Living Spiritually in a Material World
In the following excerpt from our recent podcast discussion, Ayya Yeshe discusses how vipassana meditation is not a kind of panacea which magically solves all of life’s problems, but rather something which must be applied to inform our ongoing interactions with the outside world.
“Unfortunately, some people tend to use spiritual practice as a place to hide rather than as a place to grow and to open up.”
“People are drowning in the complications of modern life, and they're pursuing their own desires. As the Buddha said, ‘This generation is entangled in a tangle.’ They're overwhelmed by their own suffering; so, they don't have the mental space or time to comprehend something that's not right in front of them. But someone who goes deeper into their practice, sees the web of inter-being: Where do my clothes come from? Where does my food come from? Who went before me to advocate so that I would have the vote as a woman? So that I would have universal health care? So that the poor would have a minimum wage or an unemployment benefit or a single parent benefit? Or social housing? Or a limit of work hours per week?
As time goes on, a lot of these things are kind of going backwards, in terms of human rights. We need to see the web that we that we exist in, and how others’ oppression sometimes leads to our comfort. To be more conscious in how we're living, more simple in how we're living, to redirect our resources so that there is a more even distribution of resources to care for the planet and to care for each other. I do believe we could make a difference. Imagine if everybody stopped buying things from unethical corporations. Imagine if governments divested from fossil fuels. Imagine if we stopped investing in finance companies that are selling arms, and so forth. It's just about awareness. Sometimes that awareness is lacking, because people are self-absorbed, and they can't see themselves in the greater whole; they can't see themselves in the bigger picture.
One would hope that spiritual practice would make you more aware of your sacred relationship with all of life. But unfortunately, some people tend to use spiritual practice as a place to hide rather than as a place to grow and to open up. We can keep thinking that they will eventually stop using spirituality to maintain their privilege and comfort, and open up and develop empathy and compassion. There's nothing wrong with just seeking your own peace from spiritual practice. That's a starting point! But it can't be where you stay your whole life. It's like staying in preschool, and never going to college. There comes a point where you need to take the good things you've learned into the world, and not remain silent in the face of injustice, and not be co-opted by money and by security in support of atrocities or silence about exploitation.”