Month: August 2020

I’ve heard it said that there are only two people in the world that understand gravity. I certainly am not one of them. So I’m not quite sure where this writing is going……..

I think that I have gotten glimpses of what gravity must be like. Still, I don’t know if my impressions of gravity are based on anything real. Perhaps they are the result of our collective imagination, certainly of mine.

I think that gravity has something to do with my own mass and how close I am to another entity with greater or less mass. Gravity possibly has something to do with our relative mass.

When I saw astronauts bouncing around on the Moon, I became aware that I might weigh less on the moon. My own mass might not change, but the mass of the moon is less than the mass of the earth. The effect of moon gravity might be less than what I experience on Earth, if ever I should go to the Moon.

A poet has told me that I would also weigh less on some of the planets circling the Sun along with the Earth. However, on Jupiter I would be as ponderously weighty as an elephant. Is this all about the effect of relative mass or are there other factors at work?

I think that distance is also related to the effect of gravity. If I would ever climb a mountain, I am convinced that I would weigh slightly less than if I were at the seashore. I would be slightly removed from the mass of the Earth, and the effect of gravity would be less.

Astronauts in the space station are not only removed from the mass of the earth but they are also moving at great speeds relative to the earth. They float and seem to be beyond the effect of gravity. The space station meanwhile seems tethered to the Earth, its speed not being sufficient to move its mass beyond the reaches of Earth gravity.

The speed of the space station is a lot less than the speed of the earth around the sun. The speed of the earth around the sun is four times the speed of the space station. The mass of the Sun and the Earth are both great, and though the Earth is orbiting the sun at slightly over 66,000 miles per hour, it is still adequately attracted to the Sun that it doesn’t shoot out of the solar system.

This attraction between bodies, large and small, is something I see in how gravity affects how those bodies relate. Each body bends space in its own way, and that affects how the bodies relate. Sometimes bodies run into one another because of this attraction, as when my feet hit the ground any time I am no longer suspended above the Earth. The grip of the attraction lessens if one of the bodies moves faster relative to the other. I no longer have a static relationship with the Earth if I take off running. By running, I seem to lessen a tiny amount of the attractive force between the Earth and me.

I wonder if this attractive force between bodies exists between bodies that otherwise seem to be static, at rest. Does a kind of gravity exist between a tree and me, between another person and me? Is gravity, this attractive force a “given” through all entities in the universe. Do all things have a desire, a yearning, an attraction to all other entities in their vicinity?

I think that, like gravity, desire is a universal law and it applies to all things. It is a characteristic woven into the fabric of the universe. Desire, like gravity, is the underlying force field in which all of us, and all entities, are involved. It is the force that draws all things to constantly try to move together and become one.

Is it too much of a reach to say that gravity is simply the desire that exists between all things? As I am constantly affected by gravity, I am also constantly affected by the desire of all things around me. We are constantly locked in the embrace of desire.

I’ve spent a lot of energy on avoidance. It all began in my early life when I learned how important it was to stay out of trouble. So much of my younger years was structured on avoidance. I did so much more than avoid doing the wrong things, getting hurt, causing people to get upset. But I also got pretty good at avoidance. It was an appealing strategy to avoid undesirable things.

My early spiritual guidance was in a Catholic grade school, and was mostly based on sin avoidance. Already as a seven-year old, I had learned the importance and urgency of avoiding anything that would send me to hell. I was grateful for the opportunity of Confession and the chance to be forgiven for all my failures to avoid sin and the occasion of sin.

I recognize that the important theme of avoidance didn’t stop as I got older. It has continued into today, but has less of a hold on me than it once did. I still buy insurance to avoid the consequences of future perils, real or imagined. My reading yesterday was full of admonitions to avoid anything that resembles racism. Being anti-racist has a different kind of avoidance urgency than Black Lives Matter.

Even the five Mindfulness Trainings used by my Sangha and by my Arise group are dominated by cautions of avoiding unethical behavior. Especially the third Mindfulness Training on Love and Sex is a serious recitation of behaviors to be avoided.

I take some comfort in knowing that I have learned an approach to deep concentration that does not focus on avoidance. My teacher has identified five hindrances that might interfere with concentration. They are acknowledged as stupor, doubt, aversion, restlessness and sensual desire. Rather than attacking or avoiding these hindrances, the teaching is to develop positive antidotes that promote concentration and insight. I like that approach.

I appreciate the value of avoiding whatever leads to undesirable consequences. I am all for avoiding what leads to suffering. Just the same, I prefer a path that is more about embracing life than avoiding life’s perils.

Critical-thinking has typically been a significant part of how I have maneuvered through the world. Notions of logic and analytical thinking have been a part of my mind repertoire. I am now wondering about how much the wisdom of the heart has actually been playing a role in how I approached life. I am trying to learn more how a wise heart can guide me. I am trying to listen more to my wise heart.

Wise heart may be what some people mean when they talk of intuition. But I think my wise heart is more than simple intuition. Definitely more than a vague feeling. I’m not sure it has a lot to do with feeling at all. Not the emotional kind of feeling.

For me, a wise heart requires a relaxed body and an undistracted mind. I allow my mind to be at rest so that my wise heart can be active. This allows concentration on a singular aspect of reality, and that is the realm of my wise heart. There is a fullness of attention that is more than a simple cognitive event. My body and mind, all of me becomes directed to something. If there is a feeling of sorts involved, it is that I can feel that something. This for me is becoming heart wise.

In those moments, I understand in a way that is more than cognition, more than knowing with my mind alone. Being heart wise is a wisdom, a way of knowing that energizes my whole self, and I am aware from the top of my head to the tip of my toes. It is something close to absorption.

I think that I can have heart wisdom, I can be heart wise without the experience of absorption. For me it is like standing on the threshold of absorption, looking in without yet entering. Absorption is still out of reach, even as it is inviting.

Being heart wise is a calm way of knowing, it is a way of understanding that settles in my muscles and bones. To be heart wise, I have to be intimately connected to those muscles and bones. They are integral to my being heart wise.

Heart wisdom is not light and fluffy. Understanding things that are difficult in a heart wise manner is a heavy burden. Heart wisdom means being aware just how difficult and heavy a situation can be. For me, when I recently became more aware of the history and story of the orchestrated imprisonment of Black men, I was nearly overwhelmed with the heavy burden. Being heart wise creates an opening to grasp the gravity of a difficult situation.

At the same time, being heart wise of a difficult situation makes it more manageable to grasp, easier to absorb. I find this is true whether the difficult situation is part of my life or appears to be apart from my life. The difficulty may be more deeply felt, but being heart wise builds a resilience that can better support a difficult, painful awareness.

Being heart wise may actually not be totally new for me. I suspect it has been there all the time, as it is in all of us. I just haven’t know how to pay good attention. I am very slowly learning to have a fuller grasp of heart wisdom, how to pay better attention. For me, this means giving it room. It means not allowing mental distraction or body agitation to eclipse my heart wisdom.

To be heart wise, I need to pause. I need to relax my body. I need to quiet my mind. I welcome my heart wisdom when I set my intention to listen. Sometimes I invite my bell. Sometimes I simply sit. I concentrate.