Walking the Ridge Line Between Form and Formless: On Spirituality and Activism
I FOUND OUT THROUGH FACEBOOK RECENTLY THAT MY FRIEND, A ZEN PRIEST, was in town, after years of being away. She was giving a talk on a Wednesday evening at the local Zen center.
Yes! Zen priests do use Facebook. So does this spiritual teacher and student (meaning moi). I don’t know what to think about that, nor what you should think, except that Shakespeare has said “nothing is good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” So there you go.
Social media feels like our true town square now. With so much happening in the world that seems important to track, I go there to catch up in a morning and revisit the square again at night, just to make sure no one has launched a nuclear warhead in the hours between. At night, when I am sleeping, all is fair game. Ignorance is bliss, they say.
At any rate, I definitely wanted to see this woman because she was a friend and inspiration when, together with others, we helped to found the first Extinction Rebellion chapter in our city. Extinction Rebellion, if you haven’t heard, is a global climate activist group. They appeared on the global stage with a real bang in the spring of 2019 — blocking bridges and roads in the UK, France and elsewhere, and even blocking airplanes from taking off out of London’s Heathrow Aiport.
A lot of people don’t like activism. It just seems so extreme to them. A lot of spiritual people I know don’t like activism. And so, I like to remind people that without direct action, civil disobedience and many other forms of activism, including — most unfortunately — the actual deaths of many people, we would not have voting rights and basic civil rights for everyone (if we do); we would not have women’s rights (which we are losing); we would not have the American Indian Movement; we would not have the united farmworkers movement, the Chicano/a movement, Cesar Chavez, Delores Huerta … . We would not have LGBTQ plus rights at all; we would not have adequate funding for AIDS treatment; we would not have a five-day work week; children would still be laboring away in factories (and they are in some nations).
If you don’t know the history of these movements, you should learn about them. I believe the American disability movement is one of the most instructive movements for your average, ordinary person to study. Who knew that people with severe disabilities had to militantly occupy an entire federal building in Washington DC in order to secure their basic rights?**
“We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor, it must be demanded by the oppressed.”
Martin Luther King, Jr. — from “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” April 16, 1963
All this speaks to the idea that power does not concede an inch unless it is confronted, and is — most often — forced to. Most spiritual people I know do not like the idea of social or political “confrontations.” Maybe they do not like the idea of confrontation at all. Personally, I myself do not!
Most spiritual people I know believe in a vague way that as people become more enlightened or “raise their levels of consciousness,” the systems around us will begin to change. Because people will think better, in a more kind and compassionate way. Therefore, systems (being made of people) will become more kind and compassionate.
I used to think this way too. And I still do. But not totally. I was an activist in college and even got arrested protesting CIA recruitment at my university. At a young age, I was deeply moved by the film Gandhi. And haven’t we all been moved by Martin Luther King, Jr., Vaclav Havel, Julia Butterfly Hill, Arundhati Roy and so many others?
So, yes. A lot of spiritual people will admire these people at a safe distance, but at the same time think: this is not for me — maybe not even for others.
I recently heard someone from one of my spiritual communities say: “Do not get involved in politics, that is of the ego.” The fact that he was an older, white man, living comfortably in retirement in a beautiful, peaceful and rural environment was not lost on me.
My point here is that I believe that spirituality and activism are not mutually exclusive. We need both.
I actually left the field of investigative journalism after several, lengthy exposés on “bad guys.” I got frustrated, thinking that even when I outed one bad guy, a dozen others would pop up in their place. As long as we live in societies in which our collective thought systems most prize fame, money, influence and power, we are all going to be in trouble.
Humanity is indeed confused about where true happiness lies. A true spirituality can fix this.
So, I got very involved in learning and teaching a “Three Principles psychology” that was grounded in the idea that everyone has access to insight, wisdom and a deep, consistent goodness, even if it may be obscured by dysfunctional and insecure thinking. I was very, very happy working in this field, the results were spectacular, and I still do this work.
But as time went by, I noticed that very, very “bad” people were somehow rising to the top of the political heap, and mounting this heap upon a ladder of lies. While the “good,” or spiritual people I knew were toiling away, cheerfully, seemingly paying no mind. Or, if they were involved in socio-political change somehow, they were not telling anyone out loud. When Donald Trump got elected in 2016, I thought: Well, this spiritual stuff is not working!
Yertle the Turtle had found his way to the very top spot on the heap. At the same time, the global fossil fuel industry and global Petro-states were on track to burn up the planet at rapid speed, while burying us all in a flood of disinformation and absolute bullshit.
I began to revisit my activist and journalistic history. I realized we needed all things: education, political engagement, activism, confrontation, dialogue, listening and deep spirituality … combined, together.
All of it.
If someone approached your small child, about to hit them, what would you do? Would you think: “It is too bad this person is about to hit my child. I see that they are psychologically innocent. I will try to meditate and contemplate harder so that this kind of thing ceases to happen for all beings. Too bad for my child, though … ”?
Would you? Or would you step in and physically try to stop the person, maybe, possibly, even becoming angry in that moment?
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
MLK, Jr. — from Strength to Love, 1963
I often see that for many spiritual people, actually physically acting to stop harm to others is more a matter of proximity than philosophy. Like any normal person, a spiritual person might stop harm to another person on a bus, on the street, or elsewhere where they see harm happening.
But when it comes to police or State brutality, or systemic racism, or the impacts of the climate crisis on residents of poorer neighborhoods, developing nations, island nations, equatorial nations — well, what can we do? Thinking about all this would intrude on our peace of mind!
I think much of this apparent apathy has to do with a misunderstanding about “rules.” I don’t think there are rules in spirituality. My first spiritual teachers sometimes got very mad at people and even confronted them. Sometimes, I even felt it was too much. But I believe that wisdom is a moving target and occasionally, confrontation and activism, even anger are called for.
If we speak truth to power, or confront power, what is “power” confronted by? Something that is actually spiritual. Empathy. Conscience. Heart. Love. The desire for the liberation of all beings. The capacity to understand that “none of us are free until all of us are free.”
So, yeah. I’ve become a “spiritual activist.”
But there is a flip side. When one spends too much time on social media (see above) or intaking the news, or too shocked and enraged by what the worst of us are doing to everyone else, or frightened by the terrible, massively harmful consequences of runaway capitalism, or even using the intellect a lot to parse it all out (this is my weakness), one can indeed lose the deeper spiritual feelings one may have already “achieved” or uncovered within oneself. Or, not gain these at all.
So, I am always wondering about and attentive to this balance for myself. Sometimes I am very, very engaged in the “outer world” (I produce a radio show and podcast — with a volunteer team — on ecology, politics and spirituality too; and I am active in several arenas: politically, on social justice and healing, and on climate. I can notice my feeling state declining; a subtle anxiety can arise. I become too busy. I take on too much.
So the question always is: What is the balance? What does a true, “integrated,” spiritual activism look like?
So, I went to this Dharma talk on a Wednesday with my Zen priest, activist friend. And she started to speak about walking along a ridge line — on one side was what she called the form and on the other side was what she called “emptiness.”
In my own spiritual language, I understand these words to mean the “form” and “the formless.”
Neti was talking about how, in one’s personal life, sometimes one will need to lean further into the form and sometimes one will need to lean further into the formless — but generally speaking, we should walk along the ridge line between the two, within the two.
My own first, spiritual teacher Sydney Banks, used to say that the world of form and the world of the formless were actually One.
Because I am writing, speaking and thinking about these things a lot, I decided to ask Antoinette about activism. Now mind you, activism for me could mean that you engage in “get out the vote” efforts or activism could mean you run for office or write articles, opinions or letters to the editor or join a good organization or lobby Congress, or lay down in the middle of road, occupy a building and/or get arrested. All of this is within the realm of possibility and all of this can be guided by wisdom.
So, I asked Neti about how walking the ridge line applies to activism and she said: “Yes. You do not ignore the world. You do not stay in your ‘Zen bubble’ or spiritual bubble. You see the world is suffering. You see the planet is dying. You act to save the world. You lean into the form.
“But also, you lean into the formless and you understand that life is transient, that we will all come and go in the end. The world is just a speck after all; and so you sleep at night. You enjoy the beautiful stars. You enjoy your cup of tea.”
For me, what Neti spoke of translates in my life into going out into nature; connecting with my family, our dog, our cats … hanging out with and in our garden. Dancing. Taking a road trip. Writing a poem. Walking just outside the door of this office I am in now (typing away) and going to pet the caretaker’s dog, Evie. Watching children play in the playground next door, just past the community garden, or running the track at the school beyond the back fence.
It is the essence of balance to notice when one is tipping too far into the formless, or into the world of form. One gets agitated when someone brings up politics or global problems. Or one gets agitated from being too immersed in all of that.
I do believe there are times when a deep dive into the formless is quite necessary, and called for. In some cases, this might be the calling of one’s entire life. I think of Ramana Maharshi staying always at Arunachala. Ramana was a contemporary of Gandhi’s. People often asked Ramana about Gandhi and he would tell them: Gandhi is following his light, his soul path. All is well.
On the other hand, there may be times in one’s life when one must dive into form for some time — to finish a project, to help win an election, to help defeat a fascist kakistocracy from ruling one’s nation, to save a planet.
Some people have a hard time thinking of the world’s ills because they are already struggling too much with their personal ills. This is fair, as far as I am concerned. We do not need more people to sink into pits of anxiety and despair and not get out of bed at all. This is the time to attend to oneself deeply and lovingly. We will need you, eventually. So, hurry up! (That is 50 percent a joke.)
But for the person who has more strength at this time, the balance of looking (but not staring); of engagement without attachment, nor taking personal credit — this is the sweet spot for right action and “radical resilience.”
We do what we can do. And I advise all of us to act— and to make our activities known, to inspire and en-COURAGE others. We speak up. We try to be brave. We take a risk. We do our best. That is all we can do. And then we rest. This we must do.
In this way, walking the Ridge Line of Life, mostly upright, mostly conscious and aware, gaining Love for all Beings or full of Love for all Beings … we make our way through perilous times with grace. We make ourselves lights in this world. We make ourselves truly useful.
###
If you are in the U.S., engage with GOTV (Get Out the Vote) efforts at Force Multiplier, Swing Left or Showing Up for Racial Justice (among other orgs.) Learn more at this podcast show page & listen to the episode: “What Should We Do?”
**Highly Recommended: Crip Camp: The Disability Revolution (Netflix)
Ami Chen Coaching and Education: Mentoring, coaching, training in “radical resilience” and innate well-being. Includes individual consult, group workshops and local “intensives.”
Moment of Truth with Ami Chen Mills Radio Show and Global Podcast (also on Spotify, Apple and YouTube, at the KSQD channel)
