Two Meanings of ‘Resistance’
January 1, 2019 Kosmos Community News
Dear Reader,
The light begins its slow return to places in the North, and today a new year begins.
Some people are saying it is already “too late” – climate chaos, species loss, war, disparity – that we have gone too far, the darkness is too profound. At Kosmos, we believe no darkness is so profound that a single candle cannot dispel it.
(image) The Buddha’s teaching on light and darkness is simple: they depend on each other for their existence. Like ‘above and below’, ‘left and right’, ‘birth and death’ – take one away and its partner ceases to be. They do not have a separate self – and neither do we. Each of us is composed of many elements – our ancestors, DNA, what we consume, our relationships, and our actions. Maybe somewhere in the world, our ‘opposite’ also exists.
Anger, outrage, despair, fear – these are common responses to the injustices we see around us. We want to take action, to rebel, to protest and oppose the people on the ‘opposite’ side of the issue or debate. However we must be skillful at transforming these feelings into compassionate and nonviolent action if we want this kind of resistance to be effective. This resistance requires satyagraha, or soul force – the fire of determination in our hearts, and a willingness to see that, like ‘left and right’, we depend on each other, even those with views very different from our own, for collective awakening to happen.
There is another kind of resistance we should also consider. Just as the body builds up resistance to a virus or a cold, we must build up our inner resistance to despair. Zen monk and teacher Thich Nhat Hanh says, ‘In this kind of resistance there is no corporation, no politician and no policy to oppose or to rebel against. It all comes down to our own free conscious choices, without judging others or imposing our views.’ For example, we can choose to consume less, to support our local economy, to reduce or eliminate meat in our diet, to look after our neighbors and the children in our community, to plant trees and care for our watershed and our soil, to be models of peace.
The new year ahead will require both kinds of resistance if it is to be truly ‘new’. You will find more ideas about this below and in the new winter edition of Kosmos Quarterly. If you still have not subscribed, it is a great way to begin 2019.
In loving peace, R. Fabian and your Kosmos Team
Forest Magic |A Gift of Beauty
Kosmos thought-partner Nitin Das offers a new short meditative video from a magical forest in Finland. Take two healing minutes of refuge in the wonders of nature to restore your balance and peacefulness.
Words and visuals – Nitin Das | Music – Patrick Hawes | Voice – Grace Davidson.
For more magic visit: http://www.healingforest.org
In the Light | Extinction Rebellion (XR)
An Invitation from author and activist Daniel Pinchbeck
Hello Kosmos Friends,
I want to bring your attention to a new activist movement that is rapidly gaining traction internationally. The group is called Extinction Rebellion. They started in the UK and ran successful recent protests, closing down some London bridges and inspiring the City of London to accelerate its timetables for going carbon neutral. I am helping to build this movement in New York City and personally believe it is a (image) necessary movement that needs to take off virally. You can read about its basic demands and principles here.
Here is a video from the founder, Gail Bradbrook, a physicist in the UK. She goes over the current scientific evidence that tells us we are on the precipice of bringing about our extinction or at the least a massive collapse of our civilization, and then explains how the movement is structured, its theory of change, and its plan of action.
I feel the crisis offers us a tremendous opportunity to align our spiritual beliefs with an immediate political and social praxis. The movement is decentralized and autonomous which means everyone is welcome to start organizing working groups and affinity groups, as long as they follow the core principles.
I am open to discuss this with anyone who needs more information. My email is Daniel.pinchbeck@gmail.com. I covered a lot of similar territory in my last book, How Soon Is Now, where I look at the ecological crisis as a collective rite of passage or initation for humanity. READ MORE
The Question | First, what is in us that remains unshakably powerful and always connected to Life itself, regardless of what is happening to us or around us? And second, what about us can never be taken away, no matter what?
Here’s part of what arose in me when I sat in stillness.
Nothing can take away our value as human beings.
Our connection to the Infinite can never be truly interrupted.
We embody the Divine, no matter what, even when we don’t think or act like it.
Our Dignity is not transferable and cannot be taken from us.
In every moment, we are where and as we need to be.
Nothing can change the fact that we are always, always living in the Present.
Nothing and no one can take away or destroy our capacity to be Loved and Nurtured as we are.
We are Sacred, no matter what is happening, no matter how others define us, and no matter how we define ourselves.
I have been asked to tell you about the findings from my research identifying the core components of a safer, more equitable, and caring world—especially one where women and children are finally safe—a goal that is very close to my heart. In doing so, I will place violence against women and children in its larger social and historical context, and, most importantly, explore with you how to bring about fundamental change—not only in the prevailing worldview, but in our lives and our world.
LIFEBOAT | Refugees Adrift at Sea, A Talk with the Film’s Director, Skye Fitzgerald
Kosmos Journal | In 2015, your team produced 50 Feet from Syria, a film focused on the civilian impact of the Syrian conflict. Your new film, Lifeboat, bears witness to refugees desperate enough to risk their lives in rubber boats leaving Libya. What was different for you personally about making those two films?
Skye Fitzgerald | I think what’s different about them for me…is me. Because each project, in my experience, changes you some, as it should.