Rising to the Occasion: Social Engagement in a Chaotic World
A Talk by Sakyong Mipham and Workshop by Fleet Maull
From Shambhala Times
By Andrea D’Asaro
From the article:
As part of a deep listening and meditation practice with partners, he [Fleet Maull] encouraged the audience to “allow yourself to be seen. When we aren’t seen and heard, shame becomes conflated with vulnerability. Instead, we need to find our safe place from where we can slowly make friends with vulnerability.”
The lower level hall was askew, with hundreds of young and old meditators face to face in pairs, hands on their hearts, leaning in and hearing one another in turn. A rainbow of silent sitters in red, purple, plaid, grey, and white shirts were encouraged to feel their bodies and to “drop into being as a way to help the world, which is trying to hold the space.”
Following the threads of the Sakyong’s talk, Maull encouraged us to reach beyond our usual boundaries as part of the dyad practice: “When we rest in our own openness, we create connections with others. Listen to each other with a soft gaze and a grandmother smile. This moment allows a breeze of delight and basic goodness. You allow your partner to be seen as the most complex, interconnected being in the universe.” Using his expertise in neuroscience, Maull emphasized how our basic mind-body connections work: “We have the choice to be open for communication or closed for survival.”