Watching the continuing drama of our political world play out, I am reminded of the importance of truthful speech and the challenge that this poses for all of us. Discerning what is true, in a world of infinite details, is a continuous challenge. Do you pay attention to the source of your information and how it weaves your impression of the world?
As it regards my own speech I can ask, “does this truth that I am telling come from my own direct experience or am I basing this on some media information? Second hand knowledge?” This points us directly to our constant modern quandary, since most of us get what we think is going on in the “world out there” from the media. No matter where we fall on the progressive to conservative spectrum, we are awash in a media world and may have forgotten how many layers of journalistic narrative lie between this, here, now and what we, ourselves, know directly.
Our responsibility in practice continues to be to track our own subjectivity, toand the nature of subjectivity. We weave a world according to our sensations, perceptions, thoughts, beliefs, and the qualities of our consciousness. This is what we are always working with as we practice. And over time, the eye becomes clearer. Our awareness becomes wider.
The consequences of wide awareness are profound, and guide how we respond to the moment. If we don’t cultivate wide awareness, we can easily get swept up in anybody’s story, including our own, and act from it, without realizing the suffering that we may be reinforcing in our world. Which brings us back to right speech, based on bearing witness, careful listening and being awake to the fundamental nature of experience. This requires continuous practice and helps us be careful in speech and action.
Mushin