My name is Gunnar Keitu.
I teach meditation at the Oslo Buddhist Center.
And I'm very proud to be here today,
To be invited to contribute a little bit to what you do.
Really,
I'm grateful that you are really feeling and connecting with the importance of guarding the conditions for our very existence.
And that you are willing to put your comfort,
Your freedom,
At least temporarily,
On risk.
To do something that is really valuable to you,
And certainly for me.
And I know,
Occasionally I engage with some kind of activist activity.
And I know that when my heart gets involved,
It is very easily sucked in with all of me.
So,
I'm very inspired to think about transformation,
Both in the outside world and on the inside.
And I'm very impressed by the way you,
In Extinction Rebellion,
You are looking after each other,
You are looking after yourselves.
And now in the newsletter I saw you also bringing out some of the ideas,
Ideologies and theories that will support you.
And connect with one of my heroes,
Joanna Macy.
She does this work that reconnects.
And it starts with this gratitude.
So,
This gratitude towards our heroes,
To those who have gone before us,
Like Gandhi or Ambedkar.
And so,
Now what I want to do today is to really connect with our heart.
And really to,
As,
It was beautiful to see the video,
I was somewhere else,
So I couldn't take part in your sorrow march.
And as Joanna Macy says,
It's really important that we learn to grieve.
That we learn to hold the sorrow of all the species that are extinct,
That become extinct.
The environments that are damaged or will be damaged,
That we can hold it.
And really cry and support each other.
And hold that without being overwhelmed,
At least not too overwhelmed.
So we know how to transform that hurt,
That sorrow into some sweet pain that will motivate us tomorrow and the day after.
And one of the friends I met a long time ago in Animal Liberation,
He was driving himself from hatred.
And in a discussion,
I was wondering how that would influence him over time.
And he said,
Well,
He had no choice.
He didn't dare face these farmers or hunters without that anger.
When I met him a year later,
He had thought about it and he had changed his tack.
He thought,
Well,
He couldn't live with a life of hatred.
So now he had reduced his intensity a little bit,
But now starting to go out of love,
Out of connection with his heart.
And being regenerative or fostering a regenerative culture,
I really think we need to live our practice.
And it was so beautiful the day before yesterday,
I had just been talking to Verbjörn,
Who is now on a hunger strike for the climate.
And I was cycling back over the Äventyrbrua,
And someone was just talking to me on my bike,
You're hungry,
And I was.
And so I could sit down and talk to Rune and enjoy a wonderful bowl of pasta.
And it's that kind of life that I want to live in,
Where we look after each other.
And so it's important that we hold on to that.
Whenever we are in our demonstrations or when we are at home,
That we are living our dream.
And we don't attempt to actually draw on our adversaries' scare methods.
And so just before leading this meditation,
I wanted to read a poem,
The Guesthouse,
By the Sufi Rumi.
I think it's so beautiful because it really brings out the idea that life comes with all kinds of sorrows and upsets and defeats.
And I remember it was so important for me when we were demonstrating against war in Iraq,
If some of you remember that.
You know,
The US invaded all the same,
But our campaign was successful.
We did what we could.
We didn't manage to avoid the invasion,
But we were on the streets.
And so,
The Guesthouse.
This being,
Human,
Is a guesthouse.
Every morning,
A new arrival.
A joy,
A depression,
A meanness.
Some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all.
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture.
Still,
Treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out for some new delight.
The dark thoughts,
The shame,
The malice.
Meet them at the door,
Laughing,
And invite them in.
Be grateful for whatever comes,
Because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.
So thank you,
Rumi,
For reminding us.
And now,
I'll lead a meditation.
So just finding yourself,
Making yourself as comfortable as you can.
Maybe take a few deep breaths.
And relax as much as you can.
Just feeling your contact with the earth.
Maybe it's your feet,
Your heels,
The sole of your feet.
Maybe your knees,
Your buttocks.
Maybe your back or head.
Just noticing how that contact feels.
And relaxing your body.
Maybe starting with your feet and your leg.
Maybe moving them a bit.
Adjusting them if they're uncomfortable.
Relaxing your knees and thighs.
Relaxing your buttocks.
Noticing your stomach.
Whether it's full of breakfast or whether it's empty of breakfast.
Just noticing how your belly feels and letting it relax.
Being aware of your abdomen.
Noticing if there's any tension.
Feeling your heart,
Your chest.
Noticing how you feel now.
Are you tired?
Are you excited?
Are you scared?
Are you sad or joyful?
Just noticing and let it be.
Noticing your hands wherever they are.
Perhaps feeling the wind.
Noticing if they're cold or hot.
Feeling your arms,
Your shoulders.
And then bringing your awareness to your neck,
Your throat.
And letting the breathing just come and go.
Noticing your jaw.
Relaxing the strong muscles in your jaw,
Your brow,
Your eyes.
And being aware of your whole body.
Noticing where your thoughts are.
Just letting them come and go like visitors in a guesthouse.
Not holding on to them.
Not pushing away.
And then again,
Being aware of the earth you're lying on.
Feeling the contact,
Whether you're sitting or lying.
Perhaps sensing a little bit down into the earth.
You are reaching down into the earth,
Saying hello.
Hello.
And perhaps having a sense of the earth touching you.
Noticing how you're being held by the earth.
And you can relax.
The earth is holding you.
Letting yourself being held by the earth.
Perhaps falling to mind how the earth uses its gravity to hold you.
Hold you from drifting out into space.
So let yourself being held by the earth.
Relaxing.
Perhaps also being aware that the earth protects you with its atmosphere.
Shielding you from the intense coldness of space.
Opening your heart.
To the protection earth provides.
Perhaps you also feel coldness or discomfort right now.
And so holding perhaps both discomfort and gratitude.
And you drift away,
Just coming back to your heart.
And being held and protected.
Turning your attention to your own heart.
Your own ability to hold and protect yourself.
Perhaps being aware of areas where you don't protect yourself.
Perhaps to protect others.
Recalling also the need to hold and protect yourself.
Resting in your heart.
Enjoying.
Looking for enjoyment in this peaceful being with yourself.
And letting the noises surround just come and go.
Like waves on an ocean.
Now perhaps bring to mind a friend.
Maybe someone you are here with today.
And open your heart to support and protect your friend.
Sensing the connection between you.
Enjoying it.
Relaxing.
Opening your heart to your friend,
Yourself and the earth.
Supporting life.
When your thought drifts to plans for the rest of the day,
So planning or other things.
Just acknowledge it.
Like the wind or the sound.
And let it go and come back to your heart.
Your friend,
The earth.
Letting breathing come and go as it wants to.
And now perhaps opening your heart to all those people you don't know.
Life,
Animals,
The planet.
May we all be supported and protected by the earth,
By each other.
Letting that wish and hope.
Have a room.
Looking perhaps for a sense of enjoyment in your body right now.
And if you find some pleasure somewhere,
Just enjoying it.
Perhaps even let it spread.
And amongst those beings that you wish are protected and supported,
Let that also extend to the people you disagree with.
People who do things you consider stupid.
Who do violent things.
Also wishing them to come to their senses or their hearts.
And change to do what supports life.
Opening our hearts also to them.
Bringing awareness back to the earth.
And you sitting or lying on the earth.
Feeling supported and protected.
Relax and just opening to the day.
