Part 1 of 2:
Connections and False Perceptions
A human being faced with choices, is a being challenged to stand for humanity.
Most of us know that every decision we make affects us in some way. In ways we may never know, these decisions change our lives and who we are. The lives of people around us are also affected by every little thing we do - or do not do.
Oft forgotten are the connections in the web of life. Connections between ourselves and others, society and environment, consumption and compassion. Perhaps the most important remembrance is of the non-separation that has always existed. The web of life is a whole, united by strings that connect everything. It is here that our thoughts and actions are woven.
Whether one has seen the whole web or just a spiders eye view, deep down, he knows the nature of the web. If he is blinded or the web has been cast over by the darkness of ignorance, the spider will eventually find his way. It is in this darkness that we have grown out of touch with the true nature of the self; a nature that is never separate from any other. One might seem to move further from this truth, but they are always connected and need only look deep within.
Looking deeply we see how our lack of awareness and communication with the self has caused much suffering. Our incorrect perceptions of ourselves and reality has made us ignorant of our true nature. So we are driven to find the peace and joy that can only come from realizing our self. We may want this so much and move so fast that we become lost on our journey. Unable to find truth, we begin building our own; building what becomes our false perceptions. Rather than stopping to look inside, we look outward to those things easily within our grasp.
Becoming attached to worldly possessions and false identifications drives us farther from the freedom and truth we've been searching for. The true self cannot be realized if one is busy constructing their identity around consumption and image purchases. It's no wonder that shopping has become a favorite past-time of the western world. But, it is striking that the destructive nature of mindless consumerism isn't greater recognized. Everywhere we look, we can see people acting without regard for the environment, or the mind, that is being created for themselves and their children.
Today's youth can spend much of their time shopping, and parents may be relieved when considering the alternatives. Shopping seems much more innocent than hanging out in the streets, playing with guns and drugs and gangs. But all of these issues reflect the identity crisis that youth find themselves in. They don't realize their identity is as meaningless as their consumerism. They will not realize this truth, and resolve to search for the self, until they have the help of people who care. People who teach them that true happiness cannot come from this world, it can only come from within.
Turning outward to the world of things, one feels trapped by wants and desires that only grow stronger. There is no limit to want. Giving in to want only makes one want more and more. Desires for money, fame, power, and glory degrade ourselves, others, and the environment. When our motives are such, it doesn't matter how much we have or consume; we will never feel satisfied.
It is a given that our life here on earth requires the consumption of worldly goods. Consumption is certainly not 'bad', but we must be mindful about what we consume and find a healthy balance. The overwhelming obesity rates of the western world indicate an unbalance that goes beyond the body. How has something as sacred as the food each life depends upon, turned into a tool for our dangerous mass consumption? Overeating has become an increasingly compulsive and self-destructive behavior that must be addressed, but at the same time we must consider the rise of other compulsive, self-destructive behaviors.
Eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia are oriented around false perceptions of self-image, the self and reality. Drug addictions centered around false perceptions leave the user feeling trapped and ignorant of their true self. No matter the nature of unmindful consumption, there is a hunger longing to be satisfied. It is not a 'bad' hunger, but is fed with ignorance.
Each us shares this hunger for truth and realization of the self. Quick worldly fixes and false perceptions only make our hunger grow. They starve us from the truth. We must learn to look within and identify our false perceptions so we can stop them from manifesting our thoughts and actions.
Friday, March 23, 2007
Compassionate Choices
PART 2 of 2:
Living without Blame and Judgments
Learning to live without judgment is an extremely difficult task for anyone. I am reminded of an episode of W-Five I saw not too long ago, explaining the crisis of a community overcome with drugs. The exclusive, 'The Boys from Grand Manan", told the story of several well respected fishermen who, frustrated with a well-known drug dealer, decided to burn his crack house down. The court case was intriguing, especially since members of the community became very involved, protesting and refusing jury duty. Having to deal with the same fear and frustration, the community understood the fishermen and so they insisted the men were innocent. Citizens blamed the police who did nothing to stop the drug trafficking, but the police said they did their best. Their lawyer said that, "in the end their confessions did them in...they shouldn't have compromised their reputation, but they were frustrated and driven by fear". Throughout the show, blame and judgments were continually placed on others. It became easy to see how difficult it could be for an outsider, let alone someone directly involved in the situation, to avoid judgments and false perceptions.
Important to take from this, is that the fear and frustration felt within the community was shared by all. Even the drug dealer, who was himself an addict, felt frustrated with society and suffered deeply. We need to see that the suffering of one is the suffering of all. The only way to end this suffering is by practicing compassion. When we are afraid we cannot act with a clear mind. Our consciousness feeds off our fears and frustrations, and our actions reflect this consciousness. This is why we cannot war against terrorism. It is self-defeating as it only increases the fear and frustration in society - of course it is also devastating to all life.
We must learn to forgive ourselves and those who hurt us. The suffering one inflicts on another comes from their own deep suffering. I once thought harsher punishments should be enforced to deter crime, but if there were any truth to this, it would be for the wrong reasons. We must move away from our desire to punish, and learn to show compassion to those most difficult to share it with. Harsh words and judgments will not help addicts, criminals, or our children. Corporations and leader's of our nations will not learn to show compassion if they are not taught its nature. The best way we can teach is by example. By practicing mindfulness and compassion we give the gift of example to the world and generations to come.
So where do we start? We stop. We clear our mind of its busyness and we meditate. We take more time for ourselves and spend more time with our loved ones. We ensure our thoughts, our words, and our actions are driven by our compassionate heart.
Becoming mindful of our consumption and connectedness, we see how our ignorance has caused crises in the environment, society, and the self; and suffering all around the world. Realizing how our careless consumption has created a toxic world (reflecting the toxicity of the mind), we resolve to clean up the mess we've created. We commit ourselves to raising consciousness.
What we do, here and now, transcends the boundaries of space and time. Each string we weave into the web matters. Our choices matter. We need to wake up to the world of choice before us, and let our choices be our voice for the compassion we hunger to see in the world.
Living without Blame and Judgments
Learning to live without judgment is an extremely difficult task for anyone. I am reminded of an episode of W-Five I saw not too long ago, explaining the crisis of a community overcome with drugs. The exclusive, 'The Boys from Grand Manan", told the story of several well respected fishermen who, frustrated with a well-known drug dealer, decided to burn his crack house down. The court case was intriguing, especially since members of the community became very involved, protesting and refusing jury duty. Having to deal with the same fear and frustration, the community understood the fishermen and so they insisted the men were innocent. Citizens blamed the police who did nothing to stop the drug trafficking, but the police said they did their best. Their lawyer said that, "in the end their confessions did them in...they shouldn't have compromised their reputation, but they were frustrated and driven by fear". Throughout the show, blame and judgments were continually placed on others. It became easy to see how difficult it could be for an outsider, let alone someone directly involved in the situation, to avoid judgments and false perceptions.
Important to take from this, is that the fear and frustration felt within the community was shared by all. Even the drug dealer, who was himself an addict, felt frustrated with society and suffered deeply. We need to see that the suffering of one is the suffering of all. The only way to end this suffering is by practicing compassion. When we are afraid we cannot act with a clear mind. Our consciousness feeds off our fears and frustrations, and our actions reflect this consciousness. This is why we cannot war against terrorism. It is self-defeating as it only increases the fear and frustration in society - of course it is also devastating to all life.
We must learn to forgive ourselves and those who hurt us. The suffering one inflicts on another comes from their own deep suffering. I once thought harsher punishments should be enforced to deter crime, but if there were any truth to this, it would be for the wrong reasons. We must move away from our desire to punish, and learn to show compassion to those most difficult to share it with. Harsh words and judgments will not help addicts, criminals, or our children. Corporations and leader's of our nations will not learn to show compassion if they are not taught its nature. The best way we can teach is by example. By practicing mindfulness and compassion we give the gift of example to the world and generations to come.
So where do we start? We stop. We clear our mind of its busyness and we meditate. We take more time for ourselves and spend more time with our loved ones. We ensure our thoughts, our words, and our actions are driven by our compassionate heart.
Becoming mindful of our consumption and connectedness, we see how our ignorance has caused crises in the environment, society, and the self; and suffering all around the world. Realizing how our careless consumption has created a toxic world (reflecting the toxicity of the mind), we resolve to clean up the mess we've created. We commit ourselves to raising consciousness.
What we do, here and now, transcends the boundaries of space and time. Each string we weave into the web matters. Our choices matter. We need to wake up to the world of choice before us, and let our choices be our voice for the compassion we hunger to see in the world.
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Consuming Compassion
When seeds are planted in our consciousness, they must be nurtured before they can sprout and grow strong. We must be careful which seeds we nurse since our store consciousness contains dangerous seeds, such as those of ignorance and delusion, that are toxic to our health. The Buddha identified the store consciousness, the deepest level of consciousness that contains everything, as the fourth nutriment for the spiritual pilgrimage. (The first nutriment is edible food, followed by sense impression food, and the third is the food of volition.)
Our store consciousness consumes what we consume. All that we feed those first three nutriments is consumed by our store consciousness; and because it is our store consciousness that drives us, we must always be conscious of what we consume. Still, our store consciousness contains more than we choose to consume, such as our karma. We must become consciously aware of the negative karma that pollutes our inner ecology. In doing so we can make decisions to not water seeds of suffering. Or we can go further. We can transform the seeds in our store consciousness. By acknowledging manas, the base of mind consciousness that is the root of our delusions of separation, we can move beyond our ego attachment and ignorance - into awakening. Meditation and mindfulness practice allow us to transform the seeds of store consciousness, and manas, so we can grow on our spiritual journey.
The Five Mindfulness Trainings plant the seeds for the mindfulness practice we must nurture during our spiritual journey. I have discussed how all of the trainings consider the importance of conscious and compassionate consumption. When we water wholesome seeds in our store consciousness, we nourish our heart consciousness. Here we see the connectedness of consciousness, and it is in our heart consciousness that we find our true self.
When we choose to consume with compassion and mindfulness, we become closer to our true self. It may seem easy enough, but the truth is that most of us struggle with this everyday of our life. The struggle can be seen as we strive for freedom from suffering. We know that making choices about how we consume and can expand our consciousness. Yet we sometimes struggle to make the right choices; sometimes we don't know what the right choices are; and other times we may not know we have a choice. By committing ourselves to continual learning and mindfulness practice we can make mindful choices with greater ease.
In the supermarket we are faced with so many choices that the experience can seem overwhelming. We decide whether we will consume nourishing foods; but this is not the only choice we are faced with. We also decide how much money we are willing to spend for certain foods; how much time we will spend in preparing our food; how much thought we put into our choices. Some of us could actually learn something about ourselves and our values if we were able see ourselves shopping.
Do we rush down the isles carelessly filling our carts with everything on special. Or do we engage in voluntary simplicity as the second mindfulness training suggests, buying only what we need. Do we make ethical consumption choices?
Not long ago I became concerned that my consumption choices were careless. After considering how little I knew about so much of what I consumed, I decided I would change. I began by looking for ethical corporations and was soon left feeling lost in a pile of scattered information. It is easy to reflect upon my experience and see that this is all that could have come from such a scattered state of mind. But at the time, it wasn't so clear. We can become overwhelmed if we overload our consciousness with too much. This is why it is so important that we meditate.
From this clarity we can make choices that support ourselves, society, and the environment. Choosing to become vegetarian, we consider the first mindfulness training lessons on consumption. We can also buy organics and choose to buy our products locally. I've found the atmosphere of the farmer's markets and local stores such as Herb & Spice much friendlier and more enjoyable to shop at than big supermarkets. Though sometimes more expensive, I've found myself buying only what I need. Most importantly, I've also realized a fanatical attitude towards corporations, consumption, and judgments about others consumption will do no good for no one. Only from the clarity that comes from meditation can we act in a way that brings us closer to our true self.
Our store consciousness consumes what we consume. All that we feed those first three nutriments is consumed by our store consciousness; and because it is our store consciousness that drives us, we must always be conscious of what we consume. Still, our store consciousness contains more than we choose to consume, such as our karma. We must become consciously aware of the negative karma that pollutes our inner ecology. In doing so we can make decisions to not water seeds of suffering. Or we can go further. We can transform the seeds in our store consciousness. By acknowledging manas, the base of mind consciousness that is the root of our delusions of separation, we can move beyond our ego attachment and ignorance - into awakening. Meditation and mindfulness practice allow us to transform the seeds of store consciousness, and manas, so we can grow on our spiritual journey.
The Five Mindfulness Trainings plant the seeds for the mindfulness practice we must nurture during our spiritual journey. I have discussed how all of the trainings consider the importance of conscious and compassionate consumption. When we water wholesome seeds in our store consciousness, we nourish our heart consciousness. Here we see the connectedness of consciousness, and it is in our heart consciousness that we find our true self.
When we choose to consume with compassion and mindfulness, we become closer to our true self. It may seem easy enough, but the truth is that most of us struggle with this everyday of our life. The struggle can be seen as we strive for freedom from suffering. We know that making choices about how we consume and can expand our consciousness. Yet we sometimes struggle to make the right choices; sometimes we don't know what the right choices are; and other times we may not know we have a choice. By committing ourselves to continual learning and mindfulness practice we can make mindful choices with greater ease.
In the supermarket we are faced with so many choices that the experience can seem overwhelming. We decide whether we will consume nourishing foods; but this is not the only choice we are faced with. We also decide how much money we are willing to spend for certain foods; how much time we will spend in preparing our food; how much thought we put into our choices. Some of us could actually learn something about ourselves and our values if we were able see ourselves shopping.
Do we rush down the isles carelessly filling our carts with everything on special. Or do we engage in voluntary simplicity as the second mindfulness training suggests, buying only what we need. Do we make ethical consumption choices?
Not long ago I became concerned that my consumption choices were careless. After considering how little I knew about so much of what I consumed, I decided I would change. I began by looking for ethical corporations and was soon left feeling lost in a pile of scattered information. It is easy to reflect upon my experience and see that this is all that could have come from such a scattered state of mind. But at the time, it wasn't so clear. We can become overwhelmed if we overload our consciousness with too much. This is why it is so important that we meditate.
From this clarity we can make choices that support ourselves, society, and the environment. Choosing to become vegetarian, we consider the first mindfulness training lessons on consumption. We can also buy organics and choose to buy our products locally. I've found the atmosphere of the farmer's markets and local stores such as Herb & Spice much friendlier and more enjoyable to shop at than big supermarkets. Though sometimes more expensive, I've found myself buying only what I need. Most importantly, I've also realized a fanatical attitude towards corporations, consumption, and judgments about others consumption will do no good for no one. Only from the clarity that comes from meditation can we act in a way that brings us closer to our true self.
Friday, March 2, 2007
Conscious Consumption
Everyday we make choices. We decide when it's time to wake up. And, we decide if we will get up. Every choice we make reflects our state of mind. Too often we do not reflect upon our choices enough to truly understand the state of our self.
We continue making choices.
Whether or not we are consciously aware of it, each one concerns our consumption. Decisions about diet and activities; how time and money are spent; who we spend our time with; along with all that our lifestyle is built upon, all influences our well-being.
Consuming foods that nourish our bodies, nourish our minds, and this nourishment soothes our soul. By engaging in activities that cultivate compassion towards ourselves and others, we encourage the consumption of compassion. We can choose to be activists, volunteer our time, or offer charity to those in need. But in our actions we must be conscious of more than what we do. We must also be conscious of what we say and think. Knowing that words and thoughts are consumed, just as food, we must practice mindful speech while learning to refine our minds.
The Five Mindfulness Trainings
The Buddha's teachings advise us that it is the mind we must learn to master. By making a commitment to lifelong learning and increasing awareness, we welcome mindfulness practice into our life. The Five Mindfulness Trainings are guidelines for living and elevating not only our self, but the state of every being. Each training reminds us that it is our responsibility to raise consciousness and work for the well-being of others. This requires that we become conscious of our consumption. Because all beings are interconnected, each training addresses conscious consumption as a channel through which we can engage with society and environment; and lessen the suffering those are subjected to.
The first mindfulness training concerns our consumption of compassion. If we act with violence or support the violent actions of others, we are involved in the creation and consumption of suffering. We choose to suffer our consequences; or we make selfless choices to alleviate the suffering of others. We do this with compassion.
Generosity is the form of compassion that is the focus of the second mindfulness training. This training is about preventing the suffering caused by exploitation, social injustice, stealing, and oppression. We can do this by making ethical choices about consumption. And we can start by committing to a life of voluntary simplicity, deciding to consume less and share more.
In the third mindfulness training we look at sexual misconduct. At first, I only interpreted the obvious, avoid sexual misconduct and protect others from it. Monitoring the consumption of ideas, particularly those handed down from sex centered media, could help. But as I began to think about the sex industry as it reflects society, and as an expression of society, I began to understand how this reflects deeper frustrations. The inability to make sound sexual choices is a symptom, much like the sex industry is a symptom, of an underlying condition - our inability to express love. I believe this is as far as we must dig. By this I mean that determining why we cannot express love (ie my parents didn't love me; so and so did this; and society did that), would not be as beneficial as learning to transform ourselves now. Learning to love includes learning to love our self. We cannot love anyone the way they deserve to be loved, if we do not love ourselves the way we deserve to be loved. When we love ourselves, we respect ourselves, and do everything we can to foster and share that love.
We can share our love and compassion through deep listening as much as we can through speech. The fourth mindfulness training reminds us that our words are consumed by others, and so we must choose them wisely. Since a mind that does not judge or deceive, does not speak lies or condemn others; we must transform our mind through meditation.
The fifth mindfulness training focuses our awareness directly to the suffering caused by unmindful consumption. Here the consumption of food and toxins, such as alcohol and much of media, are addressed. One might consider how the previous trainings would indicate that we should only ingest items that preserve peace, however here our awareness is focused on the fact that all of our consumption is connected to the well-being of others. Though it may not seem obvious how another drink will harm anyone but ourselves, it will in fact harm our future generations and society at large. This brings us around to the lesson of all the mindfulness trainings: we must learn the love and compassion that frees ourselves and others from suffering.
Looking at the mindfulness trainings, we see the truth of interconnectedness. If we are indifferent to others suffering and surround ourselves with toxins, we consume toxins; we act and speak with toxicity; we develop toxic relationships with ourselves and others; and we spread suffering. But we can stop this suffering by practicing mindfulness. Minds are transformed through meditation, and it is from this clarity we can act with compassion. We do not need to wait for enlightenment to strike us in meditation. We can get out there now and be an example for the all world to see that everyone can be free of suffering.
The answer lies in consuming with compassion.
We continue making choices.
Whether or not we are consciously aware of it, each one concerns our consumption. Decisions about diet and activities; how time and money are spent; who we spend our time with; along with all that our lifestyle is built upon, all influences our well-being.
Consuming foods that nourish our bodies, nourish our minds, and this nourishment soothes our soul. By engaging in activities that cultivate compassion towards ourselves and others, we encourage the consumption of compassion. We can choose to be activists, volunteer our time, or offer charity to those in need. But in our actions we must be conscious of more than what we do. We must also be conscious of what we say and think. Knowing that words and thoughts are consumed, just as food, we must practice mindful speech while learning to refine our minds.
The Five Mindfulness Trainings
The Buddha's teachings advise us that it is the mind we must learn to master. By making a commitment to lifelong learning and increasing awareness, we welcome mindfulness practice into our life. The Five Mindfulness Trainings are guidelines for living and elevating not only our self, but the state of every being. Each training reminds us that it is our responsibility to raise consciousness and work for the well-being of others. This requires that we become conscious of our consumption. Because all beings are interconnected, each training addresses conscious consumption as a channel through which we can engage with society and environment; and lessen the suffering those are subjected to.
The first mindfulness training concerns our consumption of compassion. If we act with violence or support the violent actions of others, we are involved in the creation and consumption of suffering. We choose to suffer our consequences; or we make selfless choices to alleviate the suffering of others. We do this with compassion.
Generosity is the form of compassion that is the focus of the second mindfulness training. This training is about preventing the suffering caused by exploitation, social injustice, stealing, and oppression. We can do this by making ethical choices about consumption. And we can start by committing to a life of voluntary simplicity, deciding to consume less and share more.
In the third mindfulness training we look at sexual misconduct. At first, I only interpreted the obvious, avoid sexual misconduct and protect others from it. Monitoring the consumption of ideas, particularly those handed down from sex centered media, could help. But as I began to think about the sex industry as it reflects society, and as an expression of society, I began to understand how this reflects deeper frustrations. The inability to make sound sexual choices is a symptom, much like the sex industry is a symptom, of an underlying condition - our inability to express love. I believe this is as far as we must dig. By this I mean that determining why we cannot express love (ie my parents didn't love me; so and so did this; and society did that), would not be as beneficial as learning to transform ourselves now. Learning to love includes learning to love our self. We cannot love anyone the way they deserve to be loved, if we do not love ourselves the way we deserve to be loved. When we love ourselves, we respect ourselves, and do everything we can to foster and share that love.
We can share our love and compassion through deep listening as much as we can through speech. The fourth mindfulness training reminds us that our words are consumed by others, and so we must choose them wisely. Since a mind that does not judge or deceive, does not speak lies or condemn others; we must transform our mind through meditation.
The fifth mindfulness training focuses our awareness directly to the suffering caused by unmindful consumption. Here the consumption of food and toxins, such as alcohol and much of media, are addressed. One might consider how the previous trainings would indicate that we should only ingest items that preserve peace, however here our awareness is focused on the fact that all of our consumption is connected to the well-being of others. Though it may not seem obvious how another drink will harm anyone but ourselves, it will in fact harm our future generations and society at large. This brings us around to the lesson of all the mindfulness trainings: we must learn the love and compassion that frees ourselves and others from suffering.
Looking at the mindfulness trainings, we see the truth of interconnectedness. If we are indifferent to others suffering and surround ourselves with toxins, we consume toxins; we act and speak with toxicity; we develop toxic relationships with ourselves and others; and we spread suffering. But we can stop this suffering by practicing mindfulness. Minds are transformed through meditation, and it is from this clarity we can act with compassion. We do not need to wait for enlightenment to strike us in meditation. We can get out there now and be an example for the all world to see that everyone can be free of suffering.
The answer lies in consuming with compassion.
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