism, as traditional political parties failed to address economic concerns like stagnating wages.
• Economic Explanation for Populism: Initially plausible, but less convincing when considering affluent countries with strong welfare states experiencing populist surges.
• Cross-Country Analysis: Populism is not limited to poorer regions or countries, as evidenced by its presence in affluent nations like Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.
• Individual-Level Data: Survey data reveals that economic factors alone do not fully explain populist support, as individuals from various economic backgrounds exhibit such support.
• Voter Support Drivers: Cultural issues, not economic factors, are the primary drivers of voter support for populist parties.
• Economic Policies’ Limitations: Traditional economic solutions like job programs and training have limited impact on winning back lost votes.
• Alternative Approach: Social democratic parties should focus on expanding services, improving infrastructure, and providing educational opportunities, particularly in green industries.
• Left Parties’ Dilemma: Left parties face a dilemma in appealing to both their traditional working-class base and the more liberal segments of the population due to internal divisions on cultural issues.
• Center-Right Parties’ Adaptability: Center-right parties find it easier to adapt by forming coalitions with populist parties, allowing them to adjust immigration policies while maintaining their economic policies.
• Potential for Different Strategies: Ezra Klein suggests that understanding the current political landscape as driven by anxieties rather than just policies opens up possibilities for different political strategies.
• Obama’s Political Stance: Obama advocated for change while addressing cultural anxieties, a balance that is often overlooked.
• Political Figures and Change: Politicians like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez emphasize change, while others like Joe Biden focus on reassurance and electability.
• Synthesis of Change and Reassurance: Effective politicians can simultaneously represent change and address concerns about being left out.
• Political Optimism: It is possible to be optimistic about the future while acknowledging people’s fears, requiring a talented politician.
• Policy Popularity: Joe Biden’s policies are popular, but he and Donald Trump have similar approval ratings, indicating other factors at play.
• Issue Dimensions: Economic and foreign policy offer opportunities for politicians to promise deliverables and achieve them, impacting public perception.
• Cultural Change Challenges: More difficult to promise cultural preservation or reversal of populist policies compared to economic promises.
• Leadership Shift in UK Conservative Party: From radical economic change (Corbyn) to “get Brexit done” (Johnson) to a chaotic government of radical change (Truss) to a call for stability and continuity (Sunak).
• Sunak’s Leadership and Immigration Policy: Sunak promises stability and economic restoration but maintains the previous administration’s extreme immigration policies.
• Political Strategy and Populism: Discussion on the challenges faced by the conservative party due to the rise of populist parties and the need to balance reassuring voters with addressing concerns about change.
• Cultural and Economic Issues: Exploration of the connection between cultural and economic issues, particularly how concerns about inflation and economic change are often expressed in terms of cultural disorientation.
• Materialistic vs. Post-Materialistic Responses to Economic Issues: Analysis of different responses to economic challenges, comparing the focus on expertise and management (e.g., Mitt Romney) with a desire for fundamental change and a return to traditional values (e.g., Ron Paul).
• Economic Anxiety: Economic issues, such as rising prices and mortgage rates, can create anxiety that is both cultural and materialistic.
• Technocratic Management vs. Cultural Disorientation: Economic debates often involve a choice between technocratic management and addressing a sense of cultural disorientation due to rapid change.
• Addressing Economic Fears: Addressing economic fears solely through economic means might be misguided, as they are often intertwined with broader anxieties, particularly generational anxieties.
• Generational Conflict and Electorate: Younger generations age out of the electorate, potentially leading to a lag period where their political influence lags behind their cultural impact.
• Cultural Backlash and Political Shift: The counterculture becoming the mainstream culture leads to resentment and a yearning for strongman politicians among older generations.
• Projection for the Future: Uncertainty about the accuracy of demographic determinism in politics, but a potential for a new normal to emerge in 15 years as younger generations’ influence grows.
• Secular Changes and Generational Shifts: Long-term changes in values, such as secularization and declining religiosity, are evident across societies and time periods.
• Impact of Minority Status: When a once-majority group becomes a minority, they may feel disenfranchised and resort to self-censorship due to social pressures.
• Timeframe for Social Change: Generational shifts in values take time to manifest, and the effects of becoming a minority group are gradual.
• Demographic Change and Political System: Discusses the potential impact of demographic changes on the political system, particularly in the United States.
• Threats to Democracy: Highlights concerns about the erosion of democratic norms, citing examples like candidates refusing to accept election results and changes to electoral laws.
• Long-Term Trends and Political Challenges: Addresses the tension between long-term generational shifts in values and the immediate political challenges that could hinder democratic progress.
• Authoritarian Support Basis: Exploring the basis of popular support for authoritarian leaders, challenging the assumption that it stems solely from coercion or patronage.
• New Literature on Authoritarianism: Highlighting emerging literature that suggests genuine support for authoritarian leaders who promise security and order, particularly in times of crisis.
• Matovski’s “Popular Dictatorships”: Recommending Aleksandar Matovski’s book, which uses data from Russia and Central and Eastern Europe to argue that leaders like Putin may have public support due to their promise of efficient, strong-armed rule.
• Modern Authoritarianism: Shift from military coups to electoral authoritarian regimes using propaganda and information control to maintain support.
• Propaganda and Information Control: Manipulating democracy and controlling information through censorship and other means to shape public opinion.
• Historical Context of Totalitarianism: Hannah Arendt’s “The Origins of Totalitarianism” offers insights into the rise of authoritarian regimes in the 20th century, relevant to understanding contemporary trends.
• Democratic Backsliding Research: The need for new theories and research on democratic backsliding, focusing on the differences between old and new authoritarian regimes.
• Understanding Authoritarian Appeal: Investigating the popular support for authoritarianism, including the erosion of democratic norms, strongman leadership values, and the appeal of stability, security, and a return to past values.
• Comparative Analysis: Conducting comparative studies to understand the reasons behind democratic backsliding and the challenges faced by liberal democracy.]
• The rise of right-wing populism is a global phenomenon, not unique to the United States. Pippa Norris argues this is due to a “silent revolution” in cultural values, where younger generations prioritize post-material issues like freedom and autonomy over economic prosperity. This shift led to a cultural cleavage, replacing the traditional left-right economic divide in politics.

Doubtless, there have been significant shifts in social values, particularly in liberal democracies, over the past 50 years. The rise of feminism, secularization, and environmental concerns, noting how these issues have become widely accepted and influenced political and societal norms. An emphasis on the generational nature of these changes, explaining how formative experiences shape values and attitudes, making them less fluid in later life. Social psychologists have much to say on this, but for the purposes of my shameless thievery on this post, lets call it out as something obvious.

Older generations, feeling left behind by social liberalism and cultural shifts, are increasingly supporting authoritarian populist parties. These parties, promising to restore traditional values and national identity, tap into a sense of disorientation and nostalgia among older voters. Brexit, for example, was framed as a return to Britain’s former glory, appealing to a desire for a more familiar past. It should be noted, in like manner and form, that Putin is doing the same thing in Ukraine, except that his handiwork is more violent and didn’t involve any of that messy voting that Democracies are used to.

Populist leaders often employ a transgressive aesthetic, rejecting established norms and institutions, to appeal to groups feeling marginalized by cultural shifts. This appeal is strengthened by their economic policies, which often lean left-center, promising support for welfare and social programs. However, once in power, some populist leaders may also transgress democratic norms, undermining liberal institutions and values.

Populist authoritarian parties have been on the rise since the 1950s, but experienced a significant increase in success around 2010. This shift can be attributed to a combination of factors, including the decline of mainstream parties, the rise of populist parties’ savvy marketing strategies, and the increasing desperation of voters for politicians who reflect their values. These changes are further exacerbated by demographic and cultural shifts, such as urbanization, racial and ethnic diversity, and technological advancements.

The rise of algorithmic media and highly engagement-oriented platforms, particularly since 2010, has led to a rapid shift in public perception of societal change. While social media can amplify political discourse and enable the spread of misinformation, its direct impact on authoritarian populism remains debated. Critics argue that social media serves as a reflection of existing societal divisions rather than a primary driver of political polarization. I would add, as an educator, that we’re watching in real-time how the Nature v. Nurture Debate has added another component: Algorithm. So any kid, these days, has an added layer of complexity embedded in his, or her, upbringing. It’s now: Nature v. Nurture v. Algorithm.

While some argue that the current rise of populist authoritarianism is unprecedented, others point to historical examples like fascism and socialism, suggesting a reversion to the historical mean. Economic explanations for this rise, particularly in response to the 2008 financial crisis, are debated, with evidence suggesting cultural issues like race and immigration hold more sway. Left-leaning parties face challenges in addressing these cultural anxieties while maintaining their core values, potentially hindering their ability to counter the appeal of populist movements.

Politicians often struggle to balance promising change with reassuring voters anxious about the future. While some politicians focus on emphasizing change, others prioritize stability and continuity, particularly on cultural issues like immigration. Economic crises can create anxiety that is both cultural and materialistic, leading voters to seek competent government and economic security.

Generational shifts in political values, particularly towards secularization and liberalism, are evident but take time to impact politics. While younger generations may eventually dominate, the current political landscape is turbulent due to the resistance of older generations, who are using their remaining power to undermine democratic institutions. This resistance, manifesting in authoritarian tendencies and erosion of democratic norms, raises questions about the long-term stability of liberal democracy.

Again, nothing new. Maybe too obviously torn from books and articles already writte, but I’ve yearned for the grounding that historical reality can offer the cloudiness of theory. To that end, hope this was an interesting romp. Hats off to those who’ve inspired the missive: Ezra Klein, and Dr. Pippa Norris, especially.

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Source: What Are the Stages of Development? – Integral Life

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The Pain / Pleasure Trap – 10/18/2012

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https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/LeWYEDBsoft9G0plufcgDiq_fTB2woMY6kPxK0nquygz0gvJHxiI2MO4LzVm_w7yf2GMzhaAEQm-oQS6.HGxETQW4thOAzoqS

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Should you want to join us live on Monday evenings:

1. Scroll down on the homepage and get on our mailing list so that we can email you the pass/meeting code to get into the weekly, 7p PST gatherings.

2. Click here to Zoom with us.

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To gain access to the Dharma Talk, click here.

Should you want to join us live on Monday evenings:

1. Scroll down on the homepage and get on our mailing list so that we can email you the pass/meeting code to get into the weekly, 7p PST gatherings.

2. Click here to Zoom with us.

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Here’s the Dharma Talk followed by Q & A.

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Found this both fascinating and in alignment with what we’re doing at Infinite Smile Sangha. John Yang reports…

In April, millions of Christians, Jews and Muslims around the world mark Easter, Passover and Ramadan — some of the holiest observances of the year. But how are followers of these religions expressing faith and community when the pandemic makes traditional gatherings impossible?

Source: How religious observances are adapting to social distancing | PBS NewsHour

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It sometimes feels like the “Apocalypse” is nigh:

For people of many faiths, and even none at all, it can feel lately like the end of the world is near. Not only is there a plague, but hundreds of billions of locusts are swarming East Africa. Wildfires have ravaged Australia, killing an untold number of animals. A recent earthquake in Utah even shook the Salt Lake Temple to the top of its iconic spire, causing the golden trumpet to fall from the angel Moroni’s right hand.

But, as the article points out, wisdom traditions have their own way of suggesting that massive challenges like we are currently facing can help revealing how we might do things better. Let’s hope so.

Source: The Apocalypse as an ‘Unveiling’: What Religion Teaches Us About the End Times – The New York Times

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Source: What Living In A Buddhist Monastery Taught Me About Getting Through Quarantine | HuffPost

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VIA COMPUTER 

Downloaded the free Zoom app. You’ll need to do this BEFORE you can access the meeting.

https://zoom.us/download

Once you’ve downloaded the app then join the Zoom Meeting by clicking the following link.

https://zoom.us/j/826589078

Meeting ID: 826 589 078

VIA PHONE 

Call from the USA: 669-900-6833
Call internationally: +1-669-900-6833
Meeting ID: 826 589 078

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Just because we can’t meet in person doesn’t mean we can’t connect.

Until we are able to gather again, please join us tonight, Monday 3/23, at 7pm PST via Zoom. We will follow our usual format – Michael will give a brief intro, we will have a 20 minute sitting, followed by a shortened talk. Here are the details of how to connect:

There are two ways to join the meeting, your choice.
#1: via your computer (you must download the app first). You will have audio and visual access
#2:  via your phone (no app is required for the phone option). You will have audio access only

VIA COMPUTER

Again, if you’ve never downloaded the Zoom app you’ll need to do that BEFORE you can access the meeting.  It’s free.

https://zoom.us/download

Once you’ve downloaded the app then join the Zoom Meeting:

https://zoom.us/j/657934309

Meeting ID: 657 934 309

VIA PHONE
Call:  669-900-6833
Meeting ID: 657 934 309
In addition, please connect with us via our social media platforms:

InfiniteSmile.org
Facebook.com/InfiniteSmile
Twitter.com/infinitesmile
Instagram.com/InfiniteSmileSangha

or email: info@infinitesmile.com

Looking forward to being alone together.

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Quick Dharma Talk – 7/29/19

How is it possible to meet the continual challenges we face from a place of peace?

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___

Life Worth Living

Thursday evenings, March 21 to May 9, 6:30-9:30  (excluding April 18) and all-day retreat on March 30 at Lafayette-Orinda Presbyterian Church

 What does it mean for a life to go well?

What do I need to do to lead a life worth living?

What does it mean for life to feel good?

During this 7-week program, we will engage in dialogue with leaders of philosophical and faith traditions to explore how each imagines a life worth living (Utilitarianism, the Buddha, the Torah and the Hebrew prophetic and wisdom writers, Jesus of Nazareth, Muhammad, and Technology/Scientific Humanism).

We will also engage with contemporary individuals who understand their lives to be shaped by each of these traditions and enriched by practices such as mindfulness meditation, generosity, doing the most good you can through personal choices, compassion, rest, prayer, and forgiveness.

The program includes a retreat that invites you to reflect on your own worldview and approach to the questions under consideration and to enter a process of discerning the good life. During the last session, participants will be asked to articulate their own personal vision of a life worth living.

 To register contact renee@lopc.org. Cost:  $90

Registration fees are due by March 1.

For more information, contact Jane Doty MacKenzie

at lifeworthlivingsf@comcast.net

Limited scholarships available

Made possible through a grant from Yale Divinity School and the Templeton Foundation.

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The best way I can describe the effect is to liken it to a software upgrade for my brain — an update designed to guard against the terrible way the online world takes over your time and your mind.

Source: Opinion | You Should Meditate Every Day – The New York Times

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Robert Greene

I enjoyed this brief Quillette interview with Robert Greene. It both contextualizes much of what comes up in Sangha discussions. Getting over “ourselves” is serious business. But I write this with a smile on my face.

Question, question, question. Don’t assume that the reason that you feel something, and that it’s right just because you feel it. And in that kind of process, you will become rational, you’ll become somebody who can use empathy, you will have the ability to judge people properly and accept them for who they are as opposed to continually moralizing, wishing people were something that they’re not.

Source: “Stop Assuming that Everything You Feel or Think Is Right”—An Interview with Robert Greene – Quillette

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I enjoyed Jack Kornfield’s approach, relating to the topic of interpreting “enlightenment.” I would also add that what is available at every level, and at the core of every interpretation, is the simple experience of awareness. If our practice leads us here, so much else follows.

… it is wisest to speak of enlightenment with the plural s—as enlightenments. It’s the same way with God. There are so many forms: Jehovah, Allah, Brahma, Jesus, Kali, and so forth. As soon as followers say they know the one true God, conflict arises. Similarly, if you speak of enlightenment as one thing, conflict arises and you miss the truth.

Source: Enlightenments, Not Enlightenment – Tricycle: The Buddhist Review

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“Fundamentalism arises when any religious organization, or any person, attaches so intensely to some version of truth that it must be defended. In this space, the ego continually seeks security by playing out its drama of “attack and defend.” This drama offers all sorts of teachers and practitioners an opportunity to commit to various forms of separation where an attitude of “we’re right and they’re wrong” not only rules, but begets more attachment. This space can sow seeds of terrible violence all in the name of the collective egoic version of what it deems sacred.

Fundamentalism, in any of us, destroys that which it seeks to protect. It’s as if a hand, enticed by the elegant simplicity of a flower and wanting to possess its beauty, grasps its bloom and crushes what it wants most. Living from a place of true intimacy, where flowers could be experienced rather than possessed, would mean that ego would have to allow itself out of its own cage of security. Yet to do this the ego must surrender to that which it cannot control.

This Awakened surrender is rare since the ego is always busy seeking control. Even when this opening happens for[…]”

Excerpt From: McAlister, Michael. “Awake in This Life: A Guide for Those Climbing the Mountain of Spirit.” BookSurge Publishing, 2008-05-03T07:00:00+00:00. iBooks.
This material is protected by copyright.

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A beautiful articulation of how art reminds us of what is holy in our hearts.

The gesture seems to command us to halt, in such a gentle, dancer-like way that it also soothes and beckons. Calm down, it says; come closer.

Source: Is This the Most Powerful Sculpture at the Met? – The New York Times

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A part of me is surprised that it took so long for this story to be told.

Source:  The New York Times

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Here’s a link to a recent dissertation of practice by Michael McAlister. The attractive woman pictured on his left is his mother, a fellow USC Trojan.

Deepening Awareness: The Integration of Mindfulness Practices in United States High Schools – University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (16)

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Great read about the science of mindfulness: What we know, what we don’t know, and what the future holds. Especially interesting is the move in neuroscience concerning the conversion of states into traits.

Source: Meditators Under the Microscope

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Source: The Rohingya refugee crisis is the worst in decades – Daily chart

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Within each of us exists the potential to contribute positively to society. Although one individual among so many on this planet may seem too insignificant to have much of an effect on the course of humanity, it is our personal efforts that will determine the direction our society is heading.

Source: Dalai Lama: Our Future Is Very Much in Our Hands – The New York Times

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It’s one thing to play in a single Olympic Games–but add a second and then a third opportunity and then you wonder how Team USA Water Polo goalkeeper Merrill Moses, 38—and on the cusp of turning 39—remains physically sharp and mentally prepared to play a game where the majority of […]

Source: How Mindfulness Propelled USA Olympic Water Polo Player Merrill Moses To The Olympics

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In a city full of fitness and wellness tribes, it can be seemingly impossible to break into a new one — but not when it comes to joining the growing group of meditators. Last week, a New York Times article explored the “mainstream business practice and a kind of industry in its own right” that meditation has become. And though inclusive — it’s hard not to feel welcome at a group meditation — the movement is quickly becoming associated with millennials and start-up companies.

Source: My Meditation Binge, in a Nutshell

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“There are no nouns in the universe, only verbs. Everything is energy, nothing is real”, said Chopra in his opening remarks. Summarizing enlightenment, he said, “Be aware. This is the key to waking up.” Similarly, Tolle remarked, “Consciousness is where experience occurs. I am consciousness. Simply knowing that and slipping into the self beyond the self in this present moment is awakening.”

Read On

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What happens when the guru up and quits?

The controversial American spiritual teacher Andrew Cohen did just that about two years ago, and his disappearing act became an enduring mystery in the New Age world. In June 2013, amid increasing allegations of abuse and cultish behavior, Cohen formally apologized in an open letter to his worldwide community of followers and voluntarily relinquished his 27-year reign as their “Perfectly Liberated Spiritual Master.”

Perhaps this is not earth-shaking news to observers accustomed to tales of cult leaders gone bad, but within the spiritual subculture, Andrew Cohen quitting his job and vanishing was a very big deal. Despite all “the blood and tears he left in his trail,” as he sometimes boasted, he had consistently weathered all attempts to expose and depose him, and actually seemed to be at the top of his game.

Source: What Happens When Your Guru Disappears? – The Daily Beast

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Thanks for your patience.

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Join us.

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My only concern with the article centers around the suggestion in the piece that the “code” of “enlightenment” is something that some teachers say can be cracked. While I agree that it’s reproducible – traditionally called transmission – treating awakening as something that can be commodified can’t help but water-down the teaching as well as its expression.

It’s not just Google that’s embracing Eastern traditions. Across the Valley, quiet contemplation is seen as the new caffeine, the fuel that allegedly unlocks productivity and creative bursts. Classes in meditation and mindfulness—paying close, nonjudgmental attention—have become staples at many of the region’s most prominent companies. There’s a Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute now teaching the Google meditation method to whoever wants it. The cofounders of Twitter and Facebook have made contemplative practices key features of their new enterprises, holding regular in-office meditation sessions and arranging for work routines that maximize mindfulness. Some 1,700 people showed up at a Wisdom 2.0 conference held in San Francisco this winter, with top executives from LinkedIn, Cisco, and Ford featured among the headliners.

Call me old-school, but spending time at the feet of masters helps prevent the proliferation of limited selves that think they’re Absolute.

Read on: In Silicon Valley, Meditation Is No Fad. It Could Make Your Career | Wired Business | Wired.com.

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There can be little doubt that traditional religious frameworks are no longer speaking to new generations as they have in the past, especially in the West. In a recent article in the LA Times, Philip Clayton, Dean of Faculty at Claremont School of Theology, writes that the fastest growing religious group in the United States is “spiritual but not religious,” containing a shocking 75 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 29. Clayton argues that young people are not necessarily rejecting a sense of God, rather they feel that religious organizations are too concerned with money and power, too focused on rules and too involved in the structures of the political status quo.

This is why the Interspiritual Revolution is so important. In a recent book of magnificent scope, “The Coming Interspiritual Age” (Namaste Publishing 2013), Dr. Kurt Johnson, a former Anglican monk and evolutionary biologist, together with David Robert Ord, trace the history of the interspiritual movement from no less than the Big Bang.

Read on

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The Power of Vulnerability

Saturday, May 11, 2013

GREEN GULCH FARM ZEN CENTER

This one-day sitting will involve sitting and walking meditation, Dharma talks, Q & A and, by request, private interviews with Michael.

Confirmation will be sent to you when your $80 payment is received. Click the link below and you will be taken to our shopping cart check-out, followed up by our Paypal link. You can easily pay there with either a credit card or through Paypal.

Register Now

If you have any questions, contact us.

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Commuter Zen #98

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Commuter Zen #97

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The Power of Vulnerability

Saturday, May 11, 2013

GREEN GULCH FARM ZEN CENTER

This one-day sitting will involve sitting and walking meditation, Dharma talks, Q & A and, by request, private interviews with Michael.

Confirmation will be sent to you when your $80 payment is received. Click the link below and you will be taken to our shopping cart check-out, followed up by our Paypal link. You can easily pay there with either a credit card or through Paypal.

Register Now

If you have any questions, contact Kristi.

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A new study by Canadian academics says Mother Teresa was a product of hype who housed the poor and sick in shoddy conditions, despite her access to a fortune.

The Times of India, reporting on the controversial essay, wrote that the authors asserted Mother Teresa saw beauty in the downtrodden’s suffering and was far more willing to pray for them than provide practical medical care. Meanwhile, researchers say, the Vatican engaged in a PR ploy as it threw aside concerns about her suspicious financial dealings and contacts to forgo the five-year waiting period to beatify her.

 Read on…

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“Emptiness” is a central teaching of all Buddhism, but its true meaning is often misunderstood. If we are ever to embrace Buddhism properly into the West, we need to be clear about emptiness, since a wrong understanding of its meaning can be confusing, even harmful. The third century Indian Buddhist master Nagarjuna taught, “Emptiness wrongly grasped is like picking up a poisonous snake by the wrong end.” In other words, we will be bitten!

Read on

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The Power of Vulnerability

Saturday, May 11, 2013

GREEN GULCH FARM ZEN CENTER

This one-day sitting will involve sitting and walking meditation, Dharma talks, Q & A and, by request, private interviews with Michael.

Confirmation will be sent to you when your $80 payment is received. Click the link below and you will be taken to our shopping cart check-out, followed up by our Paypal link. You can easily pay there with either a credit card or through Paypal.

Register Now

If you have any questions, contact Kristi.

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Commuter Zen #96

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Commuter Zen #95

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I was glad to read this short piece by Joe Perez. Actually, I’m usually glad to read whatever Joe writes, but I’ve been concerned lately with what I’ve seen expressed in spiritual circles in terms of embracing simplicity as the answer to complex issues. This applies to all areas of our day-to-day lives: politics, relationships, consuming, child-rearing, and spiritual work. Nuance matters. This doesn’t negate the value of simplicity but we should be careful not to cling to elegance less we diminish its offering.

Anyway, give Joe a read:

I do worry when some folks talk about embracing paradox if they really mean to counsel an escape into an anarchic mind. Anarchy is best embraced in moderation.

via How to embrace both sides of a profound, conflicting wisdom | Joe Perez.

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In this evening’s talk, Michael talks about the parts of our experience that are effortlessly centered around opening. Michael equates awakening with the experience of riding, and purchasing, a bike. The components of any high-end bicycle, it seems, are singular and yet the style of the bike itself can vary.

___

Feel free to subscribe to this podcast on iTunes.

Click on the player below, in order to listen to Michael McAlister’s talk.

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No Such Thing As A Mistake

Saturday, February 9th, 2013

GREEN GULCH  FARM ZEN CENTER

We only have a few spots left!

This one-day sitting will involve sitting and walking meditation, Dharma talks, Q & A and, by request, private interviews with Michael.

Confirmation will be sent to you when your $80 payment is received. Click the link below and you will be taken to our shopping cart check-out, followed up by our Paypal link. Once you click the Paypal link, you will have the option to pay with a credit card of your choice.

Click Here to Register

If you have any questions, contact Kristi.

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Commuter Zen #94

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Commuter Zen #93

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May 3, 2011

Student: Have you ever forgotten more than you thought you could forget?

Michael: Interesting question, but could you get a little more specific?

Student: Well, something weird has been occurring in that I thought I knew what mind was, but in turning back to itself, there is such emptiness that no description really remains. I don’t know what mind is any more. I don’t know what “I” am any more. I mean I know that I fulfill all these roles at work, at home and in the world, but it’s like I’m losing a sense of being rooted at all. It’s bizarre, like I have some type of sudden, spiritually oriented forgetfulness.

Michael: Yeah. I know what you mean. When we start to wake up, it’s less about what we’re learning and more about what we’re unlearning. Less about what we’re hanging on to and more about what we’re letting go of.

Student: That makes sense. It’s like the Big Self doesn’t need to know mind or anything else, or does it?

Michael: The Big Self doesn’t need anything.

Student: It doesn’t even need to exist. It just is. And something will always arise out of its tenderness. Does this make sense? It is just strange.

Michael: Do you want it to make sense, or do you simply want to rest as that tenderness?

Student: Oh yeah. Thank you. So, I don’t really know how to ask this so I’ll just fire away: what brought you back.

Michael: Back from what?

Student: From your, I don’t know, summit experience. What brought you back down the mountain, so to speak?

Michael: Well, I spent a while forgetting what it meant to be human. Beer, football and peanut butter brought me back, but only partially. But I’m still forgetting that I’m here and that I’m necessary, on the one hand. On the other hand I also feel passionately driven to share this stuff while I live as a functioning member of society. I guess the big deal is that despite my blend of passion and non-attachment, I don’t get caught that much anymore. As the awakening process unfolds, this whole life get’s pretty relaxing. Make sure that you enjoy how life begins to express itself through you as your shifts begin and end. I mean you’re already on the cusp of this and probably have begun to feel how the mind gets reconfigured in ways that allow it to work in tandem with No Mind: the ultimate in reorientation. It’s pretty cool, but we need to continue our practice in order for it to stabilize.

Student: Thank you.

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Saturday, February 9th, 2013

GREEN GULCH  FARM ZEN CENTER

This one-day sitting will involve sitting and walking meditation, Dharma talks, Q & A and, by request, private interviews with Michael.

Confirmation will be sent to you when your $80 payment is received. Click the link below and you will be taken to our shopping cart check-out, followed up by our Paypal link. Once you click the Paypal link, you will have the option to pay with a credit card of your choice.

Register Now

If you have any questions, contact Kristi.

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So what’s the appropriate response?

Avoiding the issue isn’t the answer. Nor will our prayers and ritualized moments of silence be enough. We’re being called to act in the most profound ways. Despite this, the politicians and chatter class argue that it’s too soon to have a serious discussion about gun control, which is simply code for the very denial that keeps these tragedies showing up on our evening news. Running from the debate offers lawmakers cover so that they can keep their campaign coffers full and makes it sound as if they are working to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution. As long as this model holds there is little room for debate and no room for discussion. Not only does this lack of engagement allow for these gun tragedies to continue, it also allows for a broader dysfunction to flourish. No doubt, tragedies will continue to happen and shameful amounts of unconsciousness will unfold. But perhaps the tragedy and the cries heard from Newtown can wake us, and our representatives, from our cowardly slumber and inspire us to weave some sanity back into our gun laws.

We’re hardly afraid of debate in this country. We can debate a woman’s right to choose and whether or not homosexual couples should enjoy equal protection under the law. What we can’t seem to do is effectively figure out is how to debate the issues surrounding those mentally unstable people who legally gain access to, and then use, guns against innocents. These discussions will require civility and, let’s face it, Americans are great at heaping incivility on each other especially in the public square. Just turn on cable news. Listen to talk-radio. The vitriole can be so disheartening. But underneath the venom is nothing other than fear, and fear is the seed of anger. What are we afraid of? We fear that something we hold dear might be taken from us. One of the great truths that each of us realizes sooner or later is that everything will be taken from us no matter how tightly we might cling. So what’s there to fear if everything in our lives is borrowed anyway? Whenever we truly listen and feel like we’re heard, we get the chance to see through our fear and anger tends to dissipate. What might happen if we did this in relation to our broader political discourse? What if we listened at least as much as we talked?  For the record, learning to listen effectively is not naïve, New Age crap. It’s the appropriate path and it might keep us from having to so often console those who’ve had to endure what Newtown currently faces because our laws haven’t reflected common sense.

Common sense is in American DNA. None of us has to reach back to far in our memories to recognize that we are a people that can do amazing things. This isn’t a nod to American exceptionalism. Chest-thumping, in general, and as it relates to our gun laws, specifically, represents us at our worst. We can, and must, do better than this. Rethinking and reimplementing sane gun policy will require silence, patience and courage not just for the political class and the punditry, but for all of us. And I’m convinced that we can do it. The historian, Shelby Foote, points out that “… the genius of American politics is compromise.”  We’ve adjusted legislation relating to guns at both the federal and state levels in meaningful and effective ways before in our history.  It’s time we do it again. We just need the courage. For the sake of the dead and grieving, as well as the hopes and dreams that I hold for my own children and yours, I’m hoping that this tragedy helps all of us find our way.

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May 3, 2011 

Student: What is jealousy?

Michael: It’s a brutal celebration of separation.

Student: Nice.

Michael: Is that all you wanted to talk about?

Student: No. I’m dealing with something pretty brutal and yet, at the same time, interesting… and it ties into jealousy.

Michael: Want to share?

Student: Sure. We got robbed yesterday. There is still love and light filling our home, but my kids aren’t aware of it right now. Creativity is moving through me, trying to reassure my kids that we are still safe, even amidst the insecurity of an unpredictable life. How could it be otherwise? But I’m not sure yet how to help my kids feel the peace that I’m feeling.

Michael: Keep showing them that you feel peace. That very light will inspire them; slowly, perhaps, but it will inspire their own inner radiance.

Student: Yeah, I’ve kind of intuited that. I’m amazed actually at how the brutality of it all is recognized but it isn’t crushing me as it might have some time back.

Michael: It sounds like the confidence you have in your practice is offering you something.

Student: Peace in the face of it all, maybe.

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Your Gift Will Be Matched December 2012 Dear Friends, We have exciting news! One of our members has generously offered to match any donation up to five-thousand dollars made between now and December 31st. This means that your power as a donor has just been doubled. Please think of  the impact you can make by taking advantage of this opportunity and help support our cause during this season of giving. We believe that the work we’re doing at Infinite Smile Sangha is meaningful. If you agree, and have seen how our offering has made an impact on you or someone you love, please give. Any donation, large or small, helps us continue to provide support to you and those who find this work valuable. Your generosity matters and truly makes a difference. Bows, The Infinite Smile Sangha HELP THE CAUSE Your donation will be matched until December 31st. Donate Now STAY CONNECTED SHARE THIS EMAIL FOLLOW on TWITTER JOIN on FACEBOOK

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In practicing Buddhism, in whatever form or lineage you choose, there is going to be loss and disappointment. As Dogen writes in Genjokoan, “flowers fall amid our longing and weeds spring up amid or antipathy.” Looking back at my patterns now, I see this “loss” of mine a little differently. Now, I practice. I don’t wear beads too often. I still have books but I read them instead of carrying them around for show and tell. I shy away from wearing a Buddhist badge unless I have to. All of those things that happened to me that made me feel so alone were actually a slow peel of my conceptions and trappings I had about the religion of Buddhism.

via Dharma Lost and Found – The Under 35 Project.

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___

April 27, 2011 

Student: Since our last talk, it’s like everything, on the one hand, is easier and makes more sense. It’s like I’m seeing big picture and small frame more easily. Sometimes it’s as if I see them at the same time even. But there are also sticking points that worry me.

Michael: Like what?

Student: Like how friendships are being reconfigured in a huge way. We’ve talked about this a lot over the last year, I know, but as this practice has heated up, many of my friendships are just slipping away, and I’m letting them. This is mostly because I don’t relate like I used to, or maybe because I find relating on the surface level so uninteresting and I’d rather be alone. So, now I’m often alone.

Michael: Do you feel lonely when you’re alone?

Student: Some times, but not nearly as often as I would have just a couple of years back. In fact I was thinking about this just the other day how I feel so very content.

Michael: So what’s your greatest concern?

Student: Is it dishonest to keep a friendship alive just because sometimes I don’t want to be alone, but not necessarily because this relationship represents the deepest truth?

Michael: Letting go of friendships can involve both non-participation as well as limited participation, as well as full participation. The trick is being fully there when you are with someone. When we are fully present, we get to take on as much or as little of whatever offering is being made. Then we get to decide what to do.

The cautionary note is that harm can occur and ours and others’ light can be dimmed if we make participatory choices based on some unexamined need to anesthetize ourselves from the pain of loneliness. Just participate fully based on whatever is being offered, then choose consciously how to respond.

The post Dialogs With My Teacher #70 appeared first on Infinite Smile Sangha.

Zen teacher, David Loy has some thoughts:

Unless you’re on long retreat in a Himalayan cave, it’s becoming more difficult to overlook the fact that our world is beset by interacting ecological, economic and social crises. Climate breakdown, species extinction, a dysfunctional economic system, corporate domination of government, overpopulation –it’s a critical time in human history, and the collective decisions we have to make during the next few years will set the course of events for generations to come.

via David Loy: The New Bodhisattva Path.

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In Zen monasteries, a flat board is hung near the meditation hall, next to a mallet. This is the “han.”  Striking the han with the mallet calls everyone to meditation. Traditionally, these words are inscribed on the han:

Great is the matter of birth and death,
All is impermanent, quickly passing.
Awaken! Awaken!
Don’t waste this life.

Zen teachers often speak of enlightenment as resolving “the great matter.” Masters of the Zen tradition, from Bodhidharma to the present day, have taught that resolving the great matter of birth and death is the heart of practice. All the rest is ancillary.

Frankly, I couldn’t agree more with the whole “ancillary” argument. If this work isn’t about enlightenment, it’s merely about self-help. Worse yet, deep spiritual work can get sidetracked and go to war with war. Injustice, rather than being seen as a practice opportunity for delivering an “appropriate response”, sourced from an awakened generosity, can get covered by a false cloak of Buddhism thus reestablishing the very boundaries our practice helps us dissolve.

What’s the solution? Redoubling our efforts on awakening in whatever time it is that we have remaining in these bodies of ours. In maintaining a steady practice of stillness, we are afforded opportunities for massive transformation. This transformation allows for us to meet the demands of our contemporary lives with greater depth and, because of this, greater options from which we can choose to respond. Social issues, politics, economics, parenting, relationships all get enhanced as we pay closer and closer attention to the Great Matter. But circumventing this process by, as O’Brien points out, rearranging the furniture only dilutes both mission and purpose of a time-honored and well-tested experiment.

Awaken! Awaken!
Don’t waste this life.

The post Getting Back to the Great Matter appeared first on Infinite Smile Sangha.

Here’s another installment in a series of emails that took place between Michael and one of his senior students beginning the Summer of 2009. May you find the exchange interesting and enriching.

___

Apr. 19, 2011

Student: So the last few days have been amazing and I’ve held off talking about it because I wanted things to settle down and sink in.

Michael: Good.

Student: But then at last night’s Dharma talk, you said some stuff that seemed to simultaneously blow the top off, and drop the bottom out, of whatever was left of me. It’s so weird. I don’t really know where to begin. I don’t even remember what you said. I’ve been walking around feeling like I’m totally here and yet not here at all.

Michael: And that paradox of being all here and not here at all resonates?

Student: Totally. It’s so clear. But it’s not an action I need to take at all. I guess I’d describe it as something like, there’s only love, and I am in it and it is in me, and that’s all there is.

Michael: Good.

Student: How long will this bliss last and is there anything to do besides, I don’t know, just forget about it?

Michael: Just let the rewiring go forth unimpeded by any clinging. This applies to analysis, too. Let the bliss be bliss. Let the discomfort be discomfort. As you now know, every single thing is simply a facet on the Great Jewel of Love. Being able to consciously rest in that state is a great gift. It’s a state that has the potential to inspire and offer fertile ground in which amazing traits can grow. But this can only happen if we allow this opening the space to unfold. So no, don’t forget any of it. But also don’t grab it. It’s just a state, after all, born in time. Therefore, it’s temporary. Just let it be as it is, without trying to understand it, change it, fit it into a story, label it, fade it, build an identity around it or deny it. Any of these moves will defile the beauty of its offering.

Student: When this happened to you did it ever make you feel like your skin was too small?

Michael: Sure. I’ve also nearly continually felt as if the pull of my real world responsibilities weakened as my practice deepened. But like all feelings, all states and all things, even this is temporary. My sense is that the most important thing we can do, once we’ve begun to see through the delusions that are imposed on us by the boundaries of our minds, we can come back into the world as a practitioner, and therefore a sharer, of this offering.

Student: And we do this by teaching?

Michael: Yes. And we can teach in the simplest ways, whether we’re doing it formally from a cushion or we’re doing it informally in the way we order our latte in the morning.

The post Dialogs With My Teacher #69 appeared first on Infinite Smile Sangha.

… Buddhism has helped me understand in a richer way some of the truths of Christianity. Although expressed in different terms, many of the truths of Buddhism have resonance in Christianity (another subject I explore in some detail in “Growing in Love and Wisdom”). The Buddhist teachings on cherishing others over the self helped me embrace Christian humility. The Buddhist concept of emptiness gave me a way of understanding Christian notion on dying to self and rising in Christ. The Buddhist understanding of impermanence helps me deal with difficult mental states and feelings.

Read on

The post Christianity Enriched by Buddhism appeared first on Infinite Smile Sangha.

Here’s another installment in a series of emails that took place between Michael and one of his senior students beginning the Summer of 2009. May you find the exchange interesting and enriching.

___

Apr. 1, 2011

Student: Where is freedom in commitment?

Michael: Mine or yours?

Student: Is there a difference?

Michael: Ah, very good. So where is there “no” freedom?

Student: When we think we’re winning?

Michael: No freedom in winning? Really? Freedom is at the core of all things. As such it is “thingless” or, we could just as easily say, it is the “thingness” of things. This means that it’s all freedom. Freedom is the essence of all, therefore it’s always here whether our minds perceive that we’re winning or losing.

Student: So even in commitment there is freedom.

Michael: Commitment, in the ultimate sense, is a vow to protect the sacred freedom that we all share.

The post Dialogs With My Teacher #68 appeared first on Infinite Smile Sangha.

	Two Simple Words…   November 2012 Dear Friends, It was important to us that this email not to get lost in the shuffle since we, as a community, wanted for you to hear two simple words: Thank you. For over a decade, the Infinite Smile Sangha has been able to offer podcasts and videos of Dharma talks; online posts and video streaming of our events and discussions, as well as writings that speak to the hard to reach places within us — nearly all of it for free due to the generosity of our members. In order to continue our work we need your help. If Infinite Smile, and the teaching it offers, has made an impact on you or someone you love, please consider helping us maintain our presence in people’s lives by making a donation of any amount. Any donation large or small helps us continue to provide support to you and those who find this work valuable. Your generosity matters. It truly makes a difference. And it helps us continue our mission as we spread the Dharma. Bows, The Infinite Smile Sangha HELP THE CAUSE You can help us continue our offerings; all it takes is a small donation. Donate Now STAY CONNECTED SHARE THIS EMAIL FOLLOW on TWITTER JOIN on FACEBOOK

The post We Need Your Help… appeared first on Infinite Smile Sangha.

Here’s another installment in a series of emails that took place between Michael and one of his senior students beginning the Summer of 2009. May you find the exchange interesting and enriching.

___

March 31, 2011

Student: If someone said to you, “You must have more patience with the Universe than I do,” what would be your response?

Michael: As usual my response would depend a great deal on context but I’d most likely just smile. I might ask something like, “What other option might I have?” If they were able to hear it, I might suggest that we are the Universe and that the Universe is, as we’ve discussed, simply One Song of patience. As long as any of us continues to see ourselves as disconnected and apart from this great chorus, we’ll never know peace. Stop the war with yourself and everything else. Then I’d see if they wanted to go get some pizza and beer.

The post Dialogs With My Teacher #67 appeared first on Infinite Smile Sangha.

Here’s another installment in a series of emails that took place between Michael and one of his senior students beginning the Summer of 2009. May you find the exchange interesting and enriching.

___

Mar. 29, 2011 

Student: How are any of us to know for sure what we are supposed to do in life?

Michael: I don’t know. I mean I’d say that meeting every thing in life without clinging and then engaging from this openness works pretty well at helping us live amazing lives. I’d also say in this regard that vows help keep the practice alive. What’s your vow?

Student: I vow to meet and see Spirit fully in whatever form. I look forward to the spicy challenges here! Sometimes I desire things, like a marriage in which to explore relationship from this perspective, but increasingly, even that is given over. Maybe that’s not what’s in store. No matter. Because most of all, I just want to be helpful. Pretty simple if I continue dying to each moment and listening. Has your vow ever changed?

Michael: My vow is pretty simple: don’t defile Buddha, Dharma or Sangha. Basically, this means that I do my level best not to let what is small in me get in the way of the expression of the Big Self, the teaching, or the community. Even more basically, I work continually on not doing harm. So no, it hasn’t changed for quite some time. The implications of it, and the evolution of its impact, have continually shifted. But the vow helps me suture Samsara to Nirvana, earth with heaven, the relative to the formless, the real to the spiritual, in each moment.

Student: How have the implications and impact shifted?

Michael: It’s all gotten bigger and oddly more important. My family life has shifted, especially with the addition of kids. My marriage has taken on a different series of meanings as we’ve agreed to separate, keeping the kids as our main focus as we co-parent. It’s not easy but the practice of not doing harm has been amazingly helpful as we’ve watched our relationship to each other transform.

At the level of sangha, I would also say that the teaching moves through me differently and the teaching itself now hits more people. The teacher role has expanded. I have more worldly responsibilities and don’t have as easy a time maintaining the myriad levels of conscious practice as opposed to when I had far fewer distractions.

With all of this said, my vow has deepened this entire experience and allowed me to explore the subtleties of the vow to do no harm.

Student: Sounds like you’re leading a pretty normal life.

Michael: I’d say so.

The post Dialogs With My Teacher #66 appeared first on Infinite Smile Sangha.

Regardless of our tradition (and yes, this includes Buddhism), clinging to scripture or practice can distort sacred teachings. Ali Khan Mahmudabad’sexplores the blasphemy laws of both Pakistan and Indonesia

in this morning’s Guardian.

Believers are urged in the sixth chapter of the Quran to “not revile those whom they pray to other than Allah so that they do not revile Allah through their ignorance”.

via Pakistan and Indonesias blasphemy laws have no basis in the Quran | Ali Khan Mahmudabad | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk.

The post Blasphemy laws have no basis in the Quran appeared first on Infinite Smile Sangha.

The practice of mindful leadership gives you tools to measure and manage your life as you’re living it. It teaches you to pay attention to the present moment, recognizing your feelings and emotions and keeping them under control, especially when faced with highly stressful situations. When you are mindful, you’re aware of your presence and the ways you impact other people. You’re able to both observe and participate in each moment, while recognizing the implications of your actions for the longer term. And that prevents you from slipping into a life that pulls you away from your values.

He goes on to point out that…

In recent years, medical studies have found evidence of meditation’s many benefits, including protecting against health problems from high blood pressure and arthritis to infertility, reducing stress, improving attention and sensory processing; and physically altering parts of the brain associated with learning and memory, emotional regulation, and perspective-taking — critical cognitive skills for leaders attempting to maintain their equilibrium under constant pressure.

via Mindfulness Helps You Become a Better Leader – Bill George – HBS Faculty – Harvard Business Review.

The post Mindfulness Helps You Become a Better Leader appeared first on Infinite Smile Sangha.

No Such Thing As A Mistake

Saturday, February 9th, 2013

GREEN GULCH  FARM ZEN CENTER

This one-day sitting will involve sitting and walking meditation, Dharma talks, Q & A and, by request, private interviews with Michael.

Confirmation will be sent to you when your $80 payment is received. Click the link below and you will be taken to our shopping cart check-out, followed up by our Paypal link. Once you click the Paypal link, you will have the option to pay with a credit card of your choice.

Register Now

If you have any questions, contact Kristi.

The post Take a break and join us… appeared first on Infinite Smile Sangha.

The Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra, also called the Vimalakirti Sutra, probably was written nearly 2,000 years ago. Yet it retains its freshness and humor as well as its wisdom. Modern readers especially appreciate its lesson on the equality of women and the enlightenment of laypeople.

via The Vimalakirti Sutra – A Brief Overview.

The post Vimalakirti: Buddhist Bad-ass appeared first on Infinite Smile Sangha.

“The Buddha,” Vishvapani says, “emphasized the importance of practicing Right Speech on the Eightfold Path. But then again, the Buddha wasn’t on Twitter. In this day and age, we’re constantly communicating, not only through face-to-face interactions but also through texting, emailing, Skyping, Tweeting, and Facebooking. It’s difficult enough to apply Right Speech in a conversation with a friend. But how do we do it over text? Via email? On Facebook?”

During this election cycle, as the American public collectively engages in heated political discussions, practicing Right Speech is more important than ever. Throughout the retreat, Vishvapani shows us how to engage in Right Speech by asking ourselves, no matter what the medium: Is it truthful? Is it effective? Is it beneficial? Is it kind? Speech, Vishvapani tells us, is a central part of being human—it’s what connects us to the people we surround ourselves with. When practiced wisely, Right Speech can have powerful and transforming effects and allow us to express true wisdom and compassion.

via Right Speech | Tricycle.

The post Right Speech and the Election appeared first on Infinite Smile Sangha.

Here’s another installment in a series of emails that took place between Michael and one of his senior students beginning the Summer of 2009. May you find the exchange interesting and enriching.

___

The post Dialogs With My Teacher #65 appeared first on Infinite Smile Sangha.

Commuter Zen #92

The post Does spirituality support Awakening? appeared first on Infinite Smile Sangha.

Many people still see Buddhists only as robe-wearing monastics who have given up worldly things like sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. But there are different kinds of Buddhists. Some are celibate renunciates like the Dalai Lama. When asked on a recent TV interview if he ever thought about women, he said he doesn’t because he’s a monk, though occasionally he does notice a beautiful woman. As a monk, the Dalai Lama has taken vows that prohibit sex, partly because it can lead to attachment which is a distraction from the spiritual path. But other kinds of Buddhists are young, single and sexually active. Some are married. And some are “wild yogis” who don’t even look like Buddhists.

The post The Buddha Between the Sheets appeared first on Infinite Smile Sangha.

Here’s another installment in a series of emails that took place between Michael and one of his senior students beginning the Summer of 2009. May you find the exchange interesting and enriching.

___

February 15, 2011

Student: Is there ever any leaning from one person on another in a deeply conscious relationship?

Michael: Relationships that are truly conscious turn the leans and tilts of the ego into perpetual movements of Grace. So it’s not that there is no leaning, but rather that the natural ebb and flow of sharing, the natural give and take of deep communion continually and consciously inform an opening to what’s prior to the dance of the relationship. It’s a miracle when it’s done well and one of the most beautiful things any of us will ever see.

The post Dialogs With My Teacher #64 appeared first on Infinite Smile Sangha.

Here’s another installment in a series of emails that took place between Michael and one of his senior students beginning the Summer of 2009. May you find the exchange interesting and enriching.

___

February 25, 2011 

Student: How can the realization of stillness inform, say, a long-standing argument one person has with another?

Michael: It depends. For the most part, two things happen. First, the realization of stillness shows us that all arguments are simply petty expressions of ego. This renders them pointless in nearly all circumstances. Second, letting go of any long-standing, or should we say, long-held beliefs allows for our communication, both internally and externally, to shift from defending a position into cultivating an understanding.

Student: This seems to be exactly what is happening in my relationship with my ex-husband. It’s like a whole new perspective is beginning to unfold within me making our discussions over kid-related stuff so much easier. Not that it’s all easy. Some topics still get tricky for us, but as this practice has worked its way through me, I keep finding that I don’t have to “be right” so often.

Michael: That’s an amazing place. Totally undefended. Totally available.

Student: I feel totally vulnerable, but I’m no longer afraid of losing anything.

The post Dialogs With My Teacher #63 appeared first on Infinite Smile Sangha.

May all beings be compassionate and wise in the face of clinging…

COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh — Thousands of Bangladeshi Muslims angry over an alleged derogatory photo of the Islamic holy book Quran on Facebook set fires in at least 10 Buddhist temples and 40 homes near the southern border with Myanmar, authorities said Sunday.

The violence began late Saturday and continued until early Sunday, said Nojibul Islam, a police chief in the coastal district of Cox’s Bazar.

He said the situation was under control Sunday afternoon after extra security officials were deployed and the government banned public gatherings in the troubled area.

He said at least 20 people were injured in the attacks that followed the posting of a Facebook photo of a burned copy of the Quran. The rioters blamed the photo on a local Buddhist boy, though it was not immediately clear if the boy actually posted the photo.

via Bangladesh: Muslims Attack Buddhist Temples, Homes Over Quran Facebook Photo.

The post Bangladeshi Muslims Attack Buddhists appeared first on Infinite Smile Sangha.

Here’s another installment in a series of emails that took place between Michael and one of his senior students beginning the Summer of 2009. May you find the exchange interesting and enriching.

___

February 23, 2011

Student: Can it be said that as long as something is changing, a story is involved?

Michael: Yes. As long as there is any kind of movement, then there is no stillness. As long as there is no stillness, then temporary truths show up as the chatter of stories that the ego tells us. As long as this is our psychological and spiritual center of gravity there can be no awakening.

Student: So stillness is prior to movement.

Michael: It’s also what is after movement. Every single thing is born from, and dies back into, stillness.

Student: And this stillness is the same thing as what we might call, Emptiness?

Michael: Sure.

Student: And Emptiness is the beginning and the end of every single thing?

Michael: It’s also inseparable from every point in between each beginning and end. This is why in Zen’s Heart Sutra we say, “Emptiness is form, form is emptiness.”

Student: It’s all-encompassing. Never starts never finishes; never moves, never evolves. It just is.

Michael: It’s just this.

The post Dialogs With My Teacher #62 appeared first on Infinite Smile Sangha.

By Joe Perez

I am not

In love.

Love is

Of Me.

Love is

Upon Me.

Love is

Above Me.

Love is

Below Me.

Love brings

Me Alive.

Love begins

With Light.

Love descends

To Delight.

Love begins

With a Lie:

That Light

Precedes

The “I.”

Of: A preposition

Expressing the

Relationship of

The post Love Poem No. 1 from The English Kabbalah appeared first on Infinite Smile Sangha.

Here’s another installment in a series of emails that took place between Michael and one of his senior students beginning the Summer of 2009. May you find the exchange interesting and enriching.

___

February 22, 2011 (#61)

Student: Why does “other” show up out of oneness?

Michael: It’s a great question. Why is there anything at all? There are all sorts of glib answers but I’m guessing that the Infinite wanted some entertainment.

Student: So the Infinite does not create “otherness” in order to know Itself. The Truth is already fully known and the Infinite, or Big Self, only sees Big Self in all things. But “other” is created, then arises and is seen simply for delight. Is this qualitatively different than saying that the Big Self wants a dance partner?

Michael: As long as we see the Infinite and the Big Self as one and the same, there’s no difference. But, to be clear, know that the Big Self sees Big Self in everything and its delighted that it can also see the many small selves have been invited to the party.

Student: Everyone’s invited.

Michael: Everyone and everything. All the time.

The post Dialogs With My Teacher #61 appeared first on Infinite Smile Sangha.

OCTOBER 12-14, 2012 

MOUNT MADONNA CENTER

This weekend retreat will offer an approach to living fearlessly. Each day will involve sitting meditation, walking meditation and dharma talks followed by Q&A, as well as practice interviews with Michael.

Cost & Registration:

Depending on your lodging choice, the total cost per person including meals ranges from $210 to $370 for the entire weekend.

It is not too early to sign up.  The spaces are limited and sell out quickly. To secure your spot please click the link that corresponds to your choice. Confirmation will be sent to you when your payment is received.

Accommodations:

Each of the following includes meals and Sangha fee. Please select the best option and you will be taken to our shopping cart check-out, followed up by our Paypal link. You can easily pay there with either a credit card or through Paypal.

Bring your own tent or van – $210 –  Register Now

Center tent – $225 – Register Now

Shared room – $300 per person – Register Now

Single room – $35o – Register Now

Shared room for two with private bath – $370 per person – Register Now

If you have any questions, contact Joanne.

The post Join us. There are a few spots left… appeared first on Infinite Smile Sangha.

February 14, 2011 

Student: Under what conditions could death be characterized as a distraction?

Michael: Death is merely a return to truth. But our interpretation of death is almost always a distraction to this offering. So I’d say that both avoidance and celebration of death serve as distractions if either works to soften the full knowledge of death’s immediacy. This also applies to life.

Student: So would it be true to say that fear comes from running away from all that death offers rather than accepting the invitation?

Michael: Sure. I’d also go a step further. I’d say that fear is the name we give to the experience of running away from loss.

Student: What happens when we stop running and we’re just stationary in the face of all of it.

Michael: Love awakens through us.

The post Dialogs With My Teacher #60 appeared first on Infinite Smile Sangha.

Jock Gilchrist, The Review: Meditation has been a central component of religious traditions for millennia. Various methods exist, but it generally consists of quieting the mind to achieve a state of relaxation and clarity. Buddhists use it to cultivate virtuous qualities like compassion and equanimity because in the meditative state, the mind is compared to malleable gold. As it turns out, the sages of old actually tapped into quite a literal truth.

via The neuroscience of wellbeing | Wildmind Buddhist Meditation.

The post Wellbeing and Neuroscience appeared first on Infinite Smile Sangha.