“All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.”

~ Blaise Pascal

Solitude, boredom, wisdom, peace, and connection. We’re brilliant at accessing information, with the sum of human knowledge in our pockets, but we’ve lost the ability to turn it into wisdom.

Because wisdom - well, it needs friction. It needs the struggle of staying with a problem, feeling the discomfort of not knowing, and letting the subconscious work. But Pascal didn’t want us to hide from the infinite. He wanted us to face it. He’d practice doing nothing, waiting in line, sitting in traffic, boiling water, without reaching for a screen.

You don’t have to go into isolation to take the warning seriously. But you do have to learn to put it down. You have to learn to be in the room without a screen, without noise, without diversion, and simply exist. Let the ennui wash over you until it breaks, and you find that on the other side of the boredom is the truth of who you actually are.

~~~

"To cultivate that awareness through, maybe, conversations about trees or gardens or cooking or songs, through relationship and thought and thoughtfulness but also through direct and unmediated experience with the world around us is a form of resistance."

~ Rebecca Solnit

But What Good Is “Self-Knowledge”?

I’m a compulsive examiner of myself and others. That’s why I’ve dabbled in psychedelics and meditation. That’s why I read novels, and science papers, (although I read and watch crap too). That’s why I study science with philosophical implications, like neuroscience and quantum mechanics. And that’s why I write. Writing is my main mode, my meta-mode, of examination.

Do both.

“Find the strength to do both," Mosscap said, quoting the phrase painted on the side of the wagon.

“Exactly,” Dex said.

“But what’s both?”

Dex recited: “‘Without constructs, you will unravel few mysteries. Without knowledge of the mysteries, your constructs will fail. These pursuits are what make us, but without comfort, you will lack the strength to sustain either."

If we want change, or good fortune, or solace, we have to create it for ourselves. And that’s what I learned in that shrine. I thought, wow, y’know, a cup of tea may not be the most important thing in the world, or a steam bath, or a pretty garden. They’re so superfluous in the grand scheme of things. But the people who did actually important work—building, feeding, teaching, healing, they all came to the shrine. It was the little nudge that helped important things get done.

 ~ Becky Chambers

When and how to share the mysteries?

The simple answer is share only when asked. And teach only by example. 

When I got back from the monastery in northern Thailand, I thought my path would be teaching and leading. And I did some of that. Beginning meditation and Vipassana training, along with an introduction to the 8 fold path. I was ok at it. But it burned me out quickly. It felt like bailing out a sinking boat with a spoon. The only real success I had was in teaching prisoners at the state penitentiary. It was a voluntary program, the men inside took it seriously, with great resolve and passion. I think it did some good.

The "guy on the street" view of sharing the mysteries, is if you call yourself a teacher, or a guru, or whatever, you’re probably not. The best model of sharing the mysteries, is the Shanga, a group of like minded folks that practice, study, and support each other. With the light hand of an experienced practitioner. Informal, social, and full of humor and trust. Because practicing the mysteries can kick your butt at times.

This is why I dislike all the Mindfulness apps, and the promise of technology mediated meditation, (there ain't no free lunch). And many of these can do real harm.

If you have struggled with meditation, two underlying problems might be to blame: You don’t know how to be at home in your head, or you do know and have concluded that home is not safe.

How can you tell the difference?

This is the point of the Sangha, the group of like minded practitioners who gathered together to support and care for each other. The Sangha is so important in Buddhist practice that it is one of only three "jewels", The Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.

Formal meditation seems like a solitary endeavor, you alone on the cushion. But sitting in a group, supported by the Sangha, can be both insightful, and more importantly a practice of the ethics and morals needed for living awake.