On the Road
By Andy Robins
In recent weeks I have been on the road traveling with my family in England. Driven by circumstances of not being able to return to Vietnam, due to Covid-19, we have been living out of the back of a Transit Van. I have a guilty pleasure of accidentally catching snippets of other peoples’ conversations, and hearing little pieces of other people's lives and points of view. I am always interested in and enjoy opinion, and understanding how people see their world today. I have eavesdropped on passers-by in all sorts of places and there is a theme to the conversations. People are overwhelmed and exhausted; the lockdown has been a long haul. On top of this people are feeling a bombardment of epic proportions: global warming, plastics in the ocean, anti-racism, job losses, business closures, civil rights in Hong Kong, cold wars, and oh yes, I nearly forgot: Covid-19 still a rampant global viral killer.
The bombardment is continuous. Smartphones, providing 24/7 updates through news and social media channels, mixed in with world leaders Tweeting their agendas. People are unable to distinguish between real or fake news. I overheard a conversation last week, mainly talking about the recent anti-racism demonstrations that had taken place, where both people said they had turned off the news feed and checked out of Facebook. We are beginning to hear that Facebook may have reached its ‘tipping point’ of losing customers and even large corporations are taking note and moving their advertising.
On my travels, I caught up with a friend and leader who has built up a great business over the last seven years and whose livelihood now is under severe strain. Years of blood, sweat and tears disappearing overnight is devastating. The lockdown has brought days in front of a computer screen and sleepless nights and no golden moments with his family. We also chatted about global issues: my time living in the USA and Vietnam, both culturally different from the UK, and how much leadership style has impacted Covid-19 deaths, perhaps even more than have sophisticated health care systems. His conclusion to our discussion on global issues was, "To be honest; I just want to hunker down in a tent in the middle of Dartmoor (national park) and save my f***** self."
So where do you turn? There is no doubt in my own experience that if you’re not in the right place yourself, then it’s probably not the time to try and help others. As the pre-flight announcement tells us "in case of an emergency put on your own oxygen mask before helping others." Often under stress, the point is missed. As Eleanor Brown said, "‘Self-care is not selfish. You cannot serve from an empty vessel."
At times of need, how can you recognize what matters most amongst the myriad of local, national and global issues? At these times in my own life, the way forward has been to find some stillness, a quieting of the mind, a sense of settling down to build resilience back into my daily life. The great thing about Zen is that it meets you wherever you are; there is no agenda. As D.T. Suzuki put it, "Zen teaches nothing; it merely enables us to wake up and become aware. It does not teach; it points." Once armed with this awareness, you can begin the journey to discover and act on what is important to you. And as I found out what seems essential today can change once you have your daily dose of stillness that comes from settling down!
Andy Robins Roshi is a ZL Instructor and Coach.
