#Black Lives Matter. *Conditional terms apply.

Happy Juneteenth!

I've been watching a lot of police videos lately of police officers harassing and assaulting black lives. Again and again, I am witnessing a common theme where the police are looking for a reason to exercise their power and control over the situation. It doesn't need to be a good reason, it can be something as simple as reaching for something, resisting arrest in some way, questioning the officer about why they are being pulled over or arrested. Sometimes the officer will keep harassing the individual until they do something that qualifies as a reason to ask them to step out of the car, and things start to escalate. (BTW, I've been pulled over three times for traffic stops and never been asked to get out of the car. If an officer asked me to get out of the car, I would question them too.) 

Give blue bodies a reason to exercise power and control over black bodies, and they will. 

Of course this isn't unique to police officers, we all (we all being people who conceive of being white) have this too. Imagine walking down a sidewalk at night and two black men are walking towards you. What is your bodily response? Do you feel a sense of heightened awareness? Do you get a little kick of adrenaline? You probably do a quick safety check- Are you in control of your body? Yes. In control of your surroundings? Yes. Do you feel threatened? No. Feeling safe and secure and in control of your own body, you probably walk right by and so do they. 

What happens if those black men are wearing a suite and tie? How does that affect the situation? What if those black men are wearing baggy jeans and hoodies? What if you hear one of them swearing? In each of those situations, you are going to be assessing your safety and control over your own situation. We do this to everyone, poor people, drunk people, people with dogs. It is normal to have a physiological response to your surroundings. You should pay attention to the way you feel and respect your right to feeling safe and secure. Your life matters. 

Here's the thing: it is not normal for a white body to fear a black body. White bodies have never been tormented or oppressed by black bodies. It would be normal, and probably is normal, for black bodies to feel fear and insecurity around white bodies. After all, black lives have been regularly tormented and oppressed during the entire period of recent black history. For white people, it is their perception that gives rise to these feelings of fear and insecurity. 

Where is the highest rate of crime in your city? Let me guess, it is probably an area with a high minority population. This area has poor schools, lower income housing, poor city planning and development. More than likely, the city wants people to avoid that area and directs resources accordingly. As a result, white people build an association that urban, low income black people are dangerous. Black people = bad* 

(*Conditional terms apply)

So let's imagine a young black man wearing baggy jeans and a hoodie comes to your front door in your middle to upper class neighborhood. Are you going to answer the door? Are you going to call the cops? What if it is a middle aged man wearing jeans and a t-shirt? What if it is a black man wearing a suit and tie? 

What if there is a non-descript black man appearing drunk as they walk down the sidewalk? What if there is a black man off the trail in your local park (you didn't see him taking a picture of his favorite flower)? 

What is your body and mind doing in all of these situations? How does your body feel? Do you feel threatened? Do you have a sense of control over your own body and the situation? What reason do you need to call the cops? 

Give me a reason to call the cops, and I will. 

Here is what I am seeing in our culture. White lives matter. The feeling that white bodies have over their sense of security and the control they feel over their situation matters. When white bodies feel threatened, even if it is just a mental perception, they will act to take control over their situation and exercise their power. White power might be a divisive term thrown around by hate groups and the media, but truly this is the essence of white power, that at any time white bodies can exercise their control and power over black bodies. If you are white, you have white power simply because your perceived sense of control over your body matters to our culture. 

The same cannot be said for black lives. Not at this time in history. It cannot be said on a cultural level that we respect the same level of power and control that black people have over their own lives. Sure, we can say black lives matter, but give the white body a reason and it will take control of that black body. What is disgusting about some police officers that we are seeing is that they are using any reason to take control of that black body and then using excessive force without restriction or consequence. 

All of this has to do with how we perceive or feel about our own security and sense of control over our own lives. This is a fundamental human right, and to this day we are not giving as much importance to this right to black lives. This is why we say Black Lives Matter. 

Collectively, we all need to examine and unlearn our own unconscious biases. We need to build systems that respect and value black lives as much as other lives. The path forward is not easy or clearly formed, but we can start by recognizing what is going on in our own body and mind and learning how to work with that more effectively. 

"I am not a leader."

Times such as these leave us looking to leaders to guide us. We turn to someone with power or authority to tell us what we should do next. We look for others to show us which way to go. Who has the best map for dealing with this situation? Who is going to decide what the best course of action is? Who is going to figure this out and present a solution?

We may not see ourselves as that person. We don't have the position, the significance or the influence. We don't have a following to lead, or a group that is looking for us to make those decisions.

And yet...

Our actions have an effect in the world. The way we show up influences others. The way we talk to our family, coworkers and neighbors impacts the conversation. Our perceptions, judgements and ideas influence the outer course of our life.

The conduct of our body, speech and mind shapes our life, and the individual and collective are intimately intertwined to form the communities in which we live.

You may not see yourself as a leader, and yet you set the example of what you would like to see in the world. You may not be consciously setting that example and leading the course of your life with intention, but you are creating it nonetheless.

What do you want to do? Which way are you going to get there?

Six Forces.

The practice of shamatha or calm abiding develops on the basis of the six powers or forces. Without relying on these six forces, we will struggle to give rise to a calm and clear mind, much less to rest in a place of comfort and ease.

The first force is listening and studying the teachings. If we do not study or listen to teachings, we will not know what we should focus on in our meditation. The teachings are meant to show us the path. Knowing the path, we can choose to follow it. The first power ensures the first step of settling the mind.

The second force is reflecting and contemplating what you have learned. It is not enough to read numerous texts and acquire knowledge. We need to apply that knowledge to our own experience. Reflection and contemplation enable us to continously settle the mind.

The third force is mindfulness. Mindfulness brings us back. It is like a rope, we may wander off for a bit, but eventually the rope draws taunt and brings us back. We get distracted again and again in meditation, mindfulness is the process of coming back. With mindfulness, we accomplish the stages of continuously resettling and completely settled mind.

The fourth force is vigilance. Vigilance keeps a careful watch. It is the guard in the watchtower at night. Vigilance sees the faults of agitation and dullness. With vigilance we can ensure that we progress through the stages of training and calming the mind.

The fifth force is diligence. Diligence is the continued effort of overcoming the challenges and problems that arise in meditation. Diligence ensures that we move through the stages of complete calming and single-pointedness until all distractions and hindrances are eliminated.

The sixth force is complete familiarity. There is no more wandering, no more distraction. The mind rests in equanimity. The ocean is no longer stirred by waves of thoughts or emotions. It is lucid, calm and clear.

Relying on these six forces, we can give rise to a mind that is calm and clear. We can bring the mind to rest.

A tool for looking closely.

My daughter recently developed a fear of bugs. 

A few weeks ago a bug flew in her eye and now every bug she sees is an eye assailant.  Her response to fear is pretty typical for a toddler, she yells and cries. 

To help her overcome this bug phobia we bought her a toy bug vacuum.  Basically it is a gun that sucks up bugs into a tiny viewing chamber, where you can look at them closely and then release them outside. 

It works pretty well for what it was designed to do, to turn a fear into a curiosity.

The bug vacuum gives power back to the user.  It lets them regain control of their fear and work with the situation, rather than feeling powerless.  Any tool that does this is really valuable to the user, because it not only solves a short term problem (bug), but it also develops an ability to look closely and examine what they are actually afraid of from a safe vantage point.

That is also what makes meditation so valuable.  It is a tool that allows us to work with our thoughts, fears and emotions from a safe vantage point.  It is a tool that gives us power and allows us to regain our ground. 

Once you develop a stable meditation practice, you can start exploring the bugs in your life and you will probably be surprised at what you can dig up. 

Standoff on the streets (or dancing on the sidewalks).

Twice in as many weeks I have heard people comment on the standoff that occurs on sidewalks everywhere across the country.  Imagine it: you are walking on the sidewalk and someone is walking towards you, and you are both in the middle. 

Do you move out of their way, or do they move out of yours?

There is a common conception that people feel like they are always the ones to move.  The comments that I have heard is that people experience this as a display of power.  That not moving is a sign,
I am more powerful than you.

This standoff is perceived as a power play, and if you move then you are losing.  But is that true?  Are people on the sidewalks really power walking?

Indefinitely there are a few people out there who treat this confrontation on the sidewalk as a display of power, best of luck to them.  My bet though is that most of the people aren't power walking, they are sleep walking.

Yep.  Sleep walking.

They are caught up in their story lines.  They are habitually driven between point A and point B.  They are not aware of the world around them and they have no concern for the people around them.  They are checking their phones, their senses closed off behind headphones and just trying to make it in their microcosm. 

What about you though?

You're a mover.  You are alert and aware.  You notice the people around you, adapt to a change in their stride.  You're present. 

By moving you lose nothing.  You're not giving anything up.  This sidewalk, it's not yours.  You are being polite, respectful.  You are making a choice and standing up (or moving aside) for what you want to see in the world. 

You can walk with confidence and compassion, which feels like dancing on the sidewalks.  

No one will even notice, but you are being the change you wish to see in the world. 

So next time you are out walking and are conscious enough to be aware of the people around you, make a decision: Do you move or stand your line?

Ask yourself why?  What are you trying to assert?  What are you trying to defend?

Who is making this about a power play?  What if you are establishing a power play against someone who is sleep walking?

Maybe you are still learning what it means to be awake and this person, they are your teacher.

When information is not enough.

We live in an age of information.  It is right at the tip of our fingers, but what do we do with it?

How do we apply it to our situation?  When do we know if it is working?

There is a certain comfort that comes with knowing where to go to get the right answer, but how do you apply that knowledge in a new context?  How does it apply to your context?  How do the facts actually benefit you? 

Information was once held by the powerful to establish hierarchy and maintain the status quo.  Now information is freely available and yet we often still feel powerless.  Why?

Knowledge and experience are two different things.  It is like reading and planning for a trip to a distant city versus actually going there.  You need to make the journey to make the knowledge real, to make it your own.  Having never stepped a foot in the direction of that which you read about, how can you proclaim to know the subtlety of its experience.

You must walk the path. 

What is the Fabric of your life?

What is it that runs as a constant throughout your day?  What motivates the choices you make, your actions and the way you relate with the world and people around you?

Is it money.
Fame.
Power.
Status.
Security.

Is it to escape the pain.
Illness.
Depression.
Guilt.

Is it your family.
The people in your life.
Your faith.
Your responsibility.

It could be love.
Kindness.
Generosity.
Or the truth.

Whatever it is, it is important that you know how it shapes who you are.  Does it lend itself to happiness?  Does it promote selfishness and suffering, or does it promote tenderness and appreciation? Does it benefit your life and those around you?  

If the fabric that runs through your life doesn't promote your own well being or the welfare of others, change it.  If it does support your own well being and the benefit of others, then persevere in the practice.

Once you know your motivation, the only thing left to do is act.  Go.