{"id":957,"date":"2009-12-14T12:12:36","date_gmt":"2009-12-14T12:12:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/onecity\/2009\/12\/sit-down-and-rise-up-letting-go-1.html"},"modified":"2009-12-14T12:12:36","modified_gmt":"2009-12-14T12:12:36","slug":"sit-down-and-rise-up-letting-go-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2009\/12\/sit-down-and-rise-up-letting-go-1.html","title":{"rendered":"Sit Down and Rise Up – Letting Go"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Damaris Williams<\/i><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A
\nlittle over a month ago on November 6, I and many members of the IDP community
\nsat down for the Sit Down Rise Up 24 Hour Meditation Marathon in the window of
\nABC Carpet and Home.  I sat for 24 hours along with Activism Director Rafi
\nSantos, Teacher Jessica Rasp and Founder Ethan Nicthern. Since then, many have
\napproached me asking what it was like to sit that long.   I find
\nmyself unable to give a concise answer because so many things happened. My mind
\nchanged, the environment changed, the people passing by the window changed.
\n Each new moment offered an opportunity to practice dharma in a different
\nway than the moment before, once again reminding me of the challenge of every
\nmoment to be awake and kind.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"DamarisInABCWindowCrop.jpg\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

So
\ntoday I’m writing about a moment I had not planned for. Someone who had hurt me
\ndeeply came to the window.  There I was as open as a sky and there she was
\nwith camera on hand. I wish I could say I stayed open but the truth is I
\ncouldn’t even force a smile.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I
\nlooked at her fuddling with her camera. Then slowly it dawned on me that she’s
\ngrey and getting old. That one day she will be sick and dying and <\/span>So Will I<\/b><\/span>. There she stood soft, just like
\nme.  I tried my best to hold on to my justified anger but after 21 hours
\nof meditating, anger was pretty hard to come by.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

What
\nwas underneath the anger buoyed up to the surface and finally unraveled the
\nknot that had bound me for too long. Underneath all the tears was just a simple
\nlonging to be understood and cared for, and I finally accepted that she never
\nwould.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It
\nwas such a painful moment to accept. I wanted to be angry but she was soft just
\nlike me and I couldn’t be angry.  In the end we are both innocent. In the
\nend we are both flawed. So common sense finally came into view. I had to let it
\ngo . . . and so I did.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=CJC4USrkLeI<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n


<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Damaris Williams A little over a month ago on November 6, I and many members of the IDP community sat down for the Sit Down Rise Up 24 Hour Meditation Marathon in the window of ABC Carpet and Home.  I sat for 24 hours along with Activism Director Rafi Santos, Teacher Jessica Rasp and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":192,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts-and-media"],"yoast_head":"\nSit Down and Rise Up - Letting Go - One City<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2009\/12\/sit-down-and-rise-up-letting-go-1.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sit Down and Rise Up - 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