Why Meditation is Crucial in Meeting this Moment

Meditation is not about separating ourselves
from the suffering around us.
It is about increasing our capacity to be able to meet suffering.

We find spaciousness within the chaos
So that we can better, more effectively
meet the moment.
Respond not react.

Not carried away by fear or anger
Not paralyzed by overwhelm
at the magnitude of suffering around us
Not giving in to despair when things seem bleak

Not turning to our ‘babysitters’ and addictions to dull our senses.
What’s your favorite?
Chocolate, alcohol, television, over exercise, overwork, constant stimulation ...

But instead meeting this moment fully
Being 100% present with the reality of what is happening
That balance point of neither sweeping the realities of the world
under the rug, away from our conscious awareness
Nor overwhelming our senses with stories and images -
Creating as much information in two days now
as we did in all of human history through 2003(1).
Neither minimizing nor exaggerating suffering.

Being
Very
Clear.

Starting with:
My heart hurts.

Allowing the tremendous grief we feel
about the suffering of the world
To be here.
Breathing deeply into the pain

Until the love that lies beneath the grief emerges.
Perhaps at first vaguely, dimly
Growing in intensity
Until we recognize
That this is, in fact, all there is.

This love that we connect with
when we allow ourselves to drop in;
that underlies everything
Is the only thing we need
To meet this moment
Wisely.

To ask ourselves, remind ourselves again and again
“What do I love?”
And let that be the North star guiding us
To right action.

First we have to come in
To the stillness, to the quiet
To hear the calling,
stemming from the aching
and the joys
of our hearts.