Spiritual Strategy for Systems Change - Erin Selover

<p>This podcast is part of a new series called <a href="https://medium.com/@juliash/confronting-complicity-in-capitalism-dfa0a303a9f9" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Confronting Complicity in Capitalism</a>. </p><p>Our second special guest in the series helps us build the spiritual ground for this tricky work of confronting complicity in capitalism. </p><p>Erin Selover is a ‘spiritual strategist’ who connects decades of Buddhist practice and teaching with nonviolence and collective liberation. She helps me put words to why my time in meditation retreat is not just a nice thing I do to stay sane, but a core practice for slowing down enough to see grasping and suffering, and to tap into our natural possibility for creativity and collaboration.</p><p>THE IMPACT. <a href="https://www.erinselover.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Erin Selover</a>:</p><ul><li><p>is a Dharma teacher with over 20 years of Buddhist practice and teaching, including at <a href="https://www.spiritrock.org/teachers/erin-selover" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Spirit Rock Meditation Center</a> in Northern California </p></li><li><p>works with individuals as a <a href="https://www.erinselover.com/spiritualstrategyworks" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">spiritual strategist</a></p></li><li><p>has studied and experimented with Miki Kashtan and the <a href="https://nglcommunity.org/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Nonviolent Global Liberation community</a></p></li><li><p>as a white settler of Irish descent on indigenous lands, is in deep inquiry about the way power and privilege function within modern societies, and the complex history of her Irish ancestors</p></li><li><p>co-stewards a meditation community integrating the Celtic Wheel of the year and Buddhism within needs-based gift economics and distributive governance systems</p></li><li><p>is a Licenced Marriage and Family Therapist with training in Somatic Experiencing and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy</p></li></ul><p>THE JOURNEY. In this conversation, we cover:</p><p><strong>From domination to collaboration</strong>. “ I get competitive when my needs aren&#39;t met. But when my needs are met, I&#39;m not competitive. When my needs are met, I&#39;m generous, and that&#39;s what I see with the thousands of people that I&#39;ve worked with over the years. When our needs are met, we&#39;re generous, we&#39;re creative, we&#39;re collaborative.”</p><p><strong>Slow down, wake up.</strong>  ”When we slow down, our natural awake heart, unfolds and reveals all these tendencies. It just reveals it to us. We don&#39;t have to actually effort. In a way. It&#39;s like just slowing down and being in nature and eating food slowly. It shows us, oh, I&#39;m being urgent in this particular way, or I&#39;m actually judging myself so hard, or some of this action is driven by my own unworthiness.”</p><p><strong>From the individual to the systemic</strong>. “What are the systems that we live in that have reinforced this judgment? What are you struggling with that isn&#39;t actually personal? But it&#39;s collective. What&#39;s the context that we live in that in part inform this? And can you direct that energy, that anger that you&#39;re feeling at yourself, can you direct that energy at the system?”</p><p><strong>Gift economics.</strong>  ”I live as much in gift as I can. Drawing on a deep trust in life that if I continue to give in this way, I&#39;ll be able to bear whatever the consequences are of the choices that I make with dignity, with an open heart, with care, for myself and others.”</p>