Zen and the art of breathing through election season
(a thread)

1/ Be real. Feel all the feels. To be Zen is to be authentic, real and true. Embracing life in all it’s messiness: the stinky compost as well as the flowers

2/ Be vast-hearted. To be Zen is also to create some space around that. Equanimity is not indifference. It’s a vast holding & embrace of whatever is there, without rejecting or grasping.

3/ Be fearless. No matter what reality is being revealed to us, we train to be ready for it. Only when we know where we’re at, truly, can we find a good way forward.

4/ Be shocked. Great masters have awakened thanks to unexpected blows. Allow yourself to be stunned. What have you woken up to this week, that you’d never realized before?

5/ Be still. Look deeply. Listen with a big heart. Allow yourself time to see clearly what to say, what to do, in order to help

6/ Hold the koan. Accept the uncertainty. Question yourself deeply: What is there for me to learn in all this? How can I help? What does the path out of this look like? What would our ancestors do? What do our descendants need us to do?

7/ And whatever happens, make sure you get enough sleep.