“Continued Reflections on the Meaning of Hope” with Jane Rauenhorst This Sunday at Minneapolis Insight

Dear Community,

Sunday 10am Community Practice & Discussion

From Jane:  I really appreciated our conversation about the Lojong Slogan “give up all hope of fruition” last Sunday (details in the newsletter archive).  Over the week a friend (in response to the “give up hope” topic) sent me a short article by Roshi Joan Halifax entitled  Yes, We Can Have Hope, in which Joan advocates for what she refers to as “wise hope.”  

In my mind what Joan is offering is not in conflict with the idea of  “giving up hope” but rather is guidance for how to remain engaged and how to proceed skillfully in our lives. Perhaps what Joan is saying is that “giving up hope” is just the beginning.  That we also need “wise hope” to remain engaged and to help us live fully into what Pema Chodron described as the paradox and ambiguity of being human. 

In the article Joan says, “As Buddhists, we know that ordinary hope is based in desire, wanting an outcome that could well be different from what will actually happen… Someone who is hopeful in this way has an expectation that always hovers in the background, the shadow of fear that one’s wishes will not be fulfilled. This ordinary hope is a subtle expression of fear and a form of suffering.”

She goes on to advocate for what she calls “Wise hope” which she defines like this: “Wise hope is not seeing things unrealistically but rather seeing things as they are, including the truth of suffering, both its existence and our capacity to transform it. It’s when we realize we don’t know what will happen that this kind of hope comes alive; in that spaciousness of uncertainty is the very space we need to act…We can’t know, but we can trust that there will be movement, there will be change. And that we will be part of it. We move forward in our day and get out the vote, or sit at the bedside of a dying patient, or teach that third grade class.”

“As Buddhists, we share a common aspiration to awaken from suffering; for many of us, this aspiration is not a ‘small self’ improvement program… [but rather] a powerful expression of radical and wise hope, an unconditional hope that is free of desire….We are called to live with possibility, knowing full well that impermanence prevails…So why not just show up?”

I “hope” ☺ that you will be able to join us for further exploration of the meaning and skillful inclusion of hope in your life. All are welcome. Registration and Zoom information available here.

With metta (loving-kindness),
Minneapolis Insight