Welcome to Active Meditation.
Coping with chaos.
Creating a mindful relationship with society and politics.
Part 1 Building Better Boundaries.
Learning to cope with the general unrest in our world works best when our thinking and emotions are calm.
Where we can become centered in our higher self.
The part of us that can detach from the outer world.
Where we can stand apart from the stress and strain of outer circumstances and still be alert and able to think clearly.
We can find this state by giving our self permission to relax and close our eyes for a moment.
And imagine that we are in the center of a slowly spinning wheel.
Where we are quiet and unmoving and can see or sense our outer world,
Our ordinary activities moving about us at a distance.
We can also sense the actions of others as we remain in the center of this slowly spinning wheel.
We are aware of the agitation,
Disharmony,
Competition and animosity in the people and situations out there.
As we sense these events at a distance,
We become aware.
We can observe our own ordinary feelings and thoughts slowly moving about us.
And we realize we have the power to control our attention.
We have the power to direct our thoughts and emotions.
Because we are the observer,
The silent witness of our emotions,
Desires and emotions.
We can control and direct them from this place at the center of our awareness.
We can detach ourselves from the moods and ideas of others.
We,
If we choose,
Can direct and create thoughts and feelings that foster peace,
Goodwill and harmony instead of anxiety,
Despair or outrage.
As we continue to think of ourselves as being in the center of this wheel with the outer world slowly spinning around us,
We also experience a sense of safety and peacefulness present in this center of our consciousness and how we are partly removed from the outer agitation and anxiety.
We have found our inner oasis of peace and safety in a world that is sometimes unpeaceful and unsafe.
As we view life from this safe place,
We need to learn to retain the sense of peace and safety when we return to our outer activities in the world.
There are many guides to help us to do this.
To maintain a peaceful state of mind in our daily activities,
We need to clarify the boundaries of our beliefs,
Responsibilities and habits.
We need to decide what beliefs are important to us as well as those we will reject.
We want to stand for beliefs and values that we know are proper and good for us.
Learning to stay out of the agitation and distress in mass consciousness means we must practice sensible self-control of our attention.
To do this well,
We need to decide what is most important for us at any moment in time.
We cannot afford to invest ourselves in everything that interests or annoys us,
For this is how we become lost in the agitation and chaos of mass consciousness.
While society and humanity often show us their worst side and we may have legitimate concerns about them,
We need to take care to choose where to focus the best uses of our intelligence,
The best uses of our energies,
To preserve our well-being as we seek to help others.
The first step in restraining the forces of chaos in mass consciousness is to stay centered,
Mainly in the situations and events where we have no control or substantial influence.
If we have no ability to influence a person or situation,
We need to leave it to those who have this influence.
The temptation is to try to fix what is,
For us,
Unfixable.
This is how we upset ourselves.
This is how we become frustrated.
This is how we become exhausted.
This is how we waste our energies.
This tendency is one of the major ways we become distracted and disturbed by issues we cannot change or help.
We need to recognize the futility as well as the danger to us of trying to help where we will have little or no impact.
The first rule of protecting our self from the chaos in mass consciousness is to limit our major concerns to where we have a reasonable chance of influencing the object of our concern.
We can also protect our self from the chaos in mass consciousness by being mindful.
Being mindful that neither people nor events will cause us to be angry,
Anxious,
Or discouraged.
Such events only trigger our annoyance.
Our reaction of outrage,
Despair,
Or defeat is something we do to ourselves.
When we recall a person or event that has annoyed us,
We can easily reproduce the initial annoyance we felt when it first occurred.
This indicates our distress is something we generate in our self.
It is only triggered.
It is not caused by the event or situation itself.
But we often blame people and situations for our frustration.
We must realize we are involved in contributing to our own distress.
And this also means we have the power to control our reactions,
To support our well-being and calmness by embracing a more appropriate response.
Another major way to protect our self from the chaos in mass consciousness and to form strong boundaries for our self is to know when we have done enough to help a person or situation.
Is to know when we have done all we reasonably can for the moment.
Is to know that any effort after this point is reached will only be wasted and may add to our frustration.
This means we need to know as precisely as possible where our responsibility ends and the responsibility of others begins.
We need to be certain that we are not tricked into doing for others what they rightly need to do for themselves.
To be effective in deciding where our responsibility ends we need to be familiar with the difference between genuine and needed assistance versus enabling a weakness in others and doing for them what they should do for themselves.
Sustaining strong boundaries for our thinking,
Emotions and intentions protects us from both demanding individuals and mass consciousness.
To do this well we need to sort out our beliefs and values.
To refine what we believe in versus what we do not.
What ideas and methods we will accept and those we will reject.
What we are willing to do and what we will refuse This is not being judgmental.
This is a matter of rational thinking and discernment.
So we can more skillfully focus our ideas and intentions and resist the nonsense that others want us to accept.
All of these things can be done while we still continue to be a compassionate person who seeks to be helpful and charitable in the world.
The goal is to be skillful,
Efficient and effective about whom we help,
What causes we serve and how we offer our kindness and generosity to the world.
It is our responsibility to go about this work in an intelligent and effective manner in which we know that what we are doing will be useful and will not be wasted in useless gestures.
Rest in this awareness,
This peace,
In this secure place of consciousness.
I will rejoin you in a few moments.
Be aware of how your mind is changing in subtle ways to adjust your priorities and boundaries,
To honor your highest good,
Your principles,
Your responsibilities and your higher self.
As we return to full waking consciousness,
To time and space,
We are able to see the world.
Take this strong and peaceful state with you.
And also take with you the knowledge that our personality has made progress in developing a working relationship with our I am aware.
I am.
