"We also hear the world. These are uncertain times. So many structures and certainties are breaking apart. At any time a tsunami, hurricane, or earthquake can devastate, or the financial institutions of an entire country can collapse. Change is happening at such an immense pace, it's hard to have any idea of where we are headed. Our experience of time and distance is ever-shrinking as the internet moves us into warp speed. Every day a flood of information makes "out there" more obviously "right here." As the consequences of actions rebound ever more quickly, it's as if there is not distance between thought and what it materializes. Everything is immediate. We live in increasingly virtual realities, and at the same time are confronted with the likelihood of no sustainable Earth for further generations. For many species, it is already too late.
Life has always been intensely challenging on planet Earth, but it's hard to imagine another time when the stakes are so high. We may feel anguished by what's happening, but what's happening is happening. None of this is outside the Dharma. The intensity of our times is pushing, squeezing, and pummeling us. The image that comes to mind is of a birth canal. It is as if we are being born into a different way of understanding everything."
From Listening to the Heart (2014)
by Kittisaro and Thanissara
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