ACCEPT CHANGE

"In times of change, learners inherit the earth; while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists."

—Eric Hoffer

It’s not looking very good. I think it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better, and there’s going to be a lot of tragedy in the decades ahead. Humans are going to make it. We inherently are incredibly resilient as a species. We’re not going to disappear... We’re going to need to develop. The work that I do in the world is about trying to reduce the size of those catastrophes, do everything we can, and to create as many healthy models for the other side… at least they’re demonstrated proof points that this is how it can be done better. (26:18)

—Baumeister, D. (2019). Biomimicry: Natures design. Future thinkers, Ep. 109.

Eastern teachers explain

Many of us in the driven overactive western culture have been noticing limitations in our understand-predict-and-control agenda. Embracing eastern teachings of “accepting what is” doesn’t mean being passive. It means not avoiding uncomfortable truths. It means facing what is unpleasant when it first appears, so it doesn’t become a catastrophe.

Inside us: Accept even your non-acceptance. When you can, feel and acknowledge your anger or fear. This means becoming comfortable with the fact that you--along with the rest of humanity--are fallible and flawed. Meditation is a process of gathering more data points rather than trying to immediately escape feelings thru acting out, covering up, or denying.

Outside us: This means allowing instability, uncertainty, and constant change. We can’t make everything completely safe for ourselves and those we love. We can learn to be at peace with what is, at the same time that we work toward solutions.

To accept change does not mean we should take no action or adopt a nihilistic attitude. It means first get curious about what we dislike, rather than impulsively fight it. This helps us to take sufficient time to get clear and take a productive proactive stance, not reactive.

Gratefully, Western-raised students of Eastern philosophy—including Pema Chodron, Sharon Salzberg, and Diane Musho Hamilton—have helped translate and make relatable these teachings. Another of these is Zen Master Doshin Roshi who mentions in an interview with Rebel Wisdom what some would call the end times, "We have no idea what’s coming…to survive…We just are in such a bold experiment. It’s going to be amazing what happens, and terrifying I suspect" (12:50).

Western teachers explain

Plotinus, Spinoza, and the stoics. These have been getting press lately while millennials, polling highly as "spiritual but not religious," search for systems of meaning beyond the pre-packaged.

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