Mindfulness practice is about seeing ourselves with ever greater clarity. What has come to light for many of us are the ways we have internalized racism and xenophobia. Our personal and collective blind spots are being exposed. We are waking up!
Let’s keep it that way!
Painful as this process is, it is necessary and useful to hold it in the light of mindfulness and practice being with the discomfort, caringly seeing what is hard to see, and working with what is hard to work with.
CHECK IN. Take stock of where you are and how you are feeling.
FEEL the discomfort, the anger, the sadness, the fear, grief, guilt, shame,
aversion, and embarrassment.
NOTICE the benefits and challenges of your IDENTITY(S);
no judgment, just notice.
CONSIDER how you wish to proceed,
what will lead to less harm, less suffering and more well-being?
ACT ACCORDINGLY...
We have been involved in educating ourselves about our own color-blindness and microaggressions over the past few years. There is still much to be done. It is a lifelong learning to awaken out of the veils of delusion that impede clear seeing and feeling.
Many of us received woefully inadequate education on the shadow-side of our country's legacy to date, and even though we have known racism existed, many of us have not acted enough on that awareness.
As U Tejaniya says, “Awareness is not enough”, but it is a necessary first step.
EDUCATE yourself!