“Overdeveloped Nations” — Consciousness for a Simpler LIfe

Thich Nhat Hanh talks about “overdeveloped nations.”  I love the concept!  Most of us in the US have so much and take so much for granted.  We own our home and have a place we can retreat to in the mountains or at the shore.  We have so much food that we are willing to ingest junk.  Our closets keep on getting bigger to hold all the clothes.  Two cars for a DINK family really isn’t enough.  Pollution is on the rise because we need MORE – energy, fuel, waste. 

When such incredible wealth is the norm, it is hard to see why we shouldn’t have it.  But I have been to India where whole families live in mud houses not much larger than my living room.  I have eaten delicious simple food, and equally, some truly scary meals in “non-tourist” inns and restaurants in less developed parts of Asia and Central America. 

It is important to look at the emotions that an overabundance of things can bring – and very rarely are they feelings of happiness and gratitude.  It is more concern about keeping what we have, protecting ourselves, packed days of seeing and being seen in the right places to amass MORE – power, fame, wealth. 

I AM grateful that I live well, but I had more fun when I was in my 20s and had very little.  I had more time for friends.  We had incredible communal meals and parties.  We were more generous and the gifts meant more – even when they were less extravagant.  A remnant of my 20s is my enthusiasm for pot lucks – or at least sharing in the preparation of a meal.  It brings us closer together when we eat.  

“Overdeveloped nations.”  An opportunity for each of us to make our mark by returning to a simpler life one step at a time – a more fuel efficient car, less packaging on the products we buy, recyclable containers.  The mere consciousness of being “overdeveloped” is a step in the right direction and I am grateful for that.

It’s Not About Me

No clouds today. The sun creeps up slowly with a brightening halo to the mountains. Yesterday I learned lessons about blame. I have disconnected with a group that I was working with because their objectives and mine could not be reconciled. I spoke with the leader and it was clear that no one was looking for a scapegoat – just a learning. We will all be the better for going through the process. Later I spoke to a client who had been really abrupt and abusive for several days. I worked at being cheerful and we had a good meeting. Then I asked what had happened and got a vague answer, but one that indicated that he had been being pulled too many ways at once – i.e., it wasn’t about me. That was good too. It affirmed that I was just in the way, not the cause, and I didn’t need to say how hard being a target had been.

Peacefulness, mindfulness. Lessons that are sinking in this week. We are blessed to have access to so many ways to walk with Spirit to draw from in finding our paths. I do not believe that I will ever call myself a “Buddhist”, but it is so wonderful to have access to such simple ways of being in the now and present for the act of living.

The Opiate of Hope . . .

We are approaching the vernal equinox – the budding of life that is spring.  Shiny and clean, it offers hope for a better year – or an “even better” year.  However, the present moment is eternal, and hope may keep me from achieving the best present moment.  Thich Nhat Hahn wrote an essay called “Hope is an Obstacle” in which he pointed out that if hope is used to shelve the living of the present moment by looking to the future for reward, hope does not help us live well in the present moment.

It is easy to use hope as an opiate, and not a spiritual calling.  As I sit here watching the sunrise with its blend of blues, greys, reds and pinks, each second of the sunrise is different.  When I look down at my paper, I miss a second of the sunrise that will never be repeated in the same way.  My choice is to watch, to write, to achieve the reward of the minute.  However, if I spend my time writing about sunrises and miss the present one because I am fantasizing about the wonderful ones to come, precious moments are lost. 

I live in hope and optimism that my good is sustained, but I focus on living in the present, appreciating the good that is here.  A small cloud is climbing over the mountains in front of the majestic backdrop of the sky.  It is closer and more fragile than its sister and brother clouds.  If I had been writing and not looking, I would have missed it.  And now it is gone. How enlivening the present moment is.

 

A New Day, A New Start

The miracle of snow blankets the area – falling gently and persistently for more than 5 hours, it is a beautiful, sticky snow that sticks to leaves and pine needles and clings to the sides of tress to show which way the wind was blowing.  It is a clean slate on which to write the day.

Each day can be like that for me.  The errors and omissions of the previous day are not necessarily gone, and I take responsibility for them, but I do not have to let them get in the way of making this day what I want it to be. 

There is a saying that failure is the stepping stone to success.  If you haven’t “failed” at something, you haven’t explored enough options to know how to really succeed.  As I examine my spiritual life, I see the truth in this.  When I vow to live more in the now, or to stop doing some unconstructive behavior, and I don’t succeed 100%, I have learned one more way on how NOT to achieve my goal. 

Being gentle with myself does not mean condoning irresponsible behavior, but it does mean not beating myself up when I am less than perfect.  I am responsible for what I have done and what I have done may impact what I am able to do in the future, but nothing is stopping me from learning, adjusting, and starting with that clean slate on which to write my plans, hopes and dreams each beautiful and precious day.

On Anger

Incredible clouds this morning.  The world started off pewter-gray with powerful roiling clouds that were swept eastward into the mountains where they piled up and headed down towards the valley.  Blue sky and lighter clouds emerged, and now the sun is rising from behind the remaining clouds to provide us with a glorious day. 

 

Thich Nhat Hanh is writing about anger today.  Are the clouds a metaphor?  Anger is a necessary emotion simply because it “is”.  One can argue that even when it spills over and is destructive, like lava flowing from a volcano, it, like the lava, provides new opportunities for growth and regeneration.  However, Thich Nhat Hanh feels that it needs to be contained, observed, and used as an inner crucible to bring about transformation.  Cooking potatoes in a lidded pot, as it were. 

 

As I get older, I find that I am aware of my anger more often.  I take the time to observe what generates the emotion and how the situation can be resolved.  When I wait a few moments before reacting to it, it transforms into something constructive.  As I observe it, it transforms and I can understand my complicity in what causes the anger – how I helped bring about the situation.  That helps with the resolution and I am a stronger and calmer person.

 

What Is Is

08Unity School of Christianity’s “Daily Word” talked today about reciprocity as a divine law – part of the laws of attraction and abundance.  Interesting how this fits in to my recent ponderings on ethics.  Perhaps the Golden Rule is at the heart of all things ethical.  However, there is still that cultural thing – do different cultures want different things in terms of respect, remuneration, compassion, etc.?  The answer, of course, is yes.  Different things are valued and rewarded, and when we run smack against another culture is when we have the greatest challenge in acting with integrity and reciprocating appropriately. 

 

The clue, of course, is to look past the culture and into the soul of the person I am interacting with.  It works well and provides a blessing to both of us.  How do we apply this globally today with wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and genocide in Africa? I don’t know.  One step at a time?  One day at a time?  We do what we can do, and the recognition of the soul consciousness of even our adversaries will help us to make the world a better place for all of us.

 

The Buddha asks us to practice non-judgement.  What is, is.  This is more than that.  What is, is, and I am looking into the soul of the other and acting from that soul recognition level.

Situational Ethics

A mist shrouds the valley here, just as it shrouded Tampa when we flew out last night.  The world encased in cottony softness.  A very different look and feel from the sharp clarity of a clear high desert day.

My angel cards read:  Integrity; Harmony; Honesty.  It is a good day to sit back and allow these thoughts to sink it.  Since the cold hard light of the ‘50s when everything was pretty much black and white, right or wrong, we in the US, at least, have seen things blur.  Situational ethics; if it feels good do it; righteous anger.  It makes it difficult to relate when there is no common base from which to execute those three wonderful values. 

Once when I was  a lot younger and living in Oakland.  I was thrown out of a black-owned convenience store because I was the wrong color.  I didn’t care if the owners were black, which, or purple; I needed to pick up something on my way home from work.  But the owner was exhibiting “righteous anger” that justified rude and threatening behavior.  

Situational ethics: does or doesn’t “Thou Shalt not Kill” provide an exclusion for self defense?  Or protection of property? 

If it feels good, do it:  Does that include driving while incapacitated, shop lifting, calling in sick because something more interesting is going on?

When you mix together different cultures, it becomes even harder.  Different backgrounds bring different takes on what is integrity and honesty, not to mention what is harmony. 

Today I will be the best that I can be. I will try to hold fast to the Golden Rule:  do unto others what you would have them do unto you.  I will remember that the best I can do is to behave towards others in a manner that is respectful without compromising my own self respect.  And I will expect that honesty and integrity and harmony wil be the result.

The sun is coming up through the clouds.  Shooting white rays into the sky and raising expectations with a pure white section of cloud glowing from behind its darker brothers.  Above this shiny satiny display, the sky is pure blue.  The blessing of purpose behind the clouds.

Vive la Difference!

Vive la difference.  I went to visit a household yesterday that was very different from mine.  We ate dinner 3 hours earlier, it was vegetarian, there was no wine, there were three very bright and well behaved children sitting across the table and participating in the conversation.  It started off rather alarming because I was so unused to it.  However, as we talked, I discovered more and more things in common – and then more and more things that were fascinating that I knew nothing or very little about.  I came away very happy with the evening and looking forward to seeing the family more.

 

The analogy, of course, extends to the world at large where there are considerably more variations in beliefs and behavior.  It is so easy to judge.  And if not judging, it is easy to ignore, pass up, not participate in differences.  We are not all alike, and those places where we rub up against other cultures and beliefs are not always comfortable. The question is:  can we interact in non-judgemental ways?  Can we give each other the space to be different and explain the difference?  The end result might be continued disagreement, but it equally may be more tolerance. 

 

I recently finished an essay on gender equality and democracy in Mongolia.  There is a vibrant, messy, fascinating version of democracy in that beautiful and courageous country.  One of the dominant parties is avowedly communist, which makes sense given the country’s 20^th century history.  They make choices and accommodations that would be unlikely to work in the US, but the country is finding its own way and the people are passionate.  The blessing is to see and know those people within their own context and to understand how well the system is working for them – without threatening those who might choose different government in their own countries and cultures.

 

The differences in the world are delightful, and when I can look into those differences with compassion, interest and lack of fear, I realize how truly and richly we are blessed in our diversity.

The Value of Living in Minutes

The light is peeking over the mountains and I am ready for a new day.  I learned a wonderful thing yesterday from a friend.  I was feeling harassed about something – a silly incident.  She told me something that was happening in her life that was much more disturbing – and she was able to tell it simply and move on.  I asked her how she did it and she said that someone had taught her to measure her life in minutes, not months or years.  When you measure your life in minutes, each minute becomes more precious – and it is not worth giving someone power over that minute by absorbing something ugly. 

This is, of course, universal truth.  Most religions I am aware of have something about turning aside anger, forgiveness for your sake if not for the sake of the transgressor, etc.  It just takes the tiny thing that turns a switch for you – or for me. 

I have been watching myself for almost 24 hours, and things have changed.  They will stay changed so long as I remember this lesson.  How wonderful the mind is and how blessed we are when we learn to give it the same strengthening and discipline that we provide to other areas of our lives.

Instead of remembering slights and hassles, I spend my time in peace and prosperous pursuits.

Patience

Why Passion and Patience?

I have been meditating for more than 30 years, and subscribe to several meditation newsletters — The Daily Guru, and The Universe ). Great thoughts, but no opportunity for interaction. I plan to post at least 5 days per week with thoughts about what is happening in my world and open the opportunity for comment from my fellow travelers through the experience called life.

There is a wonderful posting that someone sent me yesterday that puts the things that clamor for our attention in perspective called ShiftHappens. There is so much going on and so many things to learn, see, and do, that it takes more and more effort on my part to just sit with myself and get back to what is really important.

Perhaps you feel the same.  I left California a number of years ago for the enchantment of the Southwestern desert.  Instead of cars and houses, I see the greenbelt of a river, a glorious mountain range, and a huge, huge sky that is always dynamic.  It gives me perspective in which to explore my passions and my patience.

I invite you to sit back with me for awhile and think about the spark that makes us human, the spark that gives us life, the great spiritual undercurrent to life that unites us all when we let it.

Patience.