Dear Friends,
When we allow ourselves to take in the reality of today’s massive rate of species extinction–unprecedented loss happening at a global scale–our minds and hearts can grow destabilized. We can slip into an emotional tail spin of anger, fear, denial, and blame. But it is important to remain steady and present with extinction and what it triggers inside of us if we are to act with skill. To this end, I offer an original meditation on extinction and fearlessness. It is at the edge of new spiritual technologies for modern times, a tool to help us know how to be and act in the midst of catastrophe.
I invite you to find a quiet moment to practice this meditation. If you find it helpful, please share it with a friend. Also, if you are so inclined, write back and let me know how this meditation works for you.
With love for life, H
Meditation on Extinction & Fearlessness
Sit with an upright spine, raise the crown of your head, drop your chin a bit, and make three points of contact with the floor (both your seat and two feet if you’re in a chair or your seat and two knees if you’re on the floor). Invite a relaxed smile on your lips. Turn your attention toward your breath and let your mind and body settle as you feel your body breathing in and out.
(BELL. Breathe in and out for five breaths.)
Become aware of the cycle of your breathing: for every in-breath there is an out-breath. For every out-breath you breathe in. You cannot breathe in without breathing out. Both the in-breath and the out-breath have purpose; they are mutually beneficial. Accept and feel gratitude for your body’s wisdom to breathe in and breathe out.
(BELL. Breathe in and out for five breaths.)
Now turn your attention to the cycle of the seasons. For every spring there is a fall. For every winter there is a summer. You cannot have a harvest without a time of rest. You cannot have new growth without decay exposing and opening the seed. Death comes to life; life comes to death. Breathing in and out, accept and feel gratitude for the seed’s wisdom sustaining the plant through cycles of birth and death.
(BELL. Breathe in and out for five breaths.)
As breath flows into your body, place your attention on the cycle of the moon and tide. Twice each day, salt water floods land bringing to life-at-the-edge nutriments, opportunities for movement, and mates. Twice each day, moon pulls ocean from shallows to expose animals, plants, and minerals to sunlight, wind, freshwater rain, and oxygen. Accept and feel gratitude to the wisdom of the tide—in and out—a condition for healthy continuation.
(BELL. Breathe in and out for five breaths.)
Breathing in, turn your awareness to the ebb and flow of human history as civilizations rise and fall, crumble and emerge. For every coming together there is falling apart; for every end there is beginning. Each has purpose; in the ultimate dimension, they are mutually beneficial, nature’s way of restoring balance.
Sometimes, it is difficult to see the cycle of civilization as part of natural order. You may experience alarm or resistance to pain associated with society’s breakdown. You may cling to a preferred version of the status quo or feel aversion toward acceptance of reality: modern society in transition. There is a fine line between feeling helpless and resigned to an unwanted fate and accepting the reality of the present moment in order to function with skill. Do your best to stay calm and witness society in transition so you know how to be and act. Accept and feel gratitude for the cracking open of hearts, minds, and opportunity as things fall apart.
(BELL. Breathe in and out for five breaths.)
Now become aware of life cycles on planet earth. Breathing in, notice strong emotions that may arise when you let in the reality of extinction—anger, fear, sadness, hopelessness, craving for conditions to be different. Breathing out, extend compassion to people, animals, plants, and minerals who suffer—including you—as 10,000-100,000 species disappear from earth each year. In—notice emotion, out—extend compassion…. If it is especially difficult to stay steady as you contemplate the sixth mass extinction of life on earth, wrap your arms around your body and care for your pain like a mother cares for her child. Breathe in and out calmly, extending compassion, as you accept and feel grateful for your wounds, vital sources of information.
(BELL. Breathe in and out for five breaths.)
Breathing in, if you feel aversion toward humankind for being at the root of species extinction, welcome and grow curious about the sensation of aversion. Breathing out, remember there is no divide between humanity and nature; we are not separate from the environment in which we dwell or the workings of natural law. Ignorance leads us into thinking we are separate from nature, so humanity acts in cycles of harmony and conflict with the non-human world. We both embrace and reject oneness with our earth-body. Breathe in and out extending compassion toward humanity as one of nature’s perfectly imperfect manifestations, born to cycles of suffering. Feel unconditional tenderness for life on earth, including human. Accept and feel gratitude for humankind’s cycle of suffering and transformation—the cycle of life on earth—as part of nature’s ultimate order.
(BELL. Breathe in and out for five breaths.)
As breath flows in and out of your body, welcome the insight of ultimate reality:
No coming, no going
No increasing or decreasing
Nothing defiled or immaculate
No birth, no death
No fear
This is the reality of the ultimate dimension: whole, complete, steady, balanced.
Breathing in, bring half your attention to the historical dimension—the dualistic world of good/bad, sustainable/non-sustainable, birth/death in which we live our days—and keep half your attention fixed upon the ultimate reality—the insight of no birth, no death, no fear. Remain calm as you look deeply into the cycles of human activity and species extinction. With one foot in the historical dimension and one foot in the ultimate dimension, ask yourself this question: What action might I take from this place of peace?
Accept and feel gratitude for the insight of fearlessness.
BELL.
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