We ARE the Whole

There comes a time when all our practice (and practice and practice) needs to be put into play. In Zen circles this translates into, roughly, the idea that no moments exist outside the sphere of the now. Practice wrapping your head around that zinger! A deeper interpretation could also suggest that there is no separation between our practice and our subsequent response to outside stimuli, events, circumstances or what we casually sometimes refer to as the sitrep. Situation report.

A sitrep most often asks of the observer (us) to relay intel on the observed (everything else). Are bombs dropping around us? Are we bracing for hurricane force winds? Is the level of discrimination at critical mass? Are we choking on polluted air and fouled water? Are our elected leaders taking the higher moral ground or enriching their heirs and business associates at our expense? Are we reeling from some extrinsic comment made by someone struggling with their own issues?

That is our practice. This is it and the time is now. It is exactly the intersection of our expanding, compassionate awareness and the reality of a world gone mad from toxic exposure to runaway capitalism. If you harbor any remaining doubt as to the veracity of this image, standing in the rain with thousand dollar umbrellas for sale across the street, consider the ironic hypocrisy of war.

Our practice is to seek truth, to practice peace in all its myriad forms and to find ways and means to put kindness into play. After a lifetime of contemplation I can honestly say that the goal of this game is not to hoard resources, stockpile tax-free cash or bully others into religious fanaticism. The lust for power is a greedy gaming of every religious ideology ever devised. Do unto others?

And so, as the rain turns acidic and reeks with the foul propaganda of hate, we carry on. We practice with awareness and empathy. We remain that single beacon of light flashing a warning signal through the storm of racism, narcissism and bigotry. It is the good fight. DO NOT SURRENDER.

It is also a fight that we must win. A must have game with stakes as high as ever a game could have. Our planet is literally on fire with the official response something about boarder control, guns in teachers top drawers, women’s bodies and gay marriage. Rome, Georgia is burning but Beyonce sings on.

There is no remaining doubt that by changing a part of the whole, one changes the whole. This simple fact of physics provides us with hope, as each change, by even a single atomic particle, either augments or diminishes the entirety of eternity. Is that enough of everything for your consideration?

One might react with an aggressive counter to these atrocities with a violent response, throw rocks at the castle and storm the gates. As much as I trust that this won’t, it could. A better solution, accepting the fact that it should happen, is a two-fold attack utilizing the immense power of united peace.

1) Practice peace in the form of loving kindness. This is gold. Change your part of the whole.
2) Vote. This is blue. And green. We are the whole.

We ARE the whole.