Climbing Out of the Giant Human Hamster Bubble
In the curiosity-driven quest to understand what separates us from full immersion into our present moment experience, I’ve turned to and appreciated Mark Epstein’s writings, most notably, Going to Pieces without Falling Apart (see a review in the Library section of the website). It’s been a few years since I read the book, but certain ideas have stayed with me, infusing the information I’ve gleaned from my own personal explorations. Each time we turn to and open ourselves to our present moment experience with the attitudes of curiosity, exploration and play, we learn.
One of the key ideas that has been of use to me is that the ego is our brain’s way of protecting us by setting up boundaries and allowing us to have a sense of a defined sphere of influence. It reminds me of those giant human hamster bubbles that you can climb into and then roll around in… fun for a while, but pretty lonely if you don’t climb out and join the rest of the party.
Once you become aware of the way the ego inserts itself between you and life - how invasive and pervasive it is - you can feel a little trapped by it. Now that you can see the prison bars, you want to break free. But egoic jail-break is not that easy. Millenia of evolution and decades of your own neural conditioning make breaking free a challenge.
Two practices can help. The first is Mindfulness of Sounds - pausing, and allowing yourself to hear sounds as they arise and fall away, each with a beginning, a middle and an end; allowing yourself to be a part of the experience of sound, not driving it, not the center of it, but an integrated part of the life that is taking place all around and within you. You might notice a subtle shift in perspective, a relaxation of the boundary between “you” and “not you”, a diminishment of the sense of an encapsulated self.
The second is Compassion practice paired with Self-Compassion - pausing when witnessing someone who is experiencing difficulty or discomfort, connecting with their experience, seeing the world through their eyes for a moment, and then wishing for an end to their difficulty. Once that connecting and wishing for greater ease feels complete, you can sense into your own experience and any discomfort you may be facing, and then wish for an end to it. This connecting with and acknowledging discomfort and challenge in others in and ourselves can help us trust in our ability to navigate life more freely, without the need of so much armor.
Inviting you to take these ideas and practices for your own test drive, and wishing you freedom from the giant human hamster bubble!
May all beings feel connected and safe enough to break free from the bubble of the encapsulated self,
Your CMP family
*Hoping that you will join us this week in person, by conference call or by Zoom, or virtually via the many recorded meditations on the website. Click here to see our full schedule.
