Homework

This month we’ll continue our year-long investigation of white supremacy culture, working in an embodied way with PROGRESS IS BIGGER/ MORE and its antidotes (described at the end of the email). There will be time for discussion about this aspect of white supremacy culture, how it feels in our bodies, and how it manifests in our societal norms.

In addition, we will discuss the following questions in breakout groups:
• How has progress is bigger/more shown up in your life and world this month? As you think about the ways that progress is bigger/more has shown up for you – or about the idea of progress is bigger/more in general – what bodily sensations, emotions, or images arise?
• How would you apply the antidotes to progress is bigger/more (as shown below) to the contexts that came to mind in response to the first question? What other opportunities to apply these antidotes exist in your life?
Think about individuals (including yourself) and organizations where you see progress is bigger/more manifesting, including how you see these characteristics at CIMC, or in your other community, faith or civic groups.

As usual, we’ll meet for two hours, with breaks, breakout groups, and opportunities for open discussion. All are invited, regardless of their level of experience investigating race and whiteness. Our goal is to build community as well as resilience, capacity, and commitment for the work of fighting systemic oppression in our hearts, communities, and (most especially) in our beloved Center. We look forward to seeing you there!

***********
As described by Tema Oken, Progress is bigger/more is linked to another characteristic of white supremacy culture quantity over quality (which our sangha explored back in May.) These characteristics explore our cultural assumption that the goal is always to be/do/get more and be/do/get bigger. This leads to an emphasis on what we can “objectively” measure – how well we are doing at being/doing/getting more – as more valuable than the quality of our relationships to all living beings.

Progress is bigger/more in white supremacy culture shows up as:
• How we define success (success is always bigger, more);
• An organization that assumes the goal is to grow – add staff, add projects, or serve more people regardless of how well they can serve them; raise more money, or gain more influence and power for its own sake – all without regard to the organization’s mission or especially the people and/or living beings that the organization is in relationship with;
• Gives no value, not even negative value, to its cost; for example, increased accountability to funders as the budget grows in ways that leave those served exploited, excluded, or underserved as we focus on how many we are serving instead of quality of service or values created by the ways in which we serve;
• Little or no ability to consider the cost of growth in social, emotional, psychic, embodied, spiritual, and financial realms;
• A narrow focus on numbers (financial, people, geography, power) without an ability to value processes (relationships), including cost to the human and natural environment;
• Valuing those who have “progressed” over those who “have not” – where progress is measured in degrees, grades, money, power, status, material belongings – in ways that erase lived experience and wisdom/knowledge that is invisibilized – tending, cleaning, feeding, nurturing, caring for, raising up, supporting;
• Focus on getting bigger (in size, transactional power, numbers) leading to little or no ability to consider the cost of getting big in social, emotional, psychic, embodied, spiritual, and financial realms.

Antidotes to Progress is bigger/more include:
• Honoring the ancient Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) philosophy that the decisions we make today should result in a sustainable world seven generations into the future;
• Ensure that any cost/benefit analysis includes all the costs, not just the financial ones, for example the cost in morale, the cost in credibility, the cost in relationship to living beings, the cost in the use of resources;
• Include process goals in your planning, for example make sure that your goals speak to how you want to do your work, not just what you want to do;
• Ask those you work with and for to establish goals and evaluate performance holistically; for one example, set both content and process goals (what you do and how you do it) aligned with the values of the organization and/or community;
• Distinguish between growth, which is necessary and organic, and the conditioned desire for “more” – more stuff, more transactional power, more people, more … for its own sake;
• Consider adding measures that keep you grounded in what’s important. How many times did we laugh together today? How many times did we express gratitude? How many times did we allow silence? How many times did we allow dissent?

This month, we’ll be working in an embodied way with I’M THE ONLY ONE and its antidotes (described at the end of the email). There will be time for discussion about this aspect of white supremacy culture, how it feels in our bodies, and how it manifests in our societal norms.

In addition, we will discuss the following questions in breakout groups:
• How has feeling I’m the only one shown up in your life and world this month? As you think about the ways that I’m the only one has shown up for you – or about the idea of I’m the only one in general – what bodily sensations, emotions, or images arise?
• How would you apply the antidotes to I’m the only one (as shown below) to the contexts that came to mind in response to the first question? What other opportunities to apply these antidotes exist in your life?

Think about individuals (including yourself) and organizations where you see I’m the only one manifesting, including how you see these characteristics at CIMC, or in your other community, faith or civic groups.

As usual, we’ll meet for two hours, with breaks, breakout groups, and opportunities for open discussion. All are invited, regardless of their level of experience investigating race and whiteness. Our goal is to build community as well as resilience, capacity, and commitment for the work of fighting systemic oppression in our hearts, communities, and (most especially) in our beloved Center. We look forward to seeing you there!

*****

I’m the only one in white supremacy culture shows up as:
• An aspect of individualism, the belief that if something is going to get done “right,” ‘I’ have to do it;
• Connected to the characteristic of “one right way,” the belief that “I” can determine the right way, am entitled and/or qualified to do so, in isolation from and without accountability to those most impacted by how I define the right way;
• Little or no ability to delegate work to others, micro-management
• Based in deep fear of loss of control, which requires an illusion of control;
• Putting charismatic leaders on pedestals (or positioning yourself as a charismatic leader on a pedestal);
• Romanticizing a leader (or yourself) as the center of a movement, idea, issue, campaign;
• Hiding or covering up the flaws of a leader (or your flaws) in fear that the organization, movement, effort cannot survive;
• Defining leadership as those most in front and most vocal.

Antidotes to I’m the only one (and Individualism*) include:
• Seek to understand all the ways we are informed by our dominant identities and how our membership in dominant identity groups informs us both overtly and covertly (while realizing too that these identities do not have to define us). Understand how membership in a dominant group (the white group, the male group, the hetero group, the wealthy group) extends psychic, spiritual, and emotional benefits as well as material benefits.
• Seek to understand how these benefits are, in reality, toxic, because our complicity with being positioned as both “better” and “normal” requires that we dehumanize all those designated as “less than” and “abnormal.”
• Acknowledge that all white people have internalized racist conditioning and that an anti-racist commitment is not about being “good” or “bad,” it’s about figuring out what we are going to do about our conditioning.
• Do our personal work while also bringing focus to cultural, institutional, and systemic manifestations of white supremacy and racism.
• Name teamwork and collaboration as an important personal and group value. Acknowledge that teamwork and collaboration take more time, particularly at the front end and yield a better result with higher buy-in and higher ability to take shared risks.
• Make sure the group or organization is working towards shared goals that have been collaboratively developed and named.
• Reward people for collaborating.
• Evaluate the ability to work in a team as well as the ability to get things done.
• Honor process as much as product (honor how you do things as much as what you do or produce).
• Make sure that credit is given to all who participate in an effort, not just the leaders or most public person. Make sure that when you are given credit, you distribute it to all those who helped you with whatever was accomplished.
• Create collective accountability (rather than individual accountability).
• Create a culture where people feel they can bring problems to the group. Use meetings as a place to solve problems, not just a place to report activities.
• Hold ourselves accountable to the principle of collective thinking and action.
• Develop the ability to collaborate and delegate to others.
• In workspaces or movement efforts, evaluate performance based on an ability to work as part of a team to accomplish shared goals.
• Hold ourselves and each other accountable to a shared definition of leadership that assumes a collaborative and collective approach.
• Hold ourselves and leaders accountable for mistakes without assuming that we need to be perfect to lead. Develop collaborative and collective strategies for how to respond to mistakes that encourage learning from the mistakes, appropriate boundary setting, and restorative approaches.
• Realize that leadership is dynamic and does not rest in one individual. We are called upon to lead at different times in different circumstances and called upon to follow or take a back seat when we are learning or making room for new leadership to emerge.

* Our investigation of white supremacy culture and antidotes began based on Tema Oken’s original article on the topic. Going forward, we’ll leverage the additional information in her updated article (May 2021) where possible. Regarding this month, note that the characteristics of I’m the only one and Individualism (which we did last month) were still described separately in the new article, but their antidotes were listed all together because of how intertwined they are. So, some of the antidotes may look familiar for those that participated last month.

This month we will continue our year-long investigation of white supremacy culture, working in an embodied way with INDIVIDUALISM and its antidotes (described at the end of the email). There will be time for discussion about this aspect of white supremacy culture, how it feels in our bodies, and how it manifests in our societal norms.

In addition, we will discuss the following questions in breakout groups:
• How has individualism shown up in your life and world this month? As you think about the ways that individualism has shown up for you – or about the idea of individualism in general – what bodily sensations, emotions, or images arise?
• How would you apply the antidotes to individualism (as shown below) to the contexts that came to mind in response to the first question? What other opportunities to apply these antidotes exist in your life?
Think about individuals (including yourself) and organizations where you see individualism manifesting, including how you see these characteristics at CIMC, or in your other community, faith or civic groups.

As usual, we’ll meet for two hours, with breaks, breakout groups, and opportunities for open discussion. All are invited, regardless of their level of experience investigating race and whiteness. Our goal is to build community as well as resilience, capacity, and commitment for the work of fighting systemic oppression in our hearts, communities, and (most especially) in our beloved Center. We look forward to seeing you there!

Warmly,

Beilah, Ben, Valerie, Sherry, Virginia, and Alex (via Gina)

*****
Individualism in white supremacy culture (as described by Tema Oken):
• Little experience or comfort working as part of a team
• People believe they are responsible for solving problems alone
• Accountability, if any, goes up and down, not sideways to peers or to those the Organization is set up to serve
• Desire for individual recognition and credit
• Leads to isolation
• Competition more highly valued than cooperation and where cooperation is valued, little Time or resources devoted to developing skills in how to cooperate
• Creates a lack of accountability, as the organization values those who can get things Done on their own without needing supervision or guidance

Antidotes to Individualism:
• Include teamwork as an important value in your values statement
• Make sure the organization is working towards shared goals and people understand how working together will improve performance
• Evaluate people’s ability to work in a team as well as their ability to get the job done
• Make sure that credit is given to all those who participate in an effort, not just the leaders or most public person
• Make people accountable as a group rather than as individuals
• Create a culture where people bring problems to the group
• Use staff meetings as a place to solve problems, not just a place to report activities

This month we will continue our year-long investigation of white supremacy culture, working in an embodied way with FEAR OF OPEN CONFLICT and its antidotes (described at the end of the email). There will be time for discussion about this aspect of white supremacy culture, how it feels in our bodies, and how it manifests in our societal norms.

In addition, we will discuss the following questions in breakout groups:
• How has fear of open conflict shown up in your life and world this month? As you think about the ways that fear of open conflict has shown up for you – or about the idea of fear of open conflict in general – what bodily sensations, emotions, or images arise?
• How would you apply the antidotes to fear of open conflict (as shown below) to the contexts that came to mind in response to the first question? What other opportunities to apply these antidotes exist in your life?

Think about individuals (including yourself) and organizations where you see fear of open conflict manifesting, including how you see these characteristics at CIMC, or in your other community, faith or civic groups.

As usual, we’ll meet for two hours, with breaks, breakout groups, and opportunities for open discussion. All are invited, regardless of their level of experience investigating race and whiteness. Our goal is to build community as well as resilience, capacity, and commitment for the work of fighting systemic oppression in our hearts, communities, and (most especially) in our beloved Center. We look forward to seeing you there!

*****

Fear of open conflict in white supremacy culture (as described by Tema Oken):
• People in power are afraid of expressed conflict and try to ignore it or run from it
• When someone raises an issue that causes discomfort, the response is to blame the person for raising the issue rather than to look at the issue which is causing the problem
• Emphasis on being polite at the surface (while often deeply offensive to those who have a beef with you or your organization)
• Insisting on politeness as terms for conversation or negotiation (i.e., requiring people to “check” their anger, particularly when it is a logical response to what is happening)
• Equating the raising of difficult issues with being impolite, rude, or out of line

Antidotes to Fear of open conflict:
• Role play ways to handle conflict before conflict happens
• Distinguish between being polite and raising hard issues
• Don’t require those who raise hard issues to raise them in ‘acceptable’ ways, especially if you are using the ways in which issues are raised as an excuse not to address those issues
• Once a conflict is resolved, take the opportunity to revisit it and see how it might have been handled differently

When we meet on 10/17, we will begin our time together by sensing in our bodies, as we meditate on the tenacity and resilience of the Indigenous people of this land and how they have resisted land theft, oppression and genocide at the hands of white settlers. We invite you to research the land you have settled on and the tribes that have protected these lands and waters for thousands of years at this website: native-land.ca. There will be links to more information about the tribes that are listed. As you do your research, be aware of whether the website you are sent to has been created by Indigenous people, or not.

After our practice, we will continue our year-long investigation of white supremacy culture, working in an embodied way with POWER HOARDING and its antidotes (described at the end of the email). We are especially interested in how the history of white people on native land is a concrete example of power hoarding. There will be time for discussion about this aspect of white supremacy culture, how it feels in our bodies and how it manifests in our societal norms.

In addition, we will discuss the following questions in breakout groups:

• How has power hoarding shown up in your life and world this month? As you think about the ways that power hoarding has shown up for you – or about the idea of power hoarding in general – what bodily sensations, emotions, or images arise?
• How would you apply the antidotes to power hoarding (as shown below) to the contexts that came to mind in response to the first question? What other opportunities to apply these antidotes exist in your life?

Think about individuals (including yourself) and organizations where you see power hoarding manifesting, including how you see these characteristics at CIMC, or in your other community, faith or civic groups.

As usual, we’ll meet for two hours, with breaks, breakout groups, and opportunities for open discussion. All are invited, regardless of their level of experience investigating race and whiteness.  Our goal is to build community as well as resilience, capacity, and commitment for the work of fighting systemic oppression in our hearts, communities, and (most especially) in our beloved Center.  We look forward to seeing you there!

*****

Power Hoarding in white supremacy culture (as described by Tema Oken):

• Little, if any, value around sharing power
• Power seen as limited, only so much to go around
• Those with power feel threatened when anyone suggests changes in how things should be done in the organization, feel suggestions for change are a reflection on their leadership
• Those with power don’t see themselves as hoarding power or as feeling threatened
• Those with power assume they have the best interests of the organization at heart and assume those wanting change are ill-informed (stupid), emotional, inexperienced

Antidotes to Power Hoarding:

• Include power sharing in your organization’s values statement
• Discuss what good leadership looks like and make sure people understand that a good leader develops the power and skills of others
• Understand that change is inevitable and challenges to your leadership can be healthy and productive
• Make sure the organization is focused on the mission

This month, we’ll continue our year-long investigation of white supremacy culture, working in an embodied way with EITHER/OR THINKING and its antidotes (described below). In breakout groups, we will discuss the following questions:

• How has either/or thinking shown up in your life this month? As you think about the ways that  either/or thinking has shown up for you – or about the idea of either/or thinking in general – what bodily sensations, emotions, or images arise?
• How would you apply the antidotes to either/or thinking (as shown below) to the contexts that came to mind in response to the first question? What other opportunities to apply these antidotes exist in your life?

If you are not working in an organization to apply these definitions, substitute “my internal conditioning” for organizational structure. Or think about how you see these characteristics at CIMC, or your other community, faith or civic groups.

As usual, we’ll meet for two hours, with breaks, breakout groups, and opportunities for open discussion. This month, Alex will again lead us in a short session of embodied InterPlay exercises, and as usual, participation is optional. All are invited, regardless of their level of experience investigating race and whiteness.  Our goal is to build community as well as resilience, capacity, and commitment for the work of fighting systemic oppression in our hearts, communities, and (most especially) in our beloved Center.  We look forward to seeing you there!

*****

Either/or Thinking in white supremacy culture (as described by Tema Okun):

• things are either/or — good/bad, right/wrong, with us/against us
• closely linked to perfectionism in making it difficult to learn from mistakes or accommodate conflict
• no sense that things can be both/and
• results in trying to simplify complex things, for example believing that poverty is simply a result of lack of education
• creates conflict and increases sense of urgency, as people feel they must make decisions to do either this or that, with no time or encouragement to consider alternatives, particularly those which may require more time or resources
• often used by those with a clear agenda or goal to push those who are still thinking or reflecting to make a choice between ‘a’ or ‘b’ without acknowledging a need for time and creativity to come up with more options

Antidotes to Either/or Thinking:

• notice when people use ‘either/or’ language and push to come up with more than two alternatives
• notice when people are simplifying complex issues, particularly when the stakes seem high or an urgent decision needs to be made
• slow it down and encourage people to do a deeper analysis
• when people are faced with an urgent decision, take a break and give people some breathing room to think creatively
• avoid (when possible) making decisions under extreme pressure

Hi All,

The next monthly Zoom meeting of CIMC’s White Awake sangha will be held Sunday, August 8^th from 5-7 PM (permanent zoom link here).

This month, we’ll continue our year-long investigation of white supremacy culture, working in an embodied way with PATERNALISM and its antidotes (described below). In breakout groups, we will discuss the following questions:

• How has paternalism shown up in your life this month? As you think about the ways that paternalism has shown up for you – or about the idea of paternalism in general – what bodily sensations, emotions, or images arise?
• How would you apply the antidotes to paternalism (as shown below) to the contexts that came to mind in response to the first question? What other opportunities to apply these antidotes exist in your life?

If you are not working in an organization to apply these definitions, substitute “my internal conditioning” for organizational structure. Or think about how you see these characteristics at CIMC, or your other community, faith or civic groups.

As usual, we’ll meet for two hours, with breaks, breakout groups, and opportunities for open discussion. This month, Alex will again lead us in a short session of embodied InterPlay exercises, and as usual, participation is optional. All are invited, regardless of their level of experience investigating race and whiteness. Our goal is to build community as well as resilience, capacity, and commitment for the work of fighting systemic oppression in our hearts, communities, and (most especially) our beloved Center. We look forward to seeing you there!

Warmly,

Beilah, Ben, Valerie, Sherry, Virginia, and Alex (via Gina)

*****

Paternalism in white supremacy culture (as described by Tema Okun):

• Decision-making is clear to those with power and unclear to those without it.
• Those with power assume they are capable of making decisions for and in the interests of those without power.
• Those with power often don’t think it is important or necessary to understand the viewpoint or experience of those for whom they are making decisions.
• Those without power do not really know how decisions get made and who makes what decisions, and yet they are completely familiar with the impact of those decisions on them.

Antidotes to paternalism:

• Make sure that everyone knows and understands who makes what decisions in the organization.
• Make sure everyone knows and understands their level of responsibility and authority in the organization.
• Include people who are affected by decisions in the decision-making.
• Make sure everyone understands the budget (because if you understand the budget, you understand a lot).

This month, we’ll continue our year-long investigation of white supremacy culture, working in an embodied way with the belief there is only ONE RIGHT WAY to do things and its antidotes (described below). In breakout groups, we will discuss the following questions:

• How has believing in only one right way shown up in your life this month? As you think about the ways only one right way has shown up for you – or about the idea of only one right way in general – what bodily sensations, emotions, or images arise?
• How would you apply the antidotes to believing in only one right way (as shown below) to the contexts that came to mind in response to the first question? What other opportunities to apply these antidotes exist in your life?

If you are not working in an organization to apply these definitions, substitute “my internal conditioning” for organizational structure. Or think about how you see these characteristics at CIMC, or your other community, faith or civic groups.

As usual, we’ll meet for two hours, with breaks, breakout groups, and opportunities for open discussion. All are invited, regardless of their level of experience investigating race and whiteness. Our goal is to build community as well as resilience, capacity, and commitment for the work of fighting systemic oppression in our hearts, communities, and (most especially) our beloved Center. We look forward to seeing you there!

*****

Only one right way in white supremacy culture (as described by Tema Okun):

• The belief there is one right way to do things and once people are introduced to the right way, they will see the light and adopt it
• When they do not adapt or change, then something is wrong with them (the other, those not changing), not with us (those who ‘know’ the right way)
• Similar to the missionary who does not see value in the culture of other communities, sees only value in their beliefs about what is good

Antidotes to only one right way:

• Accept that there are many ways to get to the same goal.
• Once the group has made a decision about which way will be taken, honor that decision and see what you and the organization will learn from taking that way, even and especially if it is not the way you would have chosen.
• Work on developing the ability to notice when people do things differently and how those different ways might improve your approach.
• Look for the tendency for a group or a person to keep pushing the same point over and over out of a belief that there is only one right way and then name it.
• When working with communities from a different culture than yours or your organization’s, be clear that you have some learning to do about the communities’ ways of doing.
• Never assume that you or your organization knows what’s best for the community in isolation from meaningful relationships with that community.

This month, we’ll continue our year-long investigation of white supremacy culture, working in an embodied way with WORSHIP OF THE WRITTEN WORD and its antidotes (described below). In breakout groups, we will discuss the following questions:

• How has worship of the written word shown up in your life this month? As you think about the ways worship of the written word has shown up for you – or about worship of the written word in general – what bodily sensations, emotions, or images arise?
• How would you apply the antidotes to worship of the written word (as shown below) to the contexts that came to mind in response to the first question? What other opportunities to apply these antidotes exist in your life?

As usual, we’ll meet for two hours, with breaks, breakout groups, and opportunities for open discussion. And this month, White Awake Sangha member Alex Baskin will lead us in InterPlay practice. InterPlay uses creative, active approaches for unlocking the wisdom of the body. A portion of our time will be spent with these guided forms of movement and breath. All are invited to participate in InterPlay practice at their comfort level.

Everyone is welcome at the WA sangha, regardless of their level of experience investigating race and whiteness. Our goal is to build community as well as resilience, capacity, and commitment for the work of fighting systemic oppression in our hearts, communities, and (most especially) our beloved Center. We look forward to seeing you there!

*****
Note: If you are not working in an organization to apply these definitions, substitute “my internal conditioning” for organizational structure. Or think about how you see these characteristics at CIMC, or your other community, faith or civic groups.

Worship of the written word in white supremacy culture (as described by Tema Okun):

• If it’s not in a memo, it doesn’t exist
• The organization does not value other ways in which information gets shared
• Those with strong documentation and writing skills are more highly valued, even in organizations where ability to relate to others is key to the mission

Antidotes to worship of the written word:

• Take the time to analyze how people inside and outside the organization get and share information
• Figure out which things need to be written down and come up with alternative ways to document what is happening
• Work to recognize the contributions and skills that every person brings to the organization (for example, the ability to build relationships with those who are important to the organization’s mission)
• Make sure anything written can be clearly understood (avoid academic language, ‘buzz’ words, etc.)

This month, we’ll continue our year-long investigation of white supremacy culture, working in an embodied way with valuing QUANTITY OVER QUALITY and its antidotes (described below). In breakout groups, we will discuss the following questions:

• How has valuing quantity over quality shown up in your life this month? As you think about the ways valuing quantity over quality has shown up for you – or about valuing quantity over quality in general – what bodily sensations, emotions, or images arise?
• How would you apply the antidotes to valuing quantity over quality (as shown below) to the contexts that came to mind in response to the first question? What other opportunities to apply these antidotes exist in your life?

Note: If you are not working in an organization to apply these definitions, substitute “my internal conditioning” for organizational structure. Or think about how you see these characteristics at CIMC, or your other community, faith or civic groups.

As usual, we’ll meet for two hours, with breaks, breakout groups, and opportunities for open discussion. All are invited, regardless of their level of experience investigating race and whiteness. Our goal is to build community as well as resilience, capacity, and commitment for the work of fighting systemic oppression in our hearts, communities, and (most especially) our beloved Center. We look forward to seeing you there!

***********

Valuing Quantity over quality in white supremacy culture (as described by Tema Okun):

• All resources of organization are directed toward producing measurable goals
• Things that can be measured are more highly valued than things that cannot, for example numbers of people attending a meeting, newsletter circulation, money spent are valued more than quality of relationships, democratic decision-making, ability to constructively deal with conflict
• Little or no value attached to process; if it can’t be measured, it has no value
• Discomfort with emotion and feelings
• No understanding that when there is a conflict between content (the agenda of the meeting) and process (people’s need to be heard or engaged), process will prevail (for example, you may get through the agenda, but if you haven’t paid attention to people’s need to be heard, the decisions made at the meeting are undermined and/or disregarded)

Antidotes to valuing quantity over quality:

• Include process or quality goals in your planning
• Make sure your organization has a values statement which expresses the ways in which you want to do your work
• Make sure this is a living document and that people are using it in their day to day work
• Look for ways to measure process goals (for example if you have a goal of inclusivity, think about ways you can measure whether or not you have achieved that goal)
• Learn to recognize those times when you need to get off the agenda in order to address people’s underlying concerns

INFO AND RESOURCES FOR APRIL 11th MEETING

This month, we’ll use our time together to honor and mourn those murdered in Atlanta, and to explore our embodied responses to the recent surge of anti-Asian violence and Mel Cherng’s letter to the CIMC leadership. We’ll also reflect on our own relationships (as white Buddhists) to Asian and Asian American individuals and communities, and to the Asian lineages that have preserved Buddhist practices over the centuries.

To prepare for our time together, please read the following prompts and reflect on one or two that feel alive for you over the next couple of weeks:

1. Explore the bodily sensations, emotions, and thoughts that have arisen in response to the March 16th shooting deaths of 6 Asian-American women and 2 non-Asian people in Georgia.
2. What do you know about: The Asian lineages from which your practice(s) is (are) derived? Asian American Buddhist communities? The Asian American community at CIMC? You might take some time to investigate these communities. What, if any, is your relationship to these communities? What sensations arise with these contemplations?
3. Attend to the sensations, feelings, images, or ideas that arise when you reflect on the fact that Asian cultures birthed, raised, protected, and cultivated Buddhist teachings and practices, long before there were “white” Buddhists.
4. What sensations arise when you contemplate or engage in devotional or merit-making practices?

Please also spend some time with the following resources:

https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/asian-american-erasure-buddhism/
https://tricycle.org/podcast/japanese-buddhism-internment/
https://www.lionsroar.com/weve-been-here-all-along/
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/04/05/5-facts-about-buddhists-around-the-world/
https://www.pewforum.org/2012/07/19/asian-americans-a-mosaic-of-faiths-overview/

Additionally, we’d also recommend listening to this episode of the podcast Code Switch in which the hosts interviewed Connie Wun, an organizer at AAPI Women Lead, a group serving AAPI survivors of violence against women, gender non-conforming people and girls. This will be helpful in diving deeper into the larger historical and systemic context in which violence against Asian-Americans in the US is happening.

INFO AND RESOURCES FOR MARCH 14th MEETING

This month, we’ll continue our year-long investigation of white supremacy culture, working in an embodied way with defensiveness and its antidotes (described below). In breakout groups, we will discuss the following questions, which many of you will get to explore a second time:

• How has defensiveness shown up in your life this month? As you think about the ways defensiveness has shown up for you – or about defensiveness in general – what bodily sensations, emotions, or images arise?
• How would you apply the antidotes to defensiveness (as shown below) to the contexts that came to mind in response to the first question? What other opportunities to apply these antidotes exist in your life?

As usual, we’ll meet for two hours, with breaks, breakout groups, and opportunities for open discussion. All are invited, regardless of their level of experience investigating race and whiteness. Our goal is to build community as well as resilience, capacity, and commitment for the work of fighting systemic oppression in our hearts, communities, and (most especially) our beloved Center. We look forward to seeing you there!

*****

Defensiveness in white supremacy culture (as described by Tema Okun):

• The organizational structure is set up and much energy spent trying to prevent  abuse and protect power as it exists rather than to facilitate the best out of  each person or to clarify who has power and how they are expected to use it
• Because of either/or thinking (see below), criticism of those with power is  viewed as threatening and inappropriate (or rude)
• People respond to new or challenging ideas with defensiveness, making it  very difficult to raise these ideas
• A lot of energy in the organization is spent trying to make sure that people’s  feelings aren’t getting hurt or working around defensive people • white people spend energy defending against charges of racism instead of  examining how racism is actually happening
• Leaders perceive calls for change as personal attacks (because if they were  leading in the “right” way, then nothing would need to change); their defensiveness creates an oppressive culture where people feel they cannot  make suggestions or when they do, these are ignored

Antidotes to Defensiveness:

• understand that structure cannot in and of itself facilitate or prevent abuse
• understand the link between defensiveness and fear (of losing power, losing face, losing comfort, losing privilege)
• work on your own defensiveness
• name defensiveness as a problem when it is one
• give people credit for being able to handle more than you think
• discuss the ways in which defensiveness or resistance to new ideas gets in the way of the mission
• support yourself and others to avoid taking things personally

• How has urgency shown up in your life this month? As you think about the ways perfectionism has shown up for you – or about perfectionism in general – what bodily sensations, emotions, or images arise?
• How would you apply the antidotes to urgency to the contexts that came to mind in response to the first question? What other opportunities to apply these antidotes exist in your life?

As usual, we’ll meet for two hours, with breaks, breakout groups, and opportunities for open discussion. All are invited, regardless of their level of experience investigating race and whiteness. Our goal is to build community as well as resilience, capacity, and commitment for the work of fighting systemic oppression in our hearts, communities, and (most especially) our beloved Center. We look forward to seeing you there!

INFO AND RESOURCES FOR JANUARY 10th MEETING

• How has perfectionism shown up in your life this month? As you think about the ways perfectionism has shown up for you – or about perfectionism in general – what bodily sensations, emotions, or images arise?
• How would you apply the antidotes to perfectionism* to the contexts that came to mind in response to the first question? What other opportunities to apply these antidotes exist in your life?

As usual, we’ll meet for two hours, with breaks, breakout groups, and opportunities for open discussion. All are invited, regardless of their level of experience investigating race and whiteness. Our goal is to build community as well as resilience, capacity, and commitment for the work of fighting systemic oppression in our hearts, communities, and (most especially) our beloved Center. We look forward to seeing you there!

Addendum (1/11):

After the events of Wednesday, January 6, we decided to pivot from using our first breakout group to explore perfectionism and claim some space for embodied anti-racist practice time to register our physical responses to Wednesday’s attack on the Capitol.

The prework for today’s White Awake Sangha is to listen to this Minnesota Public Radio news program hosted by Angela Davis with guests Resmaa Menakem, BraVada Garrett-Akinsanya, and Qorsho Hassa.

The prompts for the first breakout room will be as follows:

• Recall the images and sounds of a predominantly white angry mob storming the Capitol in support to Trump’s attempts to overturn the election.
• Notice if the muscles are relaxed or tight, the quality of the breath, deep or shallow? What’s the heart rate like, has it sped up, slowed down or stayed the same?
• You may experience sensations, impulses, emotions or images in your body. If you did, please describe them.
• Or you may not feel anything. If so, what does this lack of feeling feel like… numbness, blankness, perhaps like you’re not quite in your body?
• Notice if you have the impulse to fight, flee or freeze? Or if you want to shut down and override what you’re experiencing?
• Is there a movement or sound your body would like to make that might help you discharge some of the unwanted energy? Please explore this movement or make this sound.
• Notice any felt shift in your body. Do you still feel like you did at the beginning, or did something in you settle or become more present?

• How has perfectionism shown up in your life this month? As you think about the ways perfectionism has shown up for you – or about perfectionism in general – what bodily sensations, emotions, or images arise?
• How would you apply the antidotes to perfectionism* to the contexts that came to mind in response to the first question? What other opportunities to apply these antidotes exist in your life?

As usual, we’ll meet for two hours, with breaks, breakout groups, and opportunities for open discussion. All are invited, regardless of their level of experience investigating race and whiteness. Our goal is to build community as well as resilience, capacity, and commitment for the work of fighting systemic oppression in our hearts, communities, and (most especially) our beloved Center. We look forward to seeing you there!

*antidotes to perfectionism: develop a culture of appreciation, where the organization takes time to make sure that people’s work and efforts are appreciated; develop a learning organization, where it is expected that everyone will make mistakes and those mistakes offer opportunities for learning; create an environment where people can recognize that mistakes sometimes lead to positive results; separate the person from the mistake; when offering feedback, always speak to the things that went well before offering criticism; ask people to offer specific suggestions for how to do things differently when offering criticism; realize that being your own worst critic does not actually improve the work, often contributes to low morale among the group, and does not help you or the group to realize the benefit of learning from mistakes

INFO AND RESOURCES FOR NOVEMBER 8th MEETING

Our RESOURCE is the letter from the Sangha Life Committee about upcoming Sangha Circle meetings starting in January 2021. Please read before Sunday.

In light of the SL Committee’s work to help create a multicultural CIMC, we come to you with a question: how do we create warm, embodied culture within the White Awake Sangha (WAS)? What work do we want to do among ourselves?

We’re listening to Resmaa Menakem:
“We will not end white-body supremacy- or any other form of human evil- by trying to tear it to pieces. Instead, we can offer people better ways to belong, and better things to belong to. Instead of belonging to a race, we can belong to a culture. Each of us can also build our own capacity for genuine belonging.”

It’s both/and work. We do the internal work within WAS, and participate in the Sangha Life Circles to learn and listen for what’s needed to build a genuine welcoming culture at CIMC. But we have to begin the work within WAS.

Our framework is the same: meet in community for two hours, with breaks, meditate, connect in small breakout groups and in the larger group, review where our hearts are in this moment and set intentions for our individual work of uprooting racism and the work of building community at CIMC.

INFO AND RESOURCES FOR OCTOBER 11th MEETING

This month’s topic: what is action?

• Other than supporting (allying with) BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color*) what is the work of white people? What actions should we initiate-what actions are we responsible for? *There are pros/cons with this acronym that the article linked to discusses however the term is current in equity/inclusion work.
• At this moment in time, white people hear conflicting messages about what they should do, but how do we discover and do our work?

And because Tema Okun is a white woman who’s been doing this work for decades, prior to Sunday, please listen to this interview with her on the Finding Refuge podcast with Michelle Johnson.

INFO AND RESOURCES FOR SEPTEMBER 13th MEETING

This month, we’ll examine white supremacy culture, and what goes into building anti-white supremacy culture.
To make the best use of our time together, we’ve asked you to please download and read Tema Okun’s article on the characteristics of white supremacy culture. IN ADDITION, please listen to this podcast in which Dan Harris interviews Resmaa Menakem (1 hour 18 minutes), and read Lyla June’s essay “The Vast and Beautiful World of Indigenous Europe”.

Just like last month, we’ll meet for two hours, with breaks. We’ll sit together; check-in about how race, racism, and whiteness have been in our awareness recently; connect about the personal challenges we face in confronting white supremacy; and set intentions for our individual work of uprooting racism and systemic oppression. As always, all are invited, regardless of their level of experience investigating race and whiteness. We look forward to seeing you there!

Elder Drop-in – November 2021

Talk:  Vulnerability – both personal and planetary and how they’re linked

At personal level: we may feel vulnerability around our body, health, a diagnosis

Emotional vulnerability: anxiety, fear of unknown, anger, helplessness, etc.

Topic inspired by 2 recent events: 1st, friend’s participation in Indigenous

People’s 5-day action in front of the White House

2nd: Small circle of 5 — three of them hit suddenly with unexpected vulnerability

Story of dharma friend joined the Indigenous People’s 5-day action

He was immersed in their culture

Even w. dire climate situation, their values, way of life, very inspiring, hopeful

Their commitment to live life in balance — with oneself, others, and nature

Not a protest! Call themselves “Earth defenders,” “water protectors,” etc.

Not an adversarial view but protective, imbued with the sacred feminine

Their sacred outlook: see everything as sacred. The sky is sacred, the water is sacred, earth is sacred, you are, I am, all beings are sacred

Sacred outlook also central in Tibetan tradition – a gift to remind us the importance of “view” — our outlook, our commitment to practices that strengthen and inspire us.

2nd impetus for this talk:  how three of five fellow practitioners, in our long time circle, had been hit w. serious physical pain:

Raised the issue of our vulnerability–  Related topics that arose:

1) Pain: the most demanding teacher: spawns anxiety, confusion, dark moods. What an inevitable part of our practice it is

2) Exploring our capacities to receive

3) The theme of helplessness: one of the hardest bec. of our wish for independence, attachment to our life as it was.

Story about helplessness. At a New Year’s retreat with my husband Hob

He was already in the middle stages of Alzheimer’s

I was keenly aware of our shared feelings of helplessness

Randomly opened Rumi’s poetry for a New Year’s message

Message: “Always check your inner state with the lord of your heart.

Copper doesn’t know it’s copper, until it’s turned to gold.

Your loving doesn’t know its majesty, until it knows its helplessness.”

No one wants the experience of helplessness, but!

Rumi – mystic and poet saint – links our helplessness to loving – ourselves,

others, our life, the world

Love is the only answer when the going gets tough.

How do personal experiences of vulnerability relate to our planet?

Her vulnerability everywhere: extreme weather, floods, wildfires, etc.

Joanna Macy. environmental activist, author, scholar of Buddhism, general systems theory, and deep ecology. Known for her Grief and Empowerment work

In her 90’s, she is a prophet for our times.

Story she tells as part of an interview w. Thanissara Bikkhu

(Joanna and Thanissara starts at 1:12:30

Climate Day 2021 – Part 1 – Thanissara and Konda Mason 10/2/2021 )

On retreat, dark vision of planetary crises arose but then a voice with a powerful message:

The voice: “Just fall in love with what is.”

Joanna’s inspiring response follows: She rejoices at being alive for these times

See the gifts — gifts of our lives, our breath, of our love

Grateful to be alive for the earth; Do something beautiful with your life

Finally, how to respond to vulnerability – personal and planetary?

Practice! How awareness practice and living in balance w.mindfulness and sacred attention creates resilience.

Call to mind/heart someone who embodies resilience, a way shower for you

Invitation: at beginning of day, choose 3 things that will bring you joy.

Words of an indigenous elder:

“While accepting collapse as inevitable and trying to find my place in remediating it, I do my best to be mindful in the moment, and often look up at the night sky to thank the stars for keepings things in perspective”  

Homework:

1) bring awareness & acceptance to your feelings of vulnerability

Also can invoke resilience; breathe in resilience from someone who abounds in it

2) What does living your life in balance mean to you and how might you have

more balance.

Here is the link to the Elders Google Group that some of our people use to connect with each other, share ideas and resources: https://groups.google.com/g/cimcelders

Homework:  be especially open to wonder in your life.

Also especially aware of the mind’s ups/downs, remembering the power of awareness and to come home to the love that can hold what’s difficult.

Notes – Reflections on Wonder and Grief:

Three central themes of elder years:  loss, letting go, and grieving

An ongoing process of discernment, decisions, comfort with the unknown.

Howard Thurman: my first spiritual teacher

Dean of Marsh Chapel at B.U., Founder of the Church for Fellowship of all People’s, one of 10 most outstanding preachers in the US.

Boyhood story: Lost in the woods in the dark. Suddenly a very bright, sustained    flash of lightning showed him exactly which of many paths was his.

“You see,” he said, “however much light others may have on their lives, only the light on my way has any value for me.”

Story: archetypal and metaphor for us: We come to these crossroads as elders;

Stop (as Howard did when lost in the woods.) Listen within. Finding our way, finding what lights our way.

Relying on practice; the call to deep, inner listening.

 “Adrift” by Mark Nepo

“Everything is beautiful and I am so sad.

This is how the heart makes a duet

Of wonder and grief.”

…

In the very center, under it all – what we have that no one can take away and all that we’ve lost face each other.

It is there that I’m adrift, feeling punctured

by a holiness that exists inside everything.

I am so sad and everything is beautiful.”

The duet in the heart – the polarity between all that we have that no one can take away and all that we’ve lost – these two things face each other.

Adrift, but still “feeling punctured by a holiness that exists inside everything.”

This duet of wonder and grief: how do you experience it?

Our practice creates steadiness, resilience that carries us thru

 Message from a dying friend, a dharma teacher still imparting wisdom even though very near the end of this life.

“The invitation to mystery is always being offered to us.

Being open to this mystery makes it happen more often;

Allows it to display itself more often….

It’s as if the beauty and mystery of the universe

Wants to be appreciated so it can evoke the mystery in ourselves.”

Conclusion: Howard’s words to my mother after her brother’s death, words for all of us:

“Be sure to keep in touch with yourself just now,” he told her, “so that Life’s resources can inform you. Of all the people who love you, be sure you love yourself the most; Life can’t love you more than you love yourself. You are the door through which love can enter.”

Whenever you feel challenged, call to mind one of the images from today’s talk: either the gold used to repair broken pottery as in the Japanese art of Kintsugi, or the image of the two yellow iris growing up through the shattered glass — symbol of hope, beauty, wholeness.

Trust the transformative process — slow and gradual — of your meditation practice, and of mindfulness practice throughout the day. Our practice is the gold that helps to transform our brokenness and challenges.
Keep recommitting to your practice, refreshing it with each sitting, and beyond

“There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” —Leonard Cohen in his poem/song “Anthem.”

Parami Homework: Gratitude & Generosity – Next class, Friday, February 11

1) Sit every day. Try sitting for a minimum of 15-30 minutes per day. (more if you are able) Please practice your meditation in silence.

2) Onward Leaning: Looking at what is wholesome, beneficial, skillful in our lives & what is not. We ask ourselves, are our lives leading onward in any way? (whole-some, beneficial, skillful) We also need to find the line between being impeccable & being rigid, so that we cultivate our understanding with a light heart.

3) Ajahn Sucitto’s book, Pāramī : Ways to Cross Life’s Floods, will be our shared text. Please read, “Crossing the Floods” starting on page 11-29 & Generosity 31-40. Link here (the book will be mailed to you).

4) The Paramis-
• Ask yourself each day, “What is going to take me you out of stress, discontent right now?” Listen for the answer
• Initially one brings the topic to mind-this is helpful and useful-it means that the parami gets built-in as a frame of reference. Do your best to build in Gratitude & Generosity.
• The gathering stage is when you apply the parami in the face of its opposition. (Something in you doesn’t want to bother, other people don’t see the point, not convenient to do so.) Do your best to apply Gratitude & Generosity in the face of opposition.

5) Gratitude Parami Practices
• Text or e-mail your buddies 3 things you are grateful for each day. Can be anything.
• Thank someone every day

6) Generosity Parami Reflections & Practices
Reflections:
• What beliefs do you have that interfere with being generous & what beliefs interfere with acting on your impulses to be generous? Consider the validity, usefulness of these beliefs.
• Contemplate the ways that it benefits you to be generous to someone else.
• Reflect on your attitudes, beliefs & feelings about receiving generosity
Practices:
• For 1/2 hour each day, try offering respectful attention to everyone you meet or talk to. Take the other person’s point of view. Let the person: in, the zoom room, your home, a friend, your neighbor, roommate, child, partner- be the most important person around. Give your full attention to them physically. Put your device(s) away. Look at the person. Listen carefully. Open your heart. Be there without pushing an agenda. Simply Listening.
• When you have the thought to be generous, simply, do it. Notice what happens next. What feelings arise? What thoughts arise? Then pay attention as you give. What feelings arise? What thoughts arise? Finally, after you have been generous (or after you have not been generous) investigate. What feelings arise? What thoughts arise? Try exploring different ways of being generous. (caring, time, energy, service) Explore what is the motivation underlying the moment of generosity? Look in the day for what undermines the motivation.“ Generosity becomes stronger and more delightful the more we engage in it.”-Joseph Goldstein.
• Text or e-mail your buddies. Share what you learned about generosity. Only a sentence or two.

HAVE FUN!

1. Sit every day. Try sitting for a minimum of 10-20 minutes per day. (more if you are able) Please practice your meditation in silence. (If you use an app…Try to use it only a couple of times during the week. Explore silence ☺️) Do your best while sitting to: pay attention, welcome & open to whatever is arising. Is it possible to include it all?

2. Gratitude Practices
• Text or e-mail “your buddy” 3 things you are grateful for each day.
• Remembering our blessings so we can hold whatever is happening in a larger perspective.
• Consider: changing I have to, to I get to & when in a complaining jag-finish the sentence with “my life rests on the lives of so many and I am grateful”
• Thank someone every day! Thank yourself every day! Is it possible to do this while looking in the mirror?

3. Generosity Practices
• Reflect on all the ways you can find opportunities for practice giving & offering generosity in your daily life. (tentative, one-handed, friendly, kingly or queenly) Reflect on all the ways you hold back from practicing giving or offering generosity. Reflect on practicing generosity with yourself. Reflect on letting go of “burdens” (comparing, anger, despair, craving) What can you give to yourself in these moments?
• Practice Kindness.
• Be aware of any acts of generosity or giving this week (in you or others).Some examples; attention, appreciation, time, money, food, material gifts, skills, knowledge, picking up something someone has dropped.
• Is there joy in giving? If not, why not? What is your attitude while giving? How does acting with generosity affect your heart- mind?
• Notice any stinginess. How does that affect your heart- mind?
• Text or e-mail your buddy. Share what you learned about generosity.

4. Grace Practices
• Grace provides a framework in which a meaningful life is fully lived. Love is the essence of it day to day. It’s a matter of living and having a practice that enables you to open to, return to again & again life’s unfolding blessings.
• Grace is one key to happiness. When wonderful or not so wonderful things happen, if we have confidence in our practice, then we can remain grounded and not be overwhelmed by the dramas of life. This is where the grace unfolds. (more dharma less drama) a couple of hints: 1- Appreciate whatever comes and make the absolute most of it. 2- Allow feelings, emotions, thoughts, events to come & go, And get to know a deep contentment. Extra Credit: Is it possible to be like the Rabbi?
• Continue to be aware of the heart space that can hold your life with tenderness & kindness. Do your best to notice any moments when you know the spacious presence that includes the ever-changing flow of life with a sense of wholeness, compassion, connection, balance or ease. It’s the state of grace to be able to make room for things as they are.

HAVE FUN!

1. Sit every day. Try sitting for a minimum of 10-20 minutes per day. (more if you are able) Please practice your meditation in silence. (If you use an app…Try to use it only a couple of times during the week. Explore silence ☺) Do your best while sitting to: pay attention, welcome & open to whatever is arising. Is it possible to include it all?

2. Gratitude Practices
• Let gratitude be like a flashlight-lighting up what is already there & remember to count your blessings daily.
• Text or e-mail “your buddies” 3 things you are grateful for each day.
• Thank someone every day!

3. Generosity Practices
• Each day ask yourself: What allows me to give? What stops me from letting go? What do I really need in this moment to be happy?
• Continue the practice of offering respectful attention to everyone you meet, talk to or zoom with, for a ½ hour each day. Let the person in your home, zoom room, a friend, your neighbor, roommate, child, partner- be the most important person around. (pet?) Give your full attention to them physically. Put your device(s) away. Look at the person. Listen carefully. Open your heart. Be there without pushing an agenda. Simply Listening.
• Text or e-mail your buddy. Share what you learned about generosity. Only a sentence or two.

4. Grace Practices
• Grace is the recognition that everything is connected & sacred. You are sacred! Please consider a lasting truce with yourself.
• Begin to notice that everything you do is Sacred.
• Continue to be aware of the heart space that can hold your life with tenderness & kindness. Do your best to notice any moments when you know the spacious presence that includes the ever-changing flow of life with a sense of wholeness, compassion, connection, balance or ease. It’s the state of grace to be able to make room for things as they are.

HAVE FUN!

Please know that I will show up 10 minutes before class begins 6:50 to answer questions & there will be Q&A during class, too!

1. Sit every day. Try sitting for a minimum of 10-20 minutes per day. (more if you are able) Please practice your meditation in silence. (If you use an app, try to use it only a couple of times during the week. Explore silence ☺️)
Do your best while sitting: to pay attention, welcome & open to whatever is arising.

2. Gratitude Practices
• Text or e-mail “your buddies” 3 things you are grateful for each day. Can be anything.
• Thank someone every day.

3. Generosity Practices
• For 1/2 hour each day, try offering respectful attention to everyone you meet, talk to, or zoom with. Take the other person’s point of view. Let the person in your home, zoom room, a friend, your neighbor, roommate, child, partner- be the most important person around. (pet?)
• Give your full attention to them physically. Put your device(s) away. Look at the person. Listen carefully. Open your heart. Be there without pushing an agenda. Simply Listening.
• Text or e-mail your buddies. Share what you learned. Only a sentence.

4. Grace Practices
• Start to be aware of the heart space that can hold your life with tenderness & kindness.
• Bringing presence, mindfulness, loving awareness to the circumstances that arise & pass away- with grace, with a graciousness, in a way, it’s welcoming or bowing to whatever comes- a sacred attention.
• Do your best to notice, any moments when you know & experience the spacious presence that includes the ever-changing flow of life with a sense of wholeness or compassion or connection or balance or ease.

HAVE FUN!

FROM Mindfulness: Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Psychology, by Christina Feldman and Willem Kuyken

(pg. 15-16) The function of mindfulness is to help us shift from automatic reactivity to responsiveness, and from avoidance patterns to a genuine willingness to meet present-moment experience as it is. Classically, mindfulness helps us shift from unconsciousness to awareness, from impulsiveness to an intentional way of being. Faced with threat, adversity, and pain, our first response is to flee, dissociate, and either lean backward into the past or forward into the future. Threat and pain become triggers for rumination, anxiety, obsession, and bewilderment. We become preoccupied with fixing distress rather than understanding it. The habitual pattern of the mind to flinch and flee in the face of discomfort and pain can become lifelong patterns of avoidance and agitation. Caught in the avoidance mechanisms that can govern our mind and life, our capacities for resilience, tolerance, and equilibrium are undermined. When Sam (whose story Walt read during class) was caught in the throes of addiction, his cravings and self-destructive behavior ran his entire life. To a lesser (or similar) degree, this can be true for all of us. We all can go through a whole day without many spaces of lucid awareness, of being truly awake and alive.

Mindfulness reverses these habitual tendencies. It can help us cultivate the capacity to know, understand, and inhabit the present moment. As the Buddhist teachings put it: “Suffering is to be understood.” Flight and abandonment do little but deepen our sense of fear and helplessness in the face of pain, hindering our ability to respond with skillfulness. Our willingness to turn toward the moment, rather than away from our present experience, is the beginning of a journey toward greater confidence, commitment, and understanding. Mindfulness can only be cultivated in the real-life classroom of our lives, with all the joys and sorrows that are part of every human experience. Understanding distress and its origins is the only curriculum. It is here that we learn the lessons of healing and transformation.

Many of the patterns that create distress for us have long histories, not only our particular learning histories but also in the evolutionary history of the human species. We inherited these habits of mind because they have served a function for our species. Yet the mind is malleable and capable of tremendous change. Mindfulness training is intended to help us first see, then know these patterns of mind and then start to change them. In remarkably short periods of time… participants can make significant life-changing shifts in how they relate to present-moment experience.

(pg. 75-76) Cultivating mindfulness of the body is the basis for much of the experiential learning in mindfulness practice. The teaching encourages us—whether sitting, standing, walking, or lying down—to know the body as the body, to contemplate the changing nature of the body, to consider the body free from the wish for it to be different from what it is, and to contemplate the common humanity and universal story of all bodies. In this sense, bringing awareness to the body is an experiential lesson in our minds.

This instruction can be challenging because we have a paradoxical relationship to the body where we are prone to both overly identify with it and dissociate from it. Both patterns hold within them the potential for causing distress and also the potential for learning. In the midst of the myriad forms of distress, however, it is always possible to bring attention back to the body—one mindfulness teacher puts it this way: peace is always just one breath away (Thich Nhat Hanh, 1975). In other words, in any moment, we can anchor our attention in the breath to help us step out of the patterns of mind and body that cause distress and suffering…

Mindfulness of the body is always a present-moment practice. We do not have yesterday’s toothache or tomorrow’s back pain. We only have the here and now. What we come to notice is that apart from moments of physical distress or great pleasure, we rarely pay true attention to our body. Instead, we choose to live primarily in our thoughts. As a result, it is unusual for us to know what it means to be an embodied human being, yet this is the essence of mindfulness and a key to bringing distress to an end.

FROM Satipatthana Meditation: A Practice Guide by Bhikkhu Analayo:

(pg. 12) Mindfulness of the body means a form of mindfulness that in one way or another relates to aspects of the body or to the body as a whole. This felt physical presence provides an easily available sense of “here” and mindfulness itself keeps us in the “now”.

(pg. 65) In early Buddhist thought, elements represent mere qualities, not positing a form of essentialism or atomism. Earth element represents principles of hardness, stiffness, resistance; the water element liquidity, wetness, cohesion; the fire element the domain of temperature, manifesting as different degrees of warmth and heat; and the wind element the principle of motion, vibration, oscillation.

(pg. 85) Instructions for (traditional) contemplation of death refer to “comparing” our own body to the different stages of decay through which a corpse would go if it were left out in the open. The purpose is to reflect on the mortality of the body. Recollection of death can also be practiced using the breath, giving full attention to the cutting edge of impermanence. Its importance lies in its transformative power. Practice should be adjusted in such a way that progress can be achieved while at the same time maintaining balance of the mind. Wherever we encounter places of sting and agitation in our practice, it is right there that dependencies and clinging show up. These are opportunities for gradually letting go.

Quotes from Week 1 of A Practical Path of Recovery: The Four Foundations of Mindfulness with Walt Opie

Satipatthana Sutta (opening excerpt)

“Monks, this is the direct path for the purification of beings, for the surmounting of sorrow and lamentation, for the disappearance of dukkha and discontent, for acquiring the true method, for the realization of Nibbāna, namely, the four satipatthānas.

“What are the four? Here, monks, in regard to the body a monk abides contemplating the body, diligent, clearly knowing, and mindful, free from desires and discontent in regard to the world. In regard to feelings he abides contemplating feelings, diligent, clearly knowing, and mindful, free from desires and discontent in regard to the world. In regard to the mind he abides contemplating the mind, diligent, clearly knowing, and mindful, free from desires and discontent in regard to the world. In regard to dhammas he abides contemplating dhammas, diligent, clearly knowing, and mindful, free from desires and discontent in regard to the world.

“And how, monks, does he in regard to the body abide contemplating the body?

Here, gone to the forest, or to the root of a tree, or to an empty hut, he sits down; having folded his legs crosswise, set his body erect, and established mindfulness in front of him, mindful he breathes in, mindful he breathes out.

“Breathing in long, he knows ‘I breathe in long,’ breathing out long, he knows ‘I breathe out long.’ Breathing in short, he knows ‘I breathe in short,’ breathing out short, he knows ‘I breathe out short.’ He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe in experiencing the whole body,’ he trains thus: ‘I shall breathe out experiencing the whole body.’ He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe in calming the bodily formation, he trains thus: ‘I shall breathe out calming the bodily formation.

Dr. Judson Brewer:
Addiction is continued use/behavior despite adverse consequences.

The brain chooses habits based on how rewarding the behavior is. The more rewarding a behavior is the stronger the habit.

Hacking Your Brain’s “Reward System” to Change Habits by Dr. Jud Brewer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ40hNdZmfQ

Joseph Goldstein, Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening:
What is mindfulness? It is the opposite of absentmindedness. It is paying attention to what is happening at this very moment as it is happening, without being lost in thoughts or stories or opinions about how it should be.

Mindfulness acts as the guardian of the sense doors, because it keeps us aware of what is arising through the senses and helps us not to get lost in the proliferation of desires. When mindfulness is present, we abide more peacefully in our lives.

Bhikkhu Analayo, Satipatthana Meditation: Practice Guide:
The basic pattern of mindfulness practice remains throughout: being in the present, knowing what is happening, and proceeding accordingly.

The presence of mindfulness enhances and strengthens memory. Full awareness of the present moment will make it easier to recall later what has happened.

Perhaps the most crucial aspect of mindfulness practice is to stay in the present moment. This is what really counts…

The type of mindful presence to be cultivated… is similar to how we would try to be alert and attentive when something takes place that we later have to remember.

Mindfulness is a mental quality that we have to bring into being. Mindfulness has to be established; it is not just a quality that is present anyway in any type of experience. This marks the difference between mindfulness and consciousness.

Such cultivation is not a forceful matter… the word sati in the Pali language is feminine… encouraging us to stay receptive and open, soft and understanding… Visualizing the practice in terms of a coming back to the presence of a good friend helps to avoid mistaking sati/mindfulness for a forceful type of hyper-attentiveness that requires strained effort in order to be maintained.

Mindfulness can coexist with the employment of concepts (especially the wise use of concepts)…. The main task is to cultivate a free mind even in the presence of concepts. The path to freedom is based on the skillful use of certain concepts, namely those that trigger insight (we also want to see the difference between wholesome and unwholesome types).

Clear comprehension: Wholesome thoughts and concepts can serve as a tool for progress, and in the form of clearly knowing are an integral dimension of satipatthana meditation. Clearly knowing provides input (wisdom) he compares to yeast (where the dough is mindfulness).