INDEPENDENCE
Tonight’s discussion is about independence. True independence. Not just our yearly excuse to eat poorly, drink excessively, and blow stuff up, but the spiritual uncoupling of ourselves to the bonds that keep us imprisoned. The Shambhala Tradition references the cocoon, which is a protective enclosure fabricated by habitual patterns of attack and avoidance. Once it’s served its initial insulative purpose, a cocoon becomes a combative imprisonment as we become dependent on its protective patterns. The “4th” has been a tradition for many of us, although our behavior on the day is often simply habitual. Habitual behavior causes us to lose awareness as activities become rote, and our holidays frequently devolve into excuses for indulgence, as they lose all meaning.
Independence Day in the U.S. is the celebration of freedom from the rule of those labeled as oppressors. Phrases like “independence from tyranny” were shouted from the streets to excite the passions of the populace. Our independence was dependent on a struggle with a perceived enemy. This is a very human pattern. We invoke a dangerous other against whom we can forge an identity. But, in reality, apples don’t fall far from trees. We were fighting for our independence from friends and family; those who would become our closest allies. Revolutions are often a reiteration of the same patterns. In the words of the 20th century philosopher Peter Townsend, “Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.” When we push against anything it pushes back and we become karmically bonded to it. We also become bonded to the struggle. When our identity is dependent on struggle, are we actually independent?
In Buddhist terms, we differentiate “true” from “conditioned”. True refers to that which is preexisting, inherent and natural to our experience. Conversely, most conventional understanding is conditional, based on conventions developed as survival strategies. Conditional independence is an idea that offers us a sense of freedom, although freedom that is dependent on the struggle against another. When our self-worth is dependent upon anyone or anything else, are we truly free? On the other hand, True independence is the result of a personal inner journey to free ourselves from psychological and societal dependencies. If struggle binds us to our adversary, surrender is the first step to our independence. The key to surrender is letting go. Letting go is releasing our grip. We are not letting go of our heart, our inner journey, or our dignity. We are surrendering our panic constricted clenching. We are letting go of identification with the struggle, and freeing ourselves from the centrifuge of its aggression.
Independence Day marks the anniversary of the birth of our nation. But as that independence was born of aggression, it was in fact dependent upon struggle. Therefore, throughout our history, we have been karmically bound to aggression. Our identity has been defined by the enemies we have vanquished or fought against. And while our survival depended upon many struggles to which we can be grateful, our social and political identities are forged against those who we are not, and to those struggles that we remain continually indebted. Our national identity relies on a co-dependence with our world. But true independence – or liberation – is a surrender to our deepest human experience, which opens to the possibility that while we are individually unique, we are not different from each other. Our enemies want the same things as our families. In fact, our enemies are our families. As Shantideva said, “all beings want to be happy.” Finding the commonality is key to a healthy connection to our world.
When we connect to our deepest sense of being, we are touching something very inmate and personal that is nonetheless shared, in multifarious ways, with all beings. Whenever we are able to surrender and release ourselves from identification with our struggles, we are able to connect to others without the co-dependencies to which we’ve become conditioned. Our world can become more informed by what is actually out there, then just a marketplace to fuel our broken needs. By connecting to the essential goodness in ourselves, we connect to the basic goodness in others. This is interdependence. Our once lonely path of self-realization leads to the understanding that we are actually connected to all the life around us. By looking into our intimate selves, we gain the strength to realize we are not indebted to anyone; but connected to everyone.
It is great to celebrate the historical date of our nation’s independence by having hamburgers on the grill, and scaring our dogs as we blow things up. But to those committed to the path of liberation or true independence, it is also good to celebrate daily with a meditation practice that strengthens our ability to let go and connect to the basic goodness of ourselves and our world. Each time we come back to the present, we add light to our cocoon. Eventually, we see the cocoon as temporary, and its habitual patterns as temporary maladaptive strategies we are meant to grow beyond. The butterfly needs to struggle for the strength to free itself from the cocoon. But once free, it is able to fly into the beautiful world, which is its birthright.
12-step recovery traditions ask that we “find the serenity to accept things we cannot change,” so that we may develop the courage to change the things we can. The point is to develop the wisdom to free ourselves from attachment and addiction. Or as is said in another prayer, that we “become liberated from the bonds of self.” Our wisdom connects us to the wisdom mind inherent in all beings.
Wisdom lights the path to our liberation. And liberation is the ground for a healthy inter-connection to our world.
The picture today is of a young Chogyam Trungpa with one of his two primary teachers, Khenpo Gangshar. They are gesturing with the awake mudra, which is also a nod to surrender to the eventualities being imposed by the Chinese Communist armed forces. Although many Tibetans fought valiantly, the change was inevitable. The tragic overthrow of Tibet’s medieval government ultimately served to liberate its teachings in a spiritual diaspora that is enriching the modern world to this day. The heart essence of those practices lies in the belief in the basic goodness of all beings and so was relatable to people in all walks of life.
