Tibetan Buddhist teacher and author Chogyam Trungpa described a spiritual process where “The bad news is you’re falling through the air, nothing to hang on to, no parachute.” “The good news is, there’s no ground.” When you see through the illusions of belief patterns that we have clung to as certainty, as the ground of reality, it can be frightening to be in free-fall. But the interior door has opened to a measureless space, and therefore, there's no danger of plummeting or a banging injury...instead, there is freedom.
I have been thinking of this quote in terms of the seemingly "endlessness" of the Pandemic, which is another level of reality. Yet, there is a similarity here. It may feel like our lives are frozen while the Pandemic rages on, but to move forward when there is high risk, frightening possible consequences, and an uncertain future, can feel like falling though air. As human beings, we have the capacity to build some kind of stable ground, eventually, even after we have crash-landed or things have fallen apart. As an individual, consider this as a time to build your platform for the new, your ground that is flexible, cushioned, with some bounce to it. Whether the Pandemic miraculously lasts just a few more weeks, or reigns for another year or two, what would you like to do or experience tomorrow, how do you want to be this weekend and down the road. Look deeper for aspects to life that are not dependent on whether or not there is a Pandemic. Consider both goals of "doing" and goals of "being". What can you do tonight or tomorrow that is a step of renewed life? That is the space of freedom. (Susan Nettleton)