Trying to Love the Questions Themselves
At this moment in time, it feels as though we’re constantly being asked to have answers, often to know things we can’t possibly know right now. This search for non-existent answers eats up lots of our energy and mental bandwidth, and leaves us with a sense of not being safe without an answer. The looking for answers also leads us to consume lots of information - much from sources of dubious quality, or which may simply be opinions masquerading as fact.
I’ve taken great comfort recently in something that Stephen Batchelor discusses in his book Buddhism without Beliefs (one of the most helpful books on meditation). He suggests sitting “with an embodied sense of asking”, letting go of the need to know right now, resting in the okay-ness of not knowing, in the feeling of freedom that just comes from asking. In the Korean Zen tradition, a question can be “dropped in” to one’s meditation, (“What is this?”, for example) and the meditation lies in the asking, not in the answering.
Trying this now might look like lowering the gaze, and on a gentle inhale, opening to the allowing of not knowing, and on the gentle exhale resting in that not knowing, and repeating, noticing how it feels in the body to allow for not knowing.
This isn’t to say that the pursuit of information isn’t wise, or that preparation doesn’t serve. It’s to acknowledge that we can’t always have all of the answers, that the search for answers can lead us astray and tax our system, and allowing for not knowing can help us conserve our resources and support our resilience.
This week, we turn to the practice of Compassion, where we witness the discomfort of others, and ourselves, and wish for an end to it. Compassion sets off a cascade of chemicals in the body that support our sense of connection with others, and reduce our level of anxiety. There is no shortage of people for whom we can wish an end to suffering, including ourselves, so we hope you can join us. We will continue to gather in person as long as the libraries and other venues are open, asking everyone to engage in frequent rigorous hand washing, and to use our online guided meditations if you’re not feeling well.
May all beings everywhere without exception be at peace as we live the questions,
Your friends at CMP
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Background photo by: Michael J. Bennett / CC BY-SA