Could These Be Three Elements of Peace?

Not much can change on the global scale, or even in my community (or even in my house), if I’m not thoughtful and intentional about my own personal behavior. I know that. You probably know that, too.
 
But I’d also say, not much can change if I’m not thoughtful and intentional in a specific way: by being a little (or a lot) more generous; by committing, and making sure, that nothing I say or do will cause harm; and by taking the time, no matter how busy I am, and no matter how much the world throws at me, to train my heart and mind to be still.

Transcript

Hi everyone, it’s Judi Cohen and this is Wake Up Call 490. Welcome. And happy Wellbeing in Law week.

If you’ve been here on the Wake Up Call, you may have heard me mention adrienne marie brown’s words, “what we practice at the small scale sets the patterns for the whole system.” It’s that sentence, that thought, that’s why I think about mindfulness as being about personal wellbeing and also about being a positive influence on the world. Especially right now. Because right now, I know I need my own personal wellbeing, but I also feel like it’s crucial, to the best of my ability, to also be a positive influence, wherever I am. As well as I can. 

And I’d say that in this moment, the temptation is there, to be otherwise. In the world, so easy to feel polarized. And in our hallowed profession, where sometimes it feels like we’re all adversaries, it feels tempting to me, or I default, to battle, or debate, or criticism at the very least. And I notice this is internal, too: in my self-talk, pointing out what I’m doing right but also, often, what, not. 

I’m in a time of busy-ness right now, because I’m about to start traveling for several weeks. If you saw the note, I’ll be in & out of the Wake Up Call – the note explains, and I’ll be sending an email letting you know when we’ll be meeting and when not – it’s a little bit on again, off again, through the end of June. I hope it’s not too confusing or disruptive.

What I notice about being so busy, for me anyway, is that in a time like this of super busy-ness, it’s important to me to keep the guardrails on. Meaning, it’s important to remember my intentions, and the qualities of heart and mind I’m wanting to embody. Because if I don’t do that, it’s easy to slip into old habits and patterns that may or may not support my own wellbeing, or be positive for anyone else. I’m not saying that some of the more positive qualities haven’t become habits by now – some have, for sure, and it’s pretty wonderful when they show up, right when I need them – but not all. And so I feel like at a time of busy-ness, I need an equal measure of vigilance, too. 

There has been this trio of qualities, or practices, or maybe “trainings” is the right word, that is feeling supportive right now, maybe even essential right now. It’s the trio of generosity, ethics, and concentration. In Pali, the words are dana, sila, bhavana. 

Sayadaw U Pandita, one of the great teachers of this era, taught about these three trainings, and how they’re essential, and lead to peace. Which feels urgently necessary right now – peace. Not only peace in some of the most dire situations worldwide – Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, Myanmar, elsewhere. And not only peace in this country, which seems to be seething or maybe seizing, just under the surface. And not only peace in our courtrooms and conference rooms, which are always little hotbeds of not-peace. But also peace in our hearts. Because again as adrienne marie brown essentially says, what we practice – in our hearts – at the smallest of scales – sets that pattern. I love the Chinese proverb that says this too: If there is light in the soul, there will be beauty in the person. If there is beauty in the person, there will be harmony in the house. If there is harmony in the house, there will be order in the nation. If there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world.

Before diving into dana, sila, and bhavana, which I’d like to take some time to over the next weeks or maybe longer, I want to invite us all to take a step back and look at our own lives, and at the world – the world just as it is today – and see if this seems resonate. If these three trainings, with just whatever colloquial definitions you have right now for generosity, ethics, and concentration, seem useful or even urgent right now for your own wellbeing, for the wellbeing of others, for the world, the planet. Forget about the technical or mindfulness-based meanings, and just take a mental step back, and using your current understanding of generosity, ethics, and concentration, or you could call the third training, “a settled mind,” and do these three qualities seem needed right now? 

This is my working hypothesis: that having and acting with true generosity, if even just some of us do that, could change our own internal approach, including our self-talk, from aggressive to loving; our approach to others (including technical adversaries, not just paper adversaries), from (again) aggressive to loving; our approach to the world, from unplugged to compassionate; and even - or especially? - our approach to the earth, from resource to be exploited, to sacred. 

And that practicing sila, an ethical life, is a game-changer because it gives us the “bliss of blamelessness,” for one thing, and encourages others to follow suit. And how settling our minds is supported by generosity and ethics, and is also the foundation for both: how, as we cultivate settled, present moment attention, we can understand how to open our minds and hearts, and we can see where and how our open hearts and hands are most needed.

In the Satipatthana sutta, the teaching on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, the text says at one point, “If anyone should say, ‘Without having built the lower storey of a peaked house, I will erect the upper storey,’ this would be impossible…[but if they were to say,] having built the lower storey of a peaked house, I will then erect the upper story,’ this would be possible.” Meaning, we can’t really create anything – a more open heart, a more connected profession or world – without a first storey, meaning, without a foundation. 

Understanding mindfulness and practicing mindfulness feels like an essential element of that foundation. We’re all working on that. Practicing mindfulness is, too, and here we are, working on that, too. And then there’s generosity, ethics, and a settled mind – which together are either another essential element of that foundation, or the whole of it.