Will this election ruin the country? (insightLA)

Trudy Goodman Kornfield (insightLA.org); Ashley Wells, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

What a tense, rollercoaster of an election week this is. It's a vivid illustration of how the mind reacts wildly to what it wants and what it doesn’t want.

However one voted, for me, it was a Tuesday night of tears from not getting what I wanted, followed by elation – time to put on the dancing shoes! For others it may have been a triumphant Tuesday, followed by a sense of stunned deflation Friday.

Waking up well before dawn this morning, after a brief meditation I caught myself staring in a fascinated trance, glued to the phone screen refreshing over and over, seeing the same news yet hoping for a different result.

Then later, weary of the worldly winds blowing, I needed a rest. I needed to go for a walk among the trees, to sit and meditate. How is it for others? We read that fear motivated the astonishing turnout for this election.

Americans are afraid of losing what's important to them, whether it's agricultural subsidies, racial and economic justice, white privilege, white fragility, elite social status, environmental protections, American global military dominance, democracy, guns, and the list goes on...

What I’m afraid of losing when I get caught up in such fears is my connection to meditative clarity, openness, presence, and the love (metta) I treasure. This is the point of meditation, to help shift identity from the streaming content of thoughts to the freedom and ease of a wide open heart, far bigger than any of this worldly nonsense.

“When you lose your sense of fear, you are free” says John Lewis in an inspiring documentary called Good Trouble. Lewis worked tirelessly for civil rights, for a cause greater than himself. And when things didn’t go the way he passionately wanted, he took refuge in courage, faith, and perseverance.

“Fall down 100 times, get up 101 times,” as my first Buddhist teacher, Zen Master Seung Sahn, always used to tell us when he talked about great faith. Great faith means staying connected to the teachings of mindfulness and compassion that ask us to stand up for what’s most important, to live the truth in our hearts.

We are transient life forms in a living universe. The earth reflects a local star shining among the vast profusion of suns strewn sparkling across the wide open sky we know as the Milky Way. As the moon wanes and the stars come out, I vow to keep my heart open.

So when fear arises, let's look at the sky, breathe deeply and slowly, and connect with what Mahatma Gandhi called satyagraha or "the force of truth."

As John Lewis said while dancing to Pharrell's song, “Be Happy!”

Love, Trudy Goodman Kornfield

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