One of my own perspectives around these very interesting and pertinent questions, is related to the experience of interconnectedness and what that means in my life and practice.
I'm not sure exactly when this was established as a certainty for me, but it remains a fundamental part of my way of being now. That certainty that I am not separate, apart from everyone else or from anything else, that everything I do connects me one way or another with everything else, is just now a given. I can no longer understand my practice as being just about what I do separately from all others.
And from that established realization if you like, came at one point the understanding that I would never feel alone again. That was such a powerful feeling as like many of us I'm sure, I’ve felt isolated and very alone at times in my life.
So where is the connection with ethics? In this way of seeing myself and the world, as intimately entwined on levels or ways that we might not fully understand, there was also the realization that any actions I perform skilfully or unskilfully affect more than just me or those that are close to me. We are all influencing and affecting one another.
It makes sense on a number of levels to do with collective endeavours and responsibilities we share, including environmental issues. It is aligned with that perspective of seeing the earth as one shining blue planet in the midst of space and on which we all live together. From that understanding the breath becomes a gateway into the shared planetary system.
And this experience of interconnectedness of sharing, of being in relationship with all others and all beings, was also a heart opening experience and connected with things such as metta, seen as a force for good, that I/ we can all link into and support, and are actually part of.
I must say here that my actions are not perfected, I am a work in progress and I believe there is no limit to the development of skilful actions.
Following on from this realization was my understanding, connection and practise of the mandala principle. I see this as one of the key principles in the operation of any mandala that we are all interconnected both on the outer and inner levels. Indeed in this way of understanding the world, it is all made up of interconnected mandalas.
So for instance in our Triratna mandala, which is a particular mandala, a sangha, a spiritual mandala, whose heart is connected to the mandala of awakening, we all share bonds of energy, of shared connections to the principles at the heart of the mandala. And on the inner as well as potentially outer dimensions, whatever we do has an effect on the whole mandala. Which means all of us, you and me here, everyone who walks through the doors of a Triratna center will be experiencing all that happens in the mandala, to the degree to which of course they are, or we are sensitive to that.
Within the mandala any unethical or unskilful behavior that's not being addressed causes disturbances. And again we will all feel to some degree the reverberations if you like from those disturbances and some of us may be affected more strongly than others.
Equally no skilful ethical behaviour goes to waste in the mandala, we can be confident that even unrecognized, unacknowledged kind, skilful and wise actions will be benefiting us all in the mandala, as on these levels we are connecting to the heart of the mandala, supporting the function of the mandala, going for refuge to the heart of awakening itself.
So for me, this deepening understanding and sense of connection lies at the heart of my practice and is one of the basis for ethical conduct.
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