Virtual Pendle Hill: Mindfulness as Sustainability
“Mindfulness is a spiritual practice found in all the world’s religions,” began Dr. Maria Jaoudi. Mindfulness precedes resilience and understanding. “I grew up in many different countries, and I lived through three civil wars in Beirut, Lebanon as a child,” shared Maria. “Mindfulness was invaluable in helping me live my life as a human being.”
On June 26th, Maria facilitated a virtual Pendle Hill, “Mindfulness as Sustainability.” The event encouraged fellows to interrogate the relationship between our self-awareness and the change we can create with an evermore present mindset. “Regard the body as a biological ecosystem. One’s thoughts, speech, and behaviors are psychologically and spiritually adaptable. We can learn to cultivate and preserve our health and energy.”
A screenshot of Maria facilitating “Mindfulness as Sustainability” over Zoom
“Mindfulness as Sustainability” included three different sessions, each followed by breakout rooms for open discussion among fellows.
Session 1: The Connection between Stewardship of our Inner Environment and Stewardship of the Earth Community
Maria introduced mindfulness as presence, situating one’s self and appreciating the present moment. Whether through spending time in nature, focusing on one task at a time, or simply leading life at a slower pace, mindfulness allows for greater meaning to be found in often overlooked moments. Maria asked the attendees to consider the following questions in regards to mindfulness and how it can manifest in our lives.
Take about two minutes and write down a time that mindfulness led to a sustaining memory of your life’s meaning. For example, your partner was extremely ill, and you took the time to not only visit, but care for and tenderly attend to their needs.
Describe how mindfulness can be sustained and what that would mean in your day-to-day life.
Session 2: Non-violent Resistance: Hildegard of Bingen | Dr. King and The Hindu Tradition of Non-Harming (ahimsa)
“The more we are transformed within ourselves,” shared Maria, “the more we can affect change in the world around us.” Maria proposed the development of our inner ecology as a means of creating a world that practices kindness and justice.
Maria centered Hildegard of Bingen’s philosophy to highlight our inner ecology and our connection to the sacred. “Our inner world, subconscious emotions, motivations, and dreams lead us to an openness and understanding of the human being’s relationship to and within the sacred,” stated Maria. “Becoming closer to the sacred leads us to a transformation of consciousness. The veils are lifted from our perceptions and we are able to experience the presence of the sacred in all life.”
“Understanding one’s self begins a process of understanding creation and humanity’s deepest psycho-spiritual dimensions.”
In growing closer to the sacred, proposed Maria, one becomes more able to view the world as an interconnected web versus a hierarchy of existence. “Whereas the Abrahamic faiths can be stereotyped as pyramid traditions - with God on top, followed by humans, enslaved peoples, animals, etc. - an ecological web of life reveals an interdependence in which even the lowly spider and sparrow have their important places.”
Sentience connects every being. In further understanding ourselves, we are more able to manifest and perceive “the presence of the sacred in every living being no matter how small.” Maria then concluded the second session with the following questions.
Take two minutes to write about the connection between your inner stewardship, that is, your spiritual life and practice, and how you steward the earth community. Give specific examples.
What would our lives look like if we followed a web kinship philosophy? How would Nations interact with each other? Envision Planet Earth as Communitas; what can you imagine as changes politically, ecologically, other ways?
Session 3: Mindfulness as Sustainability
For the final session of “Mindfulness as Sustainability” Maria closed the event with connections between the philosophies of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In both of their struggles for social and political change, Dr. King’s approach of nonviolence and Gandhi's embrace of ahimsa (not killing) share commonalities beyond their roots in pacifism.
“No matter what actions were directed towards them,” stated Maria, “whether Dr. King and Gandhi were beaten, placed in jail, or threatened with murder, both were brave enough to travel to the heart of their own religion to bring about social justice as neither victims nor executioners.”
Ultimately, Maria connects Dr. King and Gandhi not for their literal approaches towards systematic change, but the conviction they both held and the unwavering nature of their values. Maria advocates for an inner ecology that allows one to discover what they truly believe, to understand themselves with greater sureness before engaging with the outside.
Lastly, Maria left the Roothbert fellows with the following reflection questions.
Take two minutes to write your reflections on being neither a victim nor an executioner, recalling Dr. King’s spiritual perspective, that if we allow ourselves to become hate-filled and only desire revenge, we too become perpetrators of ignorance and prejudice.
What are one or more steps you can take in the coming weeks to put something you learned today into action?
Thank you to Dr. Maria Jaoudi for facilitating “Mindfulness as Sustainability.” A recording of the event can be found here.
Our next virtual Pendle Hill will be September 25th from 12pm to 1:30pm.