Radiant Corona + Gotama's Bag of Shit
Walking the streets of baby Jesus*, I ran into my guesthouse owner. In the corona craze, Suheil was bizarrely (and inspirationally) upbeat. Not in a ‘its just a flu brooo kind of way”. Rather, strutting his harley davidson leather jacket, he felt nourished for once.
As we chatted, he shared how Israel is used to shit storms. Whether Golan Heights, West Bank, or rockets from here and there. But usually, it stands alone.
But in the rundown Arabic and Christian town of Nazareth, due to the Corona virus, Suheil felt connected to his brothers and sisters of the world.
For covid19 kills via our connections — but what if even in isolation — it can connect and nourish us?
Sure we may be afraid and anxious. Lonely and bored. Frustrated and uncertain. Or arrogantly overconfident to sweep all that shit under the carpet because it’s fake news. But by listening to our bag of emotional shit, we can fertilize flowers of empathy and compassion.
But this is not your crunchy flower power of rainbows and unicorns of peace and love maaan. Whether the compassion of Christ or the Bhudda’s Brahmaviharas, to grow our roots of empathy and compassion — begins not with radiating bliss, but in wisely knowing our own shit. By embracing our own raw pain & anxiety , we connect to the pain of the world. We create the composte for compassion to blossom.
Many know of the Buddha’s 4 Noble Truths. But fewer know the primary teaching — the 4 Noble Tasks. The pith is knowing our own Dukkha — aka stress, dissatisfaction and suffering. To know its’ nature, patterns and conditioning.
To know and see the contractions, heaviness, and thoughts that accompany me feeling lonely, followed by that tidal wave of craving to open Facebook, reach for that comforting joint, tasty 7th meatball, or strive for another promotion in hopes of filling a void.
Leveraging this discernment, we can learn to manage our reactivity* (tanha for pali geeks) to the tornado that is our own shit storm of desires and dissatisfaction. And this is where freedom is born, by sitting on the riverbed of our own shit — but not being swept in.
Besides freedom from shitstorms, by feeling and knowing our own shit in all its smelly glory — to know the pain, fear, resistance, and perpetual anxiety of death — we can genuinely feel and empathize with other sentient creatures.
So simple is this platitude. But for me, a man with a stone heart, it has allowed a cascade to flow. Instead of swimming in self-righteousness and shaming my non-recyling neighbors, I can feel their struggle (even if they are batshit crazy holocaust and vaccine deniers). I can manifest compassion and hope for them not to struggle.
By swimming backstrokes in our shit, we don’t have to be alone in quarantine and social distancing. Maybe we are selfish, but knowing others are struggling with things makes it easier. With this psychologically reframing, we can use our own shit to understand and relate to strangers as suffering brothers and sisters in China, Italy, or America.
Fear and pain are great teachers. Embrace them mindfully and wisely and you can connect to the world. With wise fear you wash your hands for 23 seconds because you’re an overachiever. You clean amazon boxes at the door to protect your family, neighbors and the world.
But let primal fear run the show, and you’re the psycho panic buying and cat fighting over toilet paper in aisle 3. You drown in a false sense of control — binging 12 hours of CNN and 2 pints of anxiety filled vegan Cherry Garcia madness.
“Instead of obsessively me and them — it can transform to a we.”
So as Suheil reminded me, with empathy we can expand our typical habitual identities. Beyond simple minded tribes focusing solely on my family, my red and blue teams, my country — we can look into our own demons. In their eyes, we can feel the pain and struggle of ALL of humanity. The delicate dance of life and death we so often ignore. Embracing our bag of shit, we connect to all life’s beauty and all of life’s shit. We connect to ourselves and the world. Instead of obsessively me and them — it can transform to a we.
Like the sun’s corona, we can radiate empathy from our own shit to the word. But we don’t drown in our shit, we swim and play in it (wash your hands for 30 seconds!). Through this dance of play and pain — death and awe — we make forts in the living room and play like a child without a worry in the world. We connect with miniest of moments — and to the miraculous fragility that is grandiosity of life at all — because aren’t we all in this shit together?
~May you be happy, healthy and equanimous ~ ALF
*Nerd Notes:
While in Nazareth, I learned Jesus’s actual name was Yeshua, and through transliteration from hebrew to greek - became Jesus. Every other Yeshua in the bible, became Joshua. Cool Video here: History of Jesus’ Name
If you are interested in a scholarly yet secular view of the Buddhist Pali Cannon, I highly recommend After Buddhism: Rethinking the Dharma for a Secular Age. Covers Etymology of four noble truths vs 4 noble tasks, craving vs reactivity, nirvana etc by following 5 historical figures within the Buddha’s inner circle.