We All See the Same Moon
As I was finishing my meditation one recent morning, a text came in from my son. He was on a boat in the Pacific Ocean, sitting on the deck, traveling overnight to a veterinarian who can perform leg surgery on his dog. I tried to conjure the warm, humid air, the sound of the engine, the lapping of water against the hull, the trusting but confused dog at his side. I asked if he could see the moon, and he sent a picture. There it floats, above the ferry’s crane. He rides the planet seventeen hours ahead of me, and it’s hard for me to imagine his reality. But it helps to know he’s looking up at the same moon.
There are more than eight billion human beings on the planet. That is a number I can’t even begin to fathom. Dunbar’s Number represents a theory proposed by anthropologist Robin Dunbar suggesting we can only maintain about 150 “primary” relationships - people we know and care about on a meaningful personal level. No wonder we become numb and overwhelmed by the bad news of the world.
Yoga teaches that the proper response to suffering is compassion. Yoga’s aim is to create inner stability and clarity, which will show up in the quality of our actions. I am coming to grips with the fact that I am not a protest activist by nature - I show up now and then, but I can’t sustain an outward focus, which makes me hope “think globally, act locally” and “the personal is political” are true statements. The wisdom teachings seem to concur that if I conduct myself in a loving way in my 150 close relationships, the effect will ripple outward.
In my friend Barbara Becker’s (barbarabecker@substack.com) latest blog, “An Iranian Love Story: On staying human in inhuman times,” she reflects on learning of the US attack on Iran as she emerged from a meditation retreat, and offers the inspiring story of Iranian activists Nasrin Sotoudeh and Reza Khandan, in addition to some simple words for meditation:
May I be free of suffering and danger.
May I open to this pain with gentleness and compassion.
May Nasrin and Reza and their children be safe and well in the midst of all this.
I care about the people of Iran. Your suffering matters to me.
May the suffering of this entire world be met with compassion.
May all bodies and all minds be at peace.
As always, we begin where we are. Thoughts matter, small actions matter. Any attempt to create human connection counters the depersonalizing effect of news of death and destruction. There are eight billion separate stories being told on planet Earth. There is great suffering, there is great beauty, there is deep grief and deep joy. And above each one of us, the same moon shines, reminding us of the truth of our shared planetary citizenship.
I love this Sarah! Thank you. It’s something I have marveled about my whole life and found comfort in thinking that my beloved was under the same moon.
This is so important and the thing I wrestle with day to day, hour by hour. Should I write music, sing, write a poem, take a walk, or is that a form of apathy? I wonder if I should or could do more, be more effective in the world. I think what you're saying is the truest. We have to acknowledge who we are and what we're here to do.