What Eastern mysticism has taught me
…a once obnoxious city dweller
Running on empty.
Feeling overwhelmed
Sleeping endlessly
These were the hallmarks of an urban life in which navigating parking and nasty neighbors played havoc on my daily existence. Noises and crowds, trendy restaurants and upscale museums and galleries were what made city living chic and enviable.
The great blanket of the pandemic quieted the din and the pulse of NYC, the often touted capital of the world, was barely detectable.
What to do?
You can Zoom your way through corporate meetings, and keep socially distant at public venues, but the excitement had dissipated, and the realities, while grim, also allowed for some personal introspection.
The same old is not the same old.
I am not a religious person and have not gone through a conversion. I am not bashing certain religions or promoting others, but labels are what they are. And if I had to put a label on myself it is: “Born Again Introvert.”
Here is what I learned since I stepped away from my buzzing, intoxicated urban existence six months ago and became more introspective in a pastoral setting.
The Buddhist philosophy teaches that all beings are equal in that they want happiness and do not want suffering.
Simple enough? Hard to disagree with, even if you are skeptical.
Then why are sacrifice and penance and punishment part of so many faiths?
In trying times, can’t we agree that we have all collectively suffered enough?
Where are the leaders in our spiritual traditions reminding us of our commonalities?
The answer, I believe, is that there are no leaders in any organized religions that can cut through the anger in our daily discourse.
Every day, when I open my laptop I am bombarded by nasty memes and Internet trolls and the politics of division. Neighborhood Facebook groups are pissing grounds. The dueling news networks are fueling the fury and stoking false leaders.
People are protesting and looting and looking for answers, reparations and corrections for the very real racial and economic divides that exist.
Despite all this fighting and screaming, the entrenchment seems to worsen. Revolutionary times are upon us and history shows that change is inevitable.
So what could I do to make sense of all this and keep myself from having a panic attack?
Nothing.
Passivity is at the core of eastern mysticism, which, as a Brooklyn-born Italian girl was hard to accept. High emotions are in my DNA. What does being passive mean?
It means that we do our best in this life and focus inward to achieve our own enlightenment.
Om Namah Shivaya: I bow to the self
While we can spread our good will, we can’t focus on the permanence of anything. This, too, shall pass.
The material world is an illusion — take that: Louis Vuitton aficionados — as is good and evil.
When I read and discovered more about mystic traditions, it felt like a huge burden was taken off my shoulders. You mean I don’t have to fix anything?
In our Western culture, our egos are so big we believe we actually are relevant.
Stay tuned for more as I delve deeper..
