I'm thinking about the challenges we're facing together as a planet a lot lately, and especially today because it's Earth Day. The enormity of our collective work can get a little overwhelming!
What saves me is that I know that when frustration arises, it's actually the mobilizing and motivating energy of my human body encouraging me to make positive change. In Daoist cosmology, this is related to the symbolism of the "Wood" Element - the energy of growing things, of life.
When the Wood Element is flowing freely, we feel motivated, generous, and empowered. When this energy is locked up, it results in frustration and resentment. I was reminded of the old joke you might tell yourself if you find yourself stuck in any kind of martyr complex: "Get down off the cross, we need the wood!" And it occurred to me, we need the wood element! Of course, not all our own sufferings are self-imposed, but when we're tormenting ourselves with stories of he...
The Biohacking Bodhisattva?
We have outgrown the pre-modern age where all spirituality was handed down by venerable tradition, or dictated by the understanding of the elders in our local region. Edifices of culture-bound religious insights have been toppled in the light of scientific discovery. We have entered the information age, the way we practice the life of the heart can no longer be that of a bygone era, it must evolve and adapt to the new understandings that emerge every day.
We're living through the first time in history where we can develop an evidence-based spirituality. I believe this is what the Bodhisattvas of old were working toward all along.
A "Bodhisattva" means a Warrior of the Awakened Heart, and all Bodhisattvas are biohackers. Why is this so? Because the ideal of the Bodhisattva is to create the greatest possible benefit for every being. Their goal has always been to become a nexus of thriving for self, other, and world. To do this, they don't dally wit...