Dharma Practice in times of Uncertainty

Greetings friends~

As we be together in this political moment, I wanted to offer some of the dharma teachings and practices that I have been leaning into.

One of which is sharing poetry, so first a poem.

For When People Ask by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

I want a word that means

okay and not okay,

more than that: a word that means

devastated and stunned with joy.

I want the word that says

I feel it all all at once.

The heart is not like a songbird

singing only one note at a time,

more like a Tuvan throat singer

able to sing both a drone

and simultaneously

two or three harmonics high above it—

a sound, the Tuvans say,

that gives the impression

of wind swirling among rocks.

The heart understands swirl,

how the churning of opposite feelings

weaves through us like an insistent breeze

leads us wordlessly deeper into ourselves,

blesses us with paradox

so we might walk more openly

into this world so rife with devastation,

this world so ripe with joy.

Honor the wisdom of your body.

Our bodies are wise, they feel and respond to the information coming in through our environment. In the single unified field of embodied awareness, all response is welcome. All response is more information.

To honor the body's wisdom is to make space to feel what you are feeling, to drop into the body and allow the sensations, feelings and emotions that are present to be experienced and processed through the body’s awareness.

I want to name that we are experiencing abuse of power on a national level and attempts to undo basic practices of equity and care for folks with already marginalized identities and our earth. This may activate trauma responses or nervous system alerts in our bodies, responses of fear, freeze, rage, fight, anger, grief and overwhelm or feelings and sensations that are hard to feel/name.

What practices help you tend to your body and nervous system, to feel and listen to your emotions?

Bayo Akomalfe quoting a Yoruba saying says: The times are urgent, slow down

Meditation and mindfulness help us presence what we are actually feeling and transmute emotional reactions into wisdom, compassion and right action.

This is a process of recognizing what we are telling ourselves, what thoughts, memories and worries are being triggered—and coming back to our direct experience—here— in this living present. The four foundations of mindfulness is one way of touching into the different realms of our experience, they are:

Feel your body

Feel you feelings

Become aware of mental activity (remember we don’t have to believe our thoughts)

Rest in Awareness itself

Art, exercise, body movement practices, eating good food, taking in beauty, breathing deeply, being around others with regulated nervous systems like (meditation, yoga, art spaces, therapy, natural world) are other important ways to care for, nourish our bodies.

Insight Practice—The dharma teachings remind us that right here, in our present experience, in the imminence of this—there is a refuge that can’t be taken away. All the koans point us back here.

We ask—who is it that is aware? What is this? Not merely as an existential inquiry, but as a way to remember ourselves back to the truth of who we are.

In times of crisis, angst, hopelessness and fear our true nature is right here.

Aware, open, deeply grounded, whole.

Zen awakening reminds us that we can know this freedom in any situation.

Sometimes when things are stripped away, when we are truly facing uncertainty or crisis, we are more available to this level of the teachings—what remains when even your sense of security is called into question?

what remains when everything is taken away?

Reflection on Impermanence—Hakuin Zenji likened impermanence to a black fire. We don’t see it coming, so we are surprised when conditioned things change.

Before the Buddha died he reminded his disciples that all compounded things are subject to vanish. Our bodies, our relationships, our work, our societies—are subject to change. Whatever is happening now, will change.

In Buddhism we are invited to contemplate impermanence as a regular part of our practice life. When we do this, we see or remember that everything we love or depend on is of the nature to change.

All beings are a life-cycle, they were born, they will die. It can be powerful to view each being like this, to see their birth and death within whatever their present expression is. Civilizations, societies also have a birth and a death.

There is this teaching from Ajahn Cha, who apparently had this favorite cup that he always insisted on using when he gave formal talks. He would admire the beauty of the cup publicly. Once a student asked him about the teaching of non-attachment and impermanence in relationship to his cup. Ajahn Cha said, it is because I know that this cup will break someday that I love it so much.

Impermanence can help us connect to what truly matters, to our love for this dynamic and wild life, and all the elements it contains.

Four Divine Abodes—Loving kindness, compassion, joy, equanimity—these are qualities we can cultivate and dwell in—a clear and stable mind, a heart grounded in love, compassion and joy. Its actually quite subversive to practice the four boundless qualities of the heart-mind. To remember that we are interconnected, and that it is not our responsibility alone to save the world.

When you don’t know what to do, practice Loving kindness for yourself, for others, for the planet, for our world.

For all beings who are experiencing fear.

For all beings who are caught in greed, hatred and delusion

Hatreds never cease through hatred in this world; through love alone they cease. This is an eternal law.—the Buddha

Dharma Protectors—Ask for help from the Bodhisattvas, Jizo Bodhisattva has this vow to enter any hell realm and guide beings to liberation. Ask Jizo to protect those who are most vulnerable, including parts of yourself!

Vows—Stay connected to your vows. I find in times of stress, uncertainty, fear or confusion if I turn towards the bodhisattva vows, my personal vows clarify and deepen. Many of us may not have vows that we have articulated for this life, but may have a felt sense of calling, direction or orientation. Leaning into what matters, and drawing strength from this kind of north star orientation is essential for our hearts.

Sangha—Thich Nhat Hanh said that the next Buddha is the Sangha. It has long been known that awakening and spiritual maturation happen in community, side by side with each other. We are stronger together. We just are.

The more that we can rest into spiritual practice not being about achieving some kind of personal fulfillment, the more rich and meaningful spiritual practice becomes. I would say the same thing about living, if we are living for ourselves as a community of beings—life has a richness to it. Let’s let our sense of community extend to include the entire world—the entire cosmos.

Take refuge in community, and let yourself stay open to discovering more community in your life!

Creativity—Make Art, Share Poetry, Sing, Dance, Illustrate, tell stories, make food for those you love, make time for creative expression

Art-making is an embodied practice.

Art is healing, it opens us up to the different parts of ourselves and connects us to the collective.

Art is a way to process and practice being imperfect.

When we create, we are in touch with creation on an embodied level, love is being expressed through our being in all its various shades and colors.

Art allows breakthroughs, something that has never been is given life.

As systems crumble before our eyes, something new will be born, will rise from the ashes. Our creativity is part of that process. Trust that.

In a Dangerous Time by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

I think of the bones

of the unsung rib cage,

the way they protect

the heart. How bone,

too, is living, how it constantly

renews and remakes itself.

I think of how ribs engage

with other ribs

to expand, to contract,

and because they do

their solid work,

they allow the heart to float.

This is what I want to do:

to be a rib in this body

of our country,

to make a safe space for love.

There is so much now

that needs protection.

I want to be that flexible,

that committed to what’s vital,

that unwilling to yield.

I’m Amy Kisei. I am a Zen Buddhist Teacher, Spiritual Counselor, budding Astrologer and Artist. I offer 1:1 Spiritual Counseling sessions in the styles of IFS and somatic mindfulness. I also offer astrology readings. Check out my website to learn more. I currently live in Columbus, OH and am a supporting teacher for the Mud Lotus Sangha.

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