Radical Inclusivity, Fierce Acceptance
07/03/20 • 26 min
A little while back there was a request that I talk about acceptance and activism, the requester speaking from the common position that the two are in opposition to each other. This is because of the connotation that acceptance means something is okay, alright, copacetic just as it is. However, taking it on a basic level, acceptance simply means allowing that something is, that things are the way they are at present and they are here, no qualifiers of "good," "bad," or anything else added in. This allowing is a way of freeing up one's energy from struggling against, denying, or even justifying and fortifying the reality of the existence of something, allowing space for it to be more fully and clearly what it is. And this is a crucial first step in activism: it allows one to more fully see and acknowledge what is, to more clearly notice how its being affects the being of other things, and then to respond more fully, directly and in appropriate measure. In other words, it's about meeting, engaging, challenging and transforming the things we encounter within and around us, as we continually co-create, nourish, and endeavor to maintain a healthy and vibrant ecology of existence throughout the vast landscape of the ten thousand things.
So, acceptance and activism? Yes, please!
A little while back there was a request that I talk about acceptance and activism, the requester speaking from the common position that the two are in opposition to each other. This is because of the connotation that acceptance means something is okay, alright, copacetic just as it is. However, taking it on a basic level, acceptance simply means allowing that something is, that things are the way they are at present and they are here, no qualifiers of "good," "bad," or anything else added in. This allowing is a way of freeing up one's energy from struggling against, denying, or even justifying and fortifying the reality of the existence of something, allowing space for it to be more fully and clearly what it is. And this is a crucial first step in activism: it allows one to more fully see and acknowledge what is, to more clearly notice how its being affects the being of other things, and then to respond more fully, directly and in appropriate measure. In other words, it's about meeting, engaging, challenging and transforming the things we encounter within and around us, as we continually co-create, nourish, and endeavor to maintain a healthy and vibrant ecology of existence throughout the vast landscape of the ten thousand things.
So, acceptance and activism? Yes, please!
Previous Episode
Evening Things Out, Bending Toward Reality
"A sage steers by the bright light of confusion and doubt." - Zhuangzi
Ah, how good to hear this, given the abundance of confusion and doubt these days. And yet, the abundance of confusion and doubt is not because the world has fundamentally changed, but because the usually reliable and dependable ways of perceiving, organizing and understanding our world are being challenged, losing their relevance, falling apart, revealing more fully the ever present, chaotic nature of reality itself. These templates we develop and stories we perpetuate are helpful to have as we navigate through life, but the more we solidify, fortify and insist upon their validity, the more removed we become from the reality we're navigating, so much so that when we meet this reality more directly, we call it chaos and are filled with confusion and doubt. Fortunately, as Zhuangzi mentions above, this very chaos, confusion and doubt itself provides the light by which we can steer and make our way through, and supports us in bending ever more and more toward reality as we journey along.
Next Episode
Unconditional Freedom
When we want to achieve or reach something such as happiness, peace, stability or even enlightenment and freedom in the deepest sense, the very thing we are seeking turns out to be the largest obstacle to our achieving it. This is because we have ideas of what it is, what it looks like, how it is to function from such a place, who and how and what we will be once we have it, once we're there. Along with these ideas come lists of requirements, of what we must do and who we must be and become in order to reach this place, to deserve such a thing. Combining all of this, what we end up with is something that is conditional. It's easy to see this conditionality when we look at the path we've constructed to lead us along; and it's important to recognize and acknowledge that, should we achieve the very thing we're seeking, its conditionality remains. In light of this, it's good to recall words from the historical Buddha: all conditioned existence is marked by suffering and dissatisfaction. Thus, by extension, anything we achieve through a conditional path will be marked by suffering and dissatisfaction. Fortunately, there is happiness, peace, stability, enlightenment and freedom that exist unconditionally. Right here, right now, naturally, intrinsically, undeniably. All beyond anything one could ever imagine, which is precisely the point.
(Please note: this talk features a surprise cameo by Siri around the halfway point, and she is right on point and sublime - if you listen for nothing else than that, it'll be worth it.)
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