As a dedicated Unitarian Universalist, this is right up my alley.  Thanks for starting the group, Claire.  I think bringing a sense of spirit to our conversations is critical.  Ultimately, we must ground this movement in love.

Cheers,

Ben

Thank you, Claire, for creating this sacred space.  This movement will go to a whole new level as we recognize and choose the unity of our hearts, regardless through which facet of the Prism we gaze.

Lauren,

Buddhism is not so much about "compassion and emptiness" as about sunyata karuna garbham (the Jewel Tree of Tibet by Nagarjuna), which might be best translated as "voidness with the essence of compassion". The teaching is that, from the emptiness, compassion naturally arises.

And I think we should be cautious with the term "happiness", which is far too vague to be useful and typically conveys a strong positive emotional state - which is just another form of attachment.

What we should be aiming for is equanimity - being in that place of perfect balance in which nothing positive or negative can attach to us.

There's a wonderful tale of a young disciple who comes running to his master, shouting "I think I finally achieved it. I have followed all your lessons diligently, and sat endlessly emptying my mind of distraction, and finally all the inner voices went quiet and I forgot the pain in my legs, and was suddenly filled with the most unimaginable bliss and expansiveness, as if I and the Universe were one."

The master listened thoughtfully and responded, "That's all right, just keep meditating and this, too, shall pass."

Happiness, joy, and other feelings of intense well-being, are generally categorized as "euphoria", and can be induced by sex, psychoactive drugs, psychosis, disease states as well as spiritual practices. And I suspect that hedge-fund traders on a good day feel something similar, even though they're doing nothing to help the world.

We tend to believe that only what we consider "positive" emotions or affective states can be spiritual or spiritually opening. I had a great teacher (a channeled spirit called Eon) who spoke of the three fundamental human emotions and their divine counterparts.

Anger, Sadness, & Fear are human emotions that point to an object and cause bodily tension and a shutting down of the spirit. Their divine counterparts – Rage, Grief, & Terror – are have no object, are infinite and opening. 

Fear is clenching, closes the throat and dampens life energy. Terror opens the throat and inflames life energy. Terror is a state of complete relaxation into God, a state of complete union with the whole world. It is surrender.  Imagine floating completely alone in the vastness of space – that is terror. 

Sadness is a self-indulgent feeling of victimization, isolating and self-reinforcing, creating a downward spiral into depression – it pulls the person inward into their bodies. Grief is a divine comfort, constant and reassuring, resides in the throat and is expressed through the voice – it is doorway to hope. Grief is the easiest way to clear the mind so you can assess the situation clearly.  Crying is best done in the presence of another person – it sustains the grief.  It is alright to get to grief through sadness, but then quickly let go of the object and feel grief.  Grief has no object.  It is a blissful floating oneness with the Universe.  Imagine floating on warm water in a dark well with no bottom – that is grief. 

Anger is directed at an object, causes a tightening of the muscles – is a form of resentment. Rage has no object, causes a release of tension and results in forgiveness. Rage lasts the shortest time of the three, so we miss it most.  Once we go into it, it is gone.  To experience rage, go into the woods, pick up a stout stick, and smash it into large trees as hard as you can  (they understand and can absorb the energy). 

The mind's grip is like a cat's claws.  If you pull away, you will be torn; but if you push into the beast, it will release its hold.  Enter fully (surrender) into the divine emotions and you will know peace.

The Spiritual Heritage of the Occupy Movement

by Daniel McKanan, the first Ralph Waldo Emerson Unitarian Universalist Association Senior Lecturer in Divinity at Harvard Divinity School, and the author of Prophetic Encounters: Religion and the American Radical Tradition

http://www.occupycafe.org/forum/topics/the-spiritual-heritage-of-th...

Good morning, from Santa Barbara. 

I'm feeling a connection between this group on "Faith in the 99%" and the discussion promoted by Sharif Abdullah, as Ben described it to me, on creating a "compelling and positive" vision.  I've been considering the issues and tensions cited in the "Vision" discussion - http://www.occupycafe.org/forum/topics/10-24-hour-3-sharif-abdullah - and how those issues relate to the stated intention of this Working Group:

Dear Gildas -- Dear All --

From my point of view -- the world would do well to listen to something like "the collective voice of religion" -- if there really was something like that.  Islam would contribute its perspective -- Buddhism would contribute its perspective -- all other religious and spiritual traditions would contribute -- and we would work together towards common ground and a shared/universal ethic.

I'd like to see a framework like this:

http://sharedpurpose.net/home/index.cfm?tq=579404