Living with Wisdom

I’m sitting by the living room window and watching the late afternoon light as birds frolicking amidst the trees. I am so grateful to be in the nature that reminds me of the simplicity. I don’t know about you, but I have been pretty restless for the last couple of days as we await the result of the election. All I know is no matter which side wins, there’s the other half of the country that’s going to be unhappy. And I’m afraid that would likely cause some suffering.

At InsightLA, we had a community support space on the election night thanks to the dedicated volunteer coordinators, Akemi and Donna. It was so helpful to have “a place to go” where we can collectively watch the result, meditate together, and hang out. We could pay attention to how we were feeling in those moments together.

Especially when I am feeling rather ungrounded and can be irritable and impatient, I have to lean on the teachings I’ve been learning all these years. What Buddha taught is actually quite simple. He just laid out the way for us to find freedom from suffering through the wisdom we gain from knowing our mind. This morning in speaking on “right intention or consideration,” one of my favorite teacher, Gil Fronsdal, said, “the wisdom is to begin taking responsibility to avoid unwholesome actions.” Hmmm, what are unwholesome actions? It could be the way we talk to others. It could be the way we react to what’s happening in the external world. Here’s the deal, I’m really willing to practice this as he suggests, “The world you live in always begins with how you see it, how you understand it, how you act in it, and to have the freedom to act for a better world for yourself.” This concept of the world begins with me is not a new one but today I am taking it into my heart. It is my desire to see and understand the world with kind heart and act accordingly. I know I’m far from perfect, but that’s also part of the practice: to be kind to myself enough to not judge so much. At least I know I have that wisdom somewhere inside that I can tap into and hopefully able to access as much as I can.