Resting Up For What’s Next

Hey everyone,

It's Judy Cohen and this is Wake Up Call 476.

It's really nice to see you all.

Sorry for the scratchy voice,

I have a little bit of a cold.

So this weekend I was talking with my very dear friend Alisa,

I don't know if Alisa's here or not,

And we got to talking about refuge and how much we are feeling like we need that right now,

You know,

Refuge,

Rest,

Kind of resting up.

And in classical mindfulness,

Right,

You probably know the invitation is to take refuge in Buddha,

The Dharma,

And the Sangha.

And so what that means is the Buddha not as a person,

Not the historical Buddha himself who,

He said himself,

He was just a man,

He was just awake,

But more the teacher in each of us,

Right?

The wisdom we know we have,

You know,

We know we can count on when things are moving fast and the political situation is what it is.

And the invitation is to take refuge in what we know to be right and wise and kind.

So we can take refuge in knowing that it's not wise or kind to target people for their identities or their immigration status,

Or to take,

We can take refuge in knowing that targeting people for their commitment to justice isn't right or wise.

We can take refuge in knowing that withholding funds that belong to people in need isn't right or wise or kind.

And I mean,

Bottom line is we can take refuge in knowing that to affirmatively decide not to collaborate with the rest of the human beings on this beautiful blue planet around,

You know,

Caring for one another and caring for the planet isn't right,

Isn't wise,

Isn't kind.

And so we can take refuge in these.

And the other things that we know,

That we know to be true in our own bodies,

Right?

In the teacher who resides inside of each of us,

Who knows right from wrong and wise from unwise and kind from unkind,

Right?

To completely misquote Justice Stewart,

The teacher who knows greed,

Hatred and delusion when they see it,

Right?

So that's the Buddha,

That's taking refuge in the Buddha.

And then we're also invited to take refuge in the Dharma,

Which is the teachings.

And,

You know,

Plenty of times when I feel like I'm confused or unsure about what's right or what's wise or what's kind,

And I know I can go to what's been written,

What's been contemplated over,

You know,

2600 years about how not causing harm is wise,

About how not taking what's not mine,

Not stealing,

Not appropriating is wise,

Not using harsh language is wise,

Not misusing sexuality is wise,

Not taking in substances,

Including media,

According to the great teacher Thich Nhat Hanh,

Right?

Substances that cloud the mind is wise.

And about how those five teachings are also what's right and what's kind to ourselves and to others,

Right?

So we can take refuge in knowing that.

And then we're invited to take refuge in the Sangha,

Which is just a translation,

The community.

So again,

From Thich Nhat Hanh,

He said the next Buddha will be the Sangha.

And my understanding is that he meant the next great teacher will be the community,

Right?

So we can take refuge in places like this,

Where we get to be with like-minded people in community.

But not only in communities that are,

Air quotes,

Like us,

But in the human community,

In being inclusive without exception,

Even when it feels,

Speaking for myself,

Even when it feels impossible to consider that person as part of my community,

Right?

Taking refuge in the human community,

Knowing there's wisdom there,

There's fundamental kindness,

Even when kindness seems like it's completely obfuscated.

And then taking refuge can also be about being in nature,

Taking refuge in the forest,

Where the trees have seen it all,

And we'll be here long after we're gone.

And taking refuge in being beside the ocean or sitting beside a lake or a stream or a river,

As that's been here since before time began to be measured the way that we measure it.

We'll be here in some form long after time as we know it ceases to exist.

Being with beings we love is a place of refuge.

Being with beings I love is a place of refuge for me,

So,

And maybe for you too.

So being with family,

With friends,

With all of you,

And with the other communities I get to sit with,

Being with Ollie the puppy,

Even when he's being a complete puppy,

Is refuge.

Being alone is also refuge,

Being with my own being,

The silence of that,

The silence and the nature of silence itself,

I guess,

That can be a powerful refuge.

So I feel like we all need refuge,

And I mean,

I'm not speaking for you,

But everybody I talk to,

You know,

But then there's this feeling of like,

Is that okay?

And I feel like it is,

I feel like if you're feeling activated or shaken or off kilter or anxious,

Or even if you're feeling great,

To me it's still always wise to find some time for refuge in the day,

And especially in this moment,

In these times where there's so much going on,

You know,

I feel like it's crucial.

So I had the pleasure of sitting with the Working Group for Law and Meditation on Monday evening,

Talk about refuge,

You know,

A quarter of a century almost,

We've been sitting together,

We know each other pretty well,

And I love the refuge of practicing and being with these wise friends.

And Norman Fisher is our teacher,

As I've mentioned,

And so he and a couple of other friends in our group had something to say about refuge on Monday,

About resting up,

And I thought I would share that.

But first,

I want to say that I was kind of wondering how meeting would go.

We meet most months,

But we hadn't met since the inauguration,

And I was wondering how everybody would be doing,

And whether there would be a lot of upset,

A lot of activation,

A lot of exasperation,

Fear,

Frustration,

A lot of afflictive emotion,

Kind of a venting time.

And I was really surprised because,

I mean,

It wasn't that people weren't upset.

I personally more or less feel like if you're not upset,

You're not paying attention.

Another misquote of another quote,

I think it was Tom Morello,

The musician who said that,

But Norman and my friend Karen Masalo,

Who's a national immigration expert,

And she directs the UC San Francisco Law Center on Gender and Refugee Studies.

So Karen and Karen's partner,

Richard Boswell,

Who's also a very prominent professor at UCSF Law,

They said some things that I needed to hear and deeply appreciated.

They said,

Take care of yourself.

Essentially,

Take refuge.

And for now,

They said,

Just pay attention.

Now is not the time for action.

There's too much going on.

There's too much momentum,

Too much chaos.

And Norman said,

This was really funny,

Norman said,

This president is having the best week he'll have his whole term.

Just keep that in mind.

Bide your time.

Resource yourself and bide your time.

That was what Norman said.

And he pointed,

Interestingly,

He pointed to Sun Tzu,

Which I guess he's been reading.

I'll leave it to Norman to pull out The Art of War right now.

And he said that Sun Tzu,

And I'm reading my copy now,

Sun Tzu said that there are times like this when the best thing to do is wait and watch.

So rest,

Wait,

And watch because no one is foolproof.

Nothing is without fail.

Everybody makes mistakes.

And when the mistakes and the missteps start happening,

That will be the time to act.

And this is the time to rest up.

And actually,

Norman said,

Rest up for battle,

Which is kind of interesting coming from my favorite Zen priest.

And he said,

Don't feel bad about doing that.

Or like we could be doing more,

Just rest up because we're going to need our strength.

So I think I have shared this a lot.

And I think about this a lot.

I think about kind of children's line all the time.

Are you going to practice peace or are you going to war?

And right now I'm practicing peace,

Internal peace,

The kind of peace that I can find when I take refuge in my own internal teacher,

In what I know to be right and true,

In community and nature and family and friends and other beings in silence right now.

But am I going to war?

I don't know.

I just know that right now I need to rest up just in case.

So thank you to Karen and Richard and Norman.

And thank you to all of you for thinking about this.

And let's sit.

Okay,

So yeah,

Let's take some refuge right now and find your seat.

Find whatever posture will most support you taking refuge in this present moment.

Come to stillness.

Sometimes stillness itself can be a kind of refuge.

Inviting the body,

The heart,

The mind into whatever stillness,

Whatever silence is available.

And finding your anchor.

Maybe that's the breath.

Maybe that's sound.

Especially if it's quiet where you are.

Maybe that's the sense of the body sitting.

And just invite the attention to rest on that anchor in that one place.

The breath,

Sound,

The body.

No matter how busy the mind might be or fidgety the body might be or activated the heart might be,

Is there a place of refuge?

A moment even of just letting go.

The peace of that,

The peace.

And also the power of refuge.

Something that you can take with you out into your day.

A recollection of that feeling of peace.

If there's any sense of wanting to get to the to-do list.

Just seeing if you can take that backwards step,

That backwards step into the present moment and just rest,

Take refuge.

And then for the last few breaths of this sit,

Just taking note of how that moment of rest or refuge feels.

And taking it with you today.

Today.

Thank you,

Judy,

For being our refuge.

Take good care of yourselves.

Bye.