Here we are at the start of another year and another decade. I must admit that I've been thinking a lot about what to write for my first blog of the new decade, racking my brains to come up with something helpful, innovative or inspiring that hasn’t been said better, before and by someone else. Do I write something about meditation? What about getting outside? And of course there's the ever greater threat of climate change. I also read a sobering article recently posted by Peter Attia (peterattiamd.com ) concerning the first (in a very long time) decrease in lifespan, as noted in a study published in JAMA, in which mental health and substance abuse are actually causing a decrease in population-level lifespan in the US. Although I don't have Canadian figures to compare this study to, I would very much doubt that it's any different here.
Putting all these possibilities aside, I remembered reading many years ago a thought-provoking set of observations which, at the time, I could not help but feel are of timeless importance, and perhaps could serve as a jumping off point for my first blog post of this new decade. But before launching into this reference, maybe I should back up a little. Several decades ago when I was an undergrad student, I had the privilege of time and opportunity to immerse myself in philosophy, mythology and comparative religion, I remember reading a fascinating book by Mircea Eliade, entitled The Myth of the Eternal Return. If memory serves me, Eliade outlined one of the most perennial motifs in the ancient world, or as the American philosopher Ken Wilber referred to it, the pre-rational stage of psycho-social development. So what was that motif? It was that it was the cycle of the seasons, the cycle of life year over year over year, the notion of birth, death and rebirth, is found in many, many different cosmological and mythological traditions. It is the belief that out of the depths of winter somehow, someway, Life begins anew. The spiritual significance of this renewal for the ancients was brought about through the rituals and traditions passed down through the generations. Essentially, this is what the start of the new calendar year and the new decade offers for us all. It is both a symbolic and literal reboot, even if we lack the cosmological and social frameworks our distant relatives had to bring this to the fore-front.
So back to the thought-provoking observations: they're captured in it text known as the five perfections. Although these statements come directly out of Buddhist philosophy, I feel they have a certain universal validity, regardless of where one lives or what tradition one has grown up in. So what are the five perfections? Let me try to explain, in my own less-than-perfect way!
The perfect place. It is the idea that wherever we are, we can choose to learn from the situation and more importantly find whatever we need to wake up and start living more fully.
The perfect teaching. Whatever it is that is going on in this moment, if we pay attention, can teach us something about ourselves and the world in which we live.
The perfect moment. Whatever is happening right here, right now, in this very moment is enough to teach us more about ourselves and how to live more fully.
The perfect teacher. It is the idea that whoever or whatever we are facing, be it a person, a place, or a situation, can teach us something that is of value, if we are awake and open to the teaching.
The perfect student. Building on the last point, if we are open and awake and present we have everything we need to learn and grow. This is not about intelligence in the usual sense. It's about attention and openness to whatever or whoever the teacher is in this moment and place.
Taken together, the five perfections suggest that everything we need in order to be content, grounded, maybe even happy, can be found right here, right now, right in front of us and within us. I know what some of you maybe thinking - and quite legitimately so - that the situation many people find themselves in, be it a relationship, or a job or lack thereof, or a living situation, maybe downright toxic or unhealthy, and the antithesis of any of these so-called perfections. I hope you believe me when I say that after 30 years of listening to people in pain, mostly emotional but often physical, I know there’s a great deal of unhappiness and tragedy that many, many people wake up to you each day. So this notion of the five perfections may seem insulting and insensitive to those whose lives are truly difficult, to those people who feel hopeless and helpless, and to those - however much they wish on this first day of January 2020 - to see a light at the end of the long tunnel. But I genuinely believe and have seen first-hand, that change is possible.
So here is where the Buddha and Eliade come together: no matter where one is in their life, where they happen to be living, whatever job they happen to be working or working toward, and whatever relationships they find themselves in, there is something to be learned and gained; simply put: insight. This is possible, however, only if that person can allow themselves to pay attention to where they are, what they are doing, and who they are doing it with or without. This is the birthplace of change. We are not, as Eliade points out, trapped or stuck in our own history. We can change, and renew ourselves. This is not to suggest in any way, shape or form, that change is easy. But change, or in Eliade’s frame of reference, renewal, can only happen when a person honestly takes stock of where they are in their life.
Of course there is a whole other set of challenges, largely of our own making, that involve the many distractions and demands on our time, attention and energy. It's an understatement to say the least that we are beset with endless streams of information, entertainment, advertising, and various other technologically-based distractions, on top of the demands of school, work, raising families, paying bills etc etc, and that all these demands make it very hard to slow down enough to pay attention, and notice and question and learn from this moment, this place, this teacher.
Perhaps this is the inner and outer work for this year? To genuinely try to put down the smartphone a little more often, turn off the TV, to get outside more and return to nature, and pay attention to how you feel when you take those steps. You may be surprised at what you see, in good and bad ways. Even if it means that you realize you are genuinely unhappy with what you see with fresh eyes, and are scared or even feel overwhelmed, you have already taken the first step. Change is never easy or convenient, but it is possible. It begins in this moment, in this place, with this teacher, and with you as the (perfect) student.
Best wishes in this moment, and each one thereafter.