Transitions, audio recording, Billy T.K.'S Powerhouse
Tread softly dear friend,
Every moment, countless changes take place in the world around us, but also within us. Cosmic principles move celestial and quantum objects, and everything in between. At the tender point where transitions happen, like joints, there is more likelihood for injury.
Human beings, like all other forms of life, are brilliant and complex expressions of eons of cosmic forces in action. We tend to forget the larger context of our lives, and narrow our focus to mostly what is in front of our noses. We have a great faculty for making ourselves comfortable amidst the discomfort of living in these mortal bodies. However, the cost of our comfort becomes clear when we start to observe how our comfort relies so heavily on the discomfort of others. The natural world is speaking to us, protesting, in a wordless language which we are often too noisy to hear. Now, as always, we are confronted by the decision to harden ourselves against the harsh truths or soften into how our lives depend on each other. We can choose to believe our stories that separate us as individuals, or to connect with what sustains life in each other. Given our choice, we will experience exactly that level of belonging, camaraderie, and love.
If we want to express the full potential of what life could be like on this planet, we must look deeply into our own hearts and find all that keeps us closed to possibility. The limits of human ingenuity have yet to be exhausted. Our capacity to be inventive, to investigate, and to creatively approach the conditions of life have only begun to be explored. We neither lack technology nor resources to solve the challenges that face us as a collective human organism. Although we have seriously damaged the environment that allows us to live, and it is unlikely that it will "return" to the conditions that we have known for the last several thousand years, the planet is still habitable. There is as much space on the planet for life as there has always been. All that keeps us from making effort together is the beliefs, ideas, and habits that keep us separate. They, like all mental activity, really have no substance; I dare you to try gathering your opinions into a ball and hold them in your hands. If our collective well-being, prosperity, and potential is available to us, why are we not acting in order to realize it? What exactly keeps things as they are?
It may seem idealistic or naive to suggest that the global history of wars, violence, and cruelty could be undone by our actions. There is no doubt of the reality of hurt, heartache, and dissatisfaction of life within the context of the rigid hierarchical world of social norms and historical inequity. Wishing these harsh realities away with the flick of a switch is not possible. However, it is entirely possible to face the discomfort of change. Giving up the belief that "this is the way things are" and it's unstated predicate, "and this is how they will remain" is the first decision. We have to choose to lay down our ideas of rightness and righteousness in order to collaborate with one another. Proceeding with an attitude of curiosity, courage, and openness to find out who and what we and our world might become is a process.
The capacity for operating in the world in this way is intrinsic to all, human or otherwise. We need not have some special set of circumstances, education, or qualifications to operate as a loving presence in the world. We are already that, if we allow ourselves to be. The path towards the future is not paved by the actions, attitudes, ideas, or beliefs of the past; it is right now, at every present moment, that we make our way forward. We do not need to know or understand everything, or account for mistakes we have yet to make. We must be willing to accept the consequences of our actions, and to tolerate the discomfort of learning and deepening our awareness. We also need not have any concept of "I, me, or mine." At their core, all notions of identity, individuality, personhood are also empty phenomena; they appear to be functionally useful but are also only a vehicle by which some exchange of forces takes place, like rain drops merging with an ocean.
Consider this an invitation to open to the mystery of the cosmic happening unfolding at the heart of all living beings. If we look at the state of present global conditions with a tenderness in our hearts, it is a sign that we are ready to begin choosing what is possible.
Piece inspired by Billy T.K.'s Powerhouse - "Secret of Life"