We can act. There is time.

[Trigger-warning: self-immolation].

This past Friday, Wynn Bruce set himself on fire in front of the US Supreme Court to protest the man-made climate disaster and our collective inaction to do what we already know we must do: radically lower carbon emissions, stop looting nature for our short-lived comfort and excess, share the abundant resources of the earth equitably. He died as a result.

His friend and fellow sangha member Dr K. Kritee wrote on Twitter: “This act is not suicide. This is a deeply fearless act of compassion to bring attention to climate crisis.”

This morning I find myself deeply moved by everything about this situation. I cannot reconcile myself to its violence, even self-directed as it is. And at the same time, my heart aches for voices shouting themselves so hoarse on climate disaster (and so many other issues) that violence seems like the only way to be heard. And yet Wynn Bruce’s act was barely covered by media, and certainly not in a manner that appears to raise awareness where it did not already exist. The irony about this moves me to tears.

But maybe the most moving part about this act is how clearly it shows us that we have agency.

All of us.

All the time.

Even where it appears that we don’t.

I am not advocating setting ourselves on fire, Goddess knows. I love life. I believe that Wynn Bruce did too.

I am advocating taking the clearest lessons from Bruce’s complicated and painful act. The deep compassion for humanity, for humans, for life, for earth. The agency we have, our possibilities, our endless capacity for change. We can stop the climate disaster. We have time. We can act.

Next up: virtual vinyasa practice, Wednesday April 27, 16:30 UTC (12:30pm in Brooklyn, NY, which is where I am physically for a couple of days longer). See you there?