The Eight Winds

May 21, 2020

Death is headed our way, and that is fine with me.

This morning, as the sun rose through the redwoods and oaks and over the distant ridge of the Mayacamas mountains, I was spinning, turning, whirling, as I looked past my family photos at the light streaming through the trees and into my windows. It was a beautiful scene, yet one tinged with sadness.

The sorrow arose from gazing at the pictures of my parents, grandparents, great grandparents, siblings, niece and nephew, and realizing that before too long, all of them would be gone with the wind. Some of us are still alive, but we too shall pass.

Yet while I was spinning in this, the first of my morning yoga poses, a dawning sensation of joy penetrated my family wistfulness as I circled in place. For a few moments I noticed a strong sense of well being, of oneness, a feeling of eternity that transcended my regrets and fears, as I let go of clinging to my body, family, and fate. I got a glimpse of forever, and it was illuminating.

This sunrise epiphany was especially welcome in the current climate of anxiety that has been triggered by the coronavirus and its health and economic repercussions. Several friends and relatives have been frightened, angered, or depressed by what some people have viewed as an impending apocalypse. One friend told me last night that she dreads what could be a series of disasters: pandemic, economic depression, California wildfires, and an ugly presidential election in November, not to mention the ever present threat of earthquakes.

Whew!

But if you stop to think about it, none of these catastrophes are new. Well, maybe climate change. But war, disease, and death are inevitable, as are sufferings of all kinds. This point was underscored to me two days ago when friends Simon, Anne, Jim, and I visited the Holocaust and Genocide Memorial Grove at Sonoma State University. The memorial commemorates the mass murders of American Indians, Armenians, Jews, Cambodians, Rwandans, Chinese, and people of Darfur. Apparently the human capacity for depravity is endless. But suffering is not endless, and neither is happiness. Everything is impermanent.

The temporary nature of phenomena is illustrated by the Buddhist concept of the Eight Winds, or eight fluctuations in life’s fortunes. Those eight changes are success and failure (gain and loss), pleasure and suffering, praise and scorn, honor and disgrace. Such ups and downs can be exciting and stressful, a roller coaster of emotions and confusion.

Holy crap. How are we supposed to ride that bucking bronco?

One way might be to get off the damn horse.

In my daily meditation practice I’m learning to notice how thoughts and emotions come and go, and I’m learning to release my desire to control the people and events in my life and in the wider world. I observe the Eight Winds and my attachment to the positive ones and my aversion to the negative ones. And then, I let ’em all go. And instead, through prayer and intention, I align myself with the flow of the river of life, the Buddha nature, the Christ consciousness, the love force that animates my life and all life.

I know, I know – easier said than done. But that’s why it’s called practice. And hey – today that practice paid off, if only for a brief, shining moment. This morning I saw the light, and no, it wasn’t Jesus or Buddha. Or maybe it was both of ’em. Whatever it was, it was enlightening. I momentarily lost my ego, and gained God.

I don’t care about death, because forever feels wonderful.