Thank you for tuning in.
If being ‘tuned in’ is the upshot of meditating, then bless meditation.
It is worth noting that your practice has developed over this year.
It’s true. More natural again… Less resistant. More… tao-ey?
Indeed. Tell us about yesterday.
Well, thank you. Of course, your invitation to look at my Goodliness was a stepping stone for me seeing the Goodliness in others. Oh my word, how hard everyone is working… on being a Good Machine. In retrospect, I’ve seen it in:
- my MHFA trainees, bravely preparing to support friends and strangers
- the over-working employees at the universities I’ve been working with
- the dedicated coding trainees, dealing with rampant nerves
- my colleagues who may or may not communicate well – & who do good all day
- my beloved daughter snr, propping up the family with her btful messages
- my beloved daughter jnr, working hard to be an advocate in an unjust world
- my siblings + spouses, supporting us all with loving words of support
- my beloved G, working above and beyond to create miracles for clients
- my brave disputing clients, all of whom are seeking the Right Path forward
Good Machines, one and all. And how easily our attention gets hijacked by the few selfish behaviours of a selfish (and sometimes psychopathic) few.
When you witness, and bear witness to, the Goodliness in another, you magnify it tenfold. The magnifying power of attention is not to be under-estimated.
(I just love this word, Goodliness. It has echoes of Godliness, but takes out the worrisome notions of piety, or any flipside ‘sinfulness’.) So, if I were to go about spotting the Good Machines at work, you’re saying it would magnify… the Good?
It would magnify the capacity for Good. Causality in time is a dualistic notion, ie. ‘I notice x and thus make it bigger.’ The fact is, all possibilities are present at all times, and they exist to the degree of our consciousness of them. Do you see that if you commune with the personhood of a friend or stranger, you become aware of their divine characteristics? Your communion with that person did not make their characteristics so; but rather by resting your attention on the person, you were able to tune into the innate perfection of that person. Likewise, by tuning in to a person’s Goodliness, you magnify it in your consciousness. Why is this an important distinction? Because your role (and this goes for each person) is to tune up your consciousness of the perfection of All That Is. And that is a proactive practice. If you sit at home and wait solemnly for the world to prove it’s ‘not a shitshow’, then you will be disappointed. On the other hand, if you go out into the ‘shitshow’ and look at it carefully, holding the possibility – nay probability – of Goodliness in mind, you will be astounded, and relieved, and consoled, and reassured, and restored to yourself.
Yes! I love this. I will spend today looking out, carefully and expectantly, for the Goodliness of others. And I will allow the spotting to enliven and console and delight me. (It makes me realise – I used to recoil from others’ goodness… as a teenager… It made me annoyed – jealous maybe…?? Anyway, that’s something for unpacking another day…)
Mostly, you are all Good Machines learning to deploy your hidden gifts and talents of Goodliness. Revel in this.
I am revelling in the Goodliness of the Good Machines around me!