Few are not aware of impending envinromental crisis but there seems little we can do. Does fear about this crisis change things? Amidst increasing awareness of environmental concerns the Green Party didn't do so well in recent elections. It seems that short term economic concerns are more pressing on peoples minds than the future of the planet.
Our economy is based on consumerism. We are continually told that we need the latest gadget. We have come to believe our happiness is dependent on the things we can buy. This desire for goods we buy to make us happier drives economic growth. More must be spent on "shopping therapy" than any other alternative or complementary therapy. But does it make us happy? It certainly isn't good for the environment even if it's good for the economy.
Psychologists are confirming that meditation effects the way we think and the way we behave. One of the main things we discover when de develop a meditation practice is that happiness doesn't come from things we want; it comes from getting to know ourselves. Happiness is something that is in us, it isn't something we can get from things.
Natually, finding this out will result in wanting things less and driving ourselves to earn enough to buy the things we want. This may not be so good for the economy but it will help reduce the resources our society consumes.
I don't think fear of environmental or economic crisis is going to do much for us in the long run. Finding happiness within is the way to save the world.
Norbu
Few are not aware of impending envinromental crisis but there seems little we can do. Does fear about this crisis change things? Amidst increasing awareness of environmental concerns the Green Party didn't do so well in recent elections. It seems that short term economic concerns are more pressing on peoples minds than the future of the planet.
Our economy is based on consumerism. We are continually told that we need the latest gadget. We have come to believe our happiness is dependent on the things we can buy. This desire for goods we buy to make us happier drives economic growth. More must be spent on "shopping therapy" than any other alternative or complementary therapy. But does it make us happy? It certainly isn't good for the environment even if it's good for the economy.
Psychologists are confirming that meditation effects the way we think and the way we behave. One of the main things we discover when de develop a meditation practice is that happiness doesn't come from things we want; it comes from getting to know ourselves. Happiness is something that is in us, it isn't something we can get from things.
Natually, finding this out will result in wanting things less and driving ourselves to earn enough to buy the things we want. This may not be so good for the economy but it will help reduce the resources our society consumes.
I don't think fear of environmental or economic crisis is going to do much for us in the long run. Finding happiness within is the way to save the world.
Norbu
Hi Norbu...
It certainly makes sense to meditate and calm the mind...making us more aware that in reality we need nothing more than the bare essentials of food, water clothing and rest to keep us alive....but that wouldn't be much of an existence now, would it ?
Most humans need something to look forward to. Some sort of light at the end of their long black tunnel of life... We all need a dream to fulfill. don't we ?
If we all lived like monks the world would not exist as we know it, and there would be some other species or lifeform at the head of the food chain.
I don't think us trying to be green or environmentally friendly will change our future but it might delay it a little while.
I personally live for today and let the future do as it will.
peace and love
If we all lived like monks the world would not exist as we know it, and there would be some other species or lifeform at the head of the food chain.
Hi Oakapple,
I'm not suggesting we should all live like monks. I'm not suggesting any of us should live like monks in fact. What I am suggesting is that we need much less than we want and finding out that wanting just brings more wanting helps us to want less and be more happy with what we need. As well as being more able to work together to make the world a better place.
Norbu
Thanks Norbu.
I think it makes sense to meditate daily. It helps to bring balance to our busy lives.
Some times it helps if we take ourselves out of our normal environment to practice meditation ....
I use different techniques to achieve this balance.....May I ask what techniques you use ?
eg; chanting singing walking sitting still...and do you use vibration and sound to help you focus ?
Natually, finding this out will result in wanting things less and driving ourselves to earn enough to buy the things we want. This may not be so good for the economy but it will help reduce the resources our society consumes.
I have just let this thread seep into my consciousness at a time of great physical tiredness and the thought that immediately surfaced is that actually the problem facing us is that there are just too many people on the planet. And although we can of course all function without so much stuff, what about the people whose living depends on making the stuff in the first place? And those who sell the stuff? Our not wanting or needing to buy the stuff is going to put these people on the breadline. It becomes increasingly apparent that there is a cataclysm waiting to happen to reduce our numbers to manageable levels once again so that those who survive can then get on with the business of living consciously and with awareness and without the desire for 'stuff'. 2012 may not just be empty myth after all. But don't worry, everyone, just stay calm and carry on. All shall be well.
xxx
I have to agree with Oakie about letting the future take care of it's self. I don't have any plans or aims in life. I am content with the way things are. No doubt if I thought long and hard I would want lots of things and maybe sorry for missed opportunities but that would be a pointless waste of my time. I do try and meditate and have just bought a new guided cd as I find meditating on my own difficult. We can but do our best as we pass through this existence.
Thanks Norbu.
I think it makes sense to meditate daily. It helps to bring balance to our busy lives.
Some times it helps if we take ourselves out of our normal environment to practice meditation ....
I use different techniques to achieve this balance.....May I ask what techniques you use ?
eg; chanting singing walking sitting still...and do you use vibration and sound to help you focus ?
Probably my most favourite meditation practice at the moment is just lying in bed on my back dissolving into my body. Then there is sitting. This is a standard type vipassana meditation practice, most of the time the focus of attention is drawn to bodily sensations. Thinking settles and the odd thought may come and go or are not present at all - often experiencing feelings of presence and well-being sometimes a deep still aguish becomes the focus of attention. Then just walking to the shops, driving etc with little thinking, just coming back to the sensory experince and breath.
It is increasingly being established that meditation practice has wide benefits. It's not that all the elements of meditation practice are not normal human behaviour, it's just that we get caught up in our thoughts processes, problem solving, crystalizing fears, imagining wants and acting out rather than just being with the present moment to moment stream of awareness that naturally transforms our being, being connected to our bodies (embodied) and our environments including others.
Many problems are solved by not solving them. Many desires are fulfilled by not objectifying them. Many fears are mirages supported by conceptual delusions.
In an open state, free of controlling thinking and rumination, we are much more able to see solutions emerge and being open to new opportunities as opposed to being trapped in cylces of grasping, limiting, destructive behaviours that end up ruining our own lives and the planet. Meditation (practicing not to get caught up in controlling thinking and rumination) brings release from limited thinking, brings internal ease and brings the potential for society to solve problems This includes the fear of cataclism and cataclism itself.
There were several reports of animals leaving low lying coastal land before the tsunami that struck the Indian ocean a few years ago. Have we not also got the capacity of animals if we were open to the more subtle aspects of being that we cut ourselves off from by being trapped in our imaginations?
Sunanda, I am sure that things are changing and that doom based on the proposition that there are too many people is false. Resources are there to support more than we can now support. There is just a need for a shift in the way we think about them (or not think about them) and manage them (or not manage them); and it is a shift that I firmly believe is emerging. And key to this shift is an increasing scientific understanding of the way in which our minds work and how meditation effects our minds and our behaviour and our bodies... and I believe this will change society and the structure of our economic to become more resource efficient and more equitable at an exponential rate.
Norbu
Sunanda, I am sure that things are changing and that doom based on the proposition that there are too many people is false. Resources are there to support more than we can now support. There is just a need for a shift in the way we think about them (or not think about them) and manage them (or not manage them); and it is a shift that I firmly believe is emerging. And key to this shift is an increasing scientific understanding of the way in which our minds work and how meditation effects our minds and our behaviour and our bodies... and I believe this will change society and the structure of our economic to become more resource efficient and more equitable at an exponential rate.
I dunno, Norbu. It just seems to me that it's going to take some kind of major shift to change enough people over to 'our' way....Mind you, I don't see 'doom' ahead - just the kind of paradigm shift that is needed. But in the meantime, all is well and there is nothing to fear. My meditation practice is not established...but threads like this remind me that it would be beneficial to do more.
I don't think fear of environmental or economic crisis is going to do much for us in the long run. Finding happiness within is the way to save the world.
I believe fear of anything is the opposite of love. I agree about finding happiness from within joy comes from having an open, loving heart. It can ripple out like a drop in the ocean. You only have to walk down the street and smile at someone and see how willing people are to respond to a friendly gesture.
Binah
x
I think that the economical crisis has been a wake up call to many people (with people I mean big coorperations, politicians, financial institutions and individuals). The world is definetly shifting and the crisis has raised the awareness basic needs and a "simpler" life e.g. the sudden boom of allottments is one example that springs into my mind. People who are selling and trading Nat Gas right now for example will probably sell and trade solar engery in a few years time to supply every household to have warm water. And there are other alternative energies being researched which will come our way, hopefully, soon. Again this is just an example of how I see things shifting. However, this applies mainly to us the industrialised world.
Unfortunatley, the developing new countries I think are going in the opposite direction. It is, however, as most of the coorperations investing into countries like China, India etc. building production sites etc. their "our" responsibility to make sure mistakes are not repeated and environmentally friendly businesses and production sites are build. The problem is though, that environmentally friendly productions are more expensive then conventional ones and HSSE rules in developing countries are not as strict as in Europe and US, yet. It only remains us to hope that someone will enlighten these big boys.
However, having said all that I agree with Norbu that meditating and/or praying has lots of benefits for humankind in general. Be it that people are more at peace with themselves = less violence, less crimes, less alcohol and drug consumption, kinder to each other etc. etc. the list could go on and on. And I think that more and more people are going into that direction and are looking for a belief, a religion or are becoming more spiritual.
Love & Light
Zimba
I'm not too sure that finding happiness within could present a final solution to the problems that the human race is facing on this planet. We do not have a natural predator to regulate our numbers as does the animal world. We can regulate ourselves with war, but this is contrary to our spiritual teachings. The ideal solution would be for migration to other planets but as we are nowhere ready for this, IMO we will just have to bumble on with our fingers crossed.
I'm not too sure that finding happiness within could present a final solution to the problems that the human race is facing on this planet. We do not have a natural predator to regulate our numbers as does the animal world. We can regulate ourselves with war, but this is contrary to our spiritual teachings. The ideal solution would be for migration to other planets but as we are nowhere ready for this, IMO we will just have to bumble on with our fingers crossed.
Homo sapiens has an ability that other species do not have. Homo sapiens, as the name we have given our species implies, has the ability to develop knowledge; and there is no limit to this. Wisdom is true knowing. It is a knowledge that goes beyond the formulations of the thinking mind and part of this knowledge is a knowledge that goes beyond the constraints of the evolutionary forces, that we have come to understand, that have shaped life on this planet. You cannot predict what is possible from a narrow understanding of what has passed - linear predictions could never predict more than has previously emerged - there are more wonder that will emerge as we master our own minds.
Norbu
Homo sapiens has an ability that other species do not have. Homo sapiens, as the name we have given our species implies, has the ability to develop knowledge; and there is no limit to this. Wisdom is true knowing. It is a knowledge that goes beyond the formulations of the thinking mind and part of this knowledge is a knowledge that goes beyond the constraints of the evolutionary forces, that we have come to understand, that have shaped life on this planet. You cannot predict what is possible from a narrow understanding of what has passed - linear predictions could never predict more than has previously emerged - there are more wonder that will emerge as we master our own minds.
Norbu
Absolutely, Unfortunately I believe that there will always be people like Hitler, Stalin, Genghis Khan etc who will put their own personal goals before mankind's.
I hope you don't mind me using this quote from you to enter in here, as I could have used a number of interesting quotes:
I'm not too sure that finding happiness within could present a final solution to the problems that the human race is facing on this planet.
on that - lol, sorry, but some of my uppercase has stopped working and my posts will be that way for a while - I'd have to comment that it's not about "happiness" changing the world. I agree, that would not do the job. But it's about ourselves finding the God within us - that would change the world. So IMHo it does start at the level of the individual. However else would it ever happen? of course, it's individuals - us - who must step up the spiritual and practical ladder - however else would there be any change? By an imposed Marxist revolution? I think not!
I must also agree with a couple of others: in order to fulfill my Destiny and do all that I can for the world, though my "carbon footprint" is smaller than almost anyone's, I don't hold back. I feel it's more important to be positively active than to worry too much about the fact I have caught a plane - 😮 - or not put a banana skin into the right box! 😮
Just one final, personal point? meditation daily is great: I have done it spontaneously, from youth, before I had even read the word or known any books on it. But IMHo silent meditation doesn't much change the world. It's the spoken word - in chants, mantras, and decrees and affirmations - that has the power to "shake" atoms and bring them into conformity. The power of sound through the Spoken Word is simply huge when visualisation is combined with it.
V
I'm not too sure that finding happiness within could present a final solution to the problems that the human race is facing on this planet. We do not have a natural predator to regulate our numbers as does the animal world.
No natural predator but man himself has done a good job at annihalating millions in two world wars last century. Another could have unimaginable losses. We all need to work on our own stuff and meditation is a good way of doing this.
I agree with V about mantras, sound, chanting and affirmation being a very powerful and ancient part of meditation ritual.
Binah
x
To develop this discussion:
Meditation, as I understand, is a word that describes practices that develop various natural processes of the mind, their mastery and congruence.
These key elements of mind that are engaged and developed are probably: awareness; attention (focus); motivation (now termed conation); meta-awareness (the knowing of these aspects of mind).
In my opinion there are other practices that also develop or channel these aspects of mind, including mantra practice, philosophical contemplation, prayer and ritual etc.
"Mind" itself, is without limit. Knowledge of it is our task. Mastery of it brings power to effect change; "dominion."
Norbu
Hi Norbu,
I'm hardly adverse to meditation. It seems to be my natural way of being for many hours of the day. 🙂
All the same, since the age of 22 I've been a student of how to use the Spoken Word, and all the philosophy and belief behind that.
In a nutshell, the thinking is that meditation and mantras, affirmations, decrees, etc., are all wonderful for the individual doing them, but it's only when the Spoken Word is used that change upon the exterior world is far more powerfully effected. It goes back to the opening hint in Genesis: "In the beginning was the word..." - and from that Word is effected the Creation.
Sound "shakes" atoms into the form of your visualisation. It's a force that emanates from your throat chakra, as does not happen in silent meditation. It's why I popped in to mention it. 🙂 Sound - the voice, used in what some call "White Magic" is just incredibly powerful as a way to effect change in the exterior world.
V
No natural predator but man himself has done a good job at annihalating millions in two world wars last century. Another could have unimaginable losses. We all need to work on our own stuff and meditation is a good way of doing this.
I agree with V about mantras, sound, chanting and affirmation being a very powerful and ancient part of meditation ritual.
Binah
x
As abhorrent as it is, all those millions have all been replaced, and more.
I personally do not believe man can destroy himself or this planet.
He can reduce the numbers either by accident or by design but the final
outcome will remain unchanged. This is our classroom and will remain so
until we are ready to progress further.
Sound "shakes" atoms into the form of your visualisation. It's a force that emanates from your throat chakra, as does not happen in silent meditation. It's why I popped in to mention it. 🙂 Sound - the voice, used in what some call "White Magic" is just incredibly powerful as a way to effect change in the exterior world.
Doesn't it depend who is speaking? What is it that makes the difference between the utterance of an accomplished practitioner and an neophyte?
It is commonly said, that what is said (the words) is only 8% of what is communicated. Of course there are things like tone of voice intonation, facial expression, mannerisms, quality expressed in movement, eye contact and how this all resonates, person to person. There is also the whole music of all these complex factors that make up communication. Perhaps there are other things too, more subtle things, as heart speaks to heart.
Norbu
An interesting thread and responses. My personal view is that meditation and inner transformation is necessary. I just wish science could catch up to discover its effects. My understanding is that those who meditate and embark on inner journey and transformation through meditation let off positive energy. Unfortunately the world is shrouded with people of very material and self worth mindsets that creative negative energy. The trouble will come with more and more negative and positive energies colliding on a more subtle level that will create a catastrophy everywhere
:o(
The trouble will come with more and more negative and positive energies colliding on a more subtle level that will create a catastrophy everywhere
:o(
Hi Dhiren,
There are many approaches to meditation but in the end I believe that we need to recognise that there is no such thing as a "negative" energy. We may begin by becoming aware of our bodies, our feelings and our thoughts but not judging them, developing a non-judgemental distance from these aspects of our experience. We may come back to the breath again and again and again. In time we don't see that some feelings are bad and some feelings are good. We become familiar with them but we don't get drawn into them and habits of thinking that fuel them.
We see things going on around us. Sometimes we see cruelty and injustice. Sometimes we see beauty and courage perhaps. Then the meditator brings their practice to their feelings and thoughts that arise seeing these things around them - Non-judgment to our feelings thoughts that arise as a result of witnessing things in the world around us. With this we learn to have compassion for the suffering of others - those that hurt and those that are hurt; those that abuse and those that are abused.
There is no clash - there is just the compassionate knowing of our experience. This effects others in so far as we can embody it in our own lives. In the end we are all interconnected and there is not one of who suffers alone; both those who cause harm and those who are harmed. Seeing that suffering within us we can transforming our experience into unconditional compassion. And, in doing this we work for the benefit of all in unknowably subtle ways.
This may be the work of eternity but this is just the way it is, it seems to me.
Norbu
I say pray to God and forget saving the planet. The idea that man alone can somehow change the environment I find to be humanistic and actually very arrogant. I'm not saying don't recycle or don't take basic steps to help the environment, but some of the drastic measures proposed are ridiculous. Some environmental policies can actually spur on the economic crisis. More and more scientists continue to come out with more questions about global warming, and especially about whether man is actually causing it.
Have you ever tried meditation, ace?
I say pray to God and forget saving the planet. The idea that man alone can somehow change the environment I find to be humanistic and actually very arrogant. I'm not saying don't recycle or don't take basic steps to help the environment, but some of the drastic measures proposed are ridiculous. Some environmental policies can actually spur on the economic crisis. More and more scientists continue to come out with more questions about global warming, and especially about whether man is actually causing it.
Dear ace,
There are many who have have pleaded with a distant almighty for deliverance and not been spared. Why is that? Would you suggest we adopt this approach to saving the world as well as our own souls?
Perhaps "prayer" is more a coming to know the deepest part of our being? Did not God create man in his own image?
Jesus said: "If you love me keep my commandments." What were his commanandments? "Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and love thy neighbour as thyself."
Jesus denounces those that would just take his name as a passport to salvation when he said: "there will be those who come to me in the last days and say Lord, Lord. I will say to them: I know thee not."
Jesus also instructs us to pray in secret. For sure, there will be periods of searching and questioning, but in the final count, prayer comes from contemplation and meditation that leads to a profound the understanding that "God is Love."
If that is what you mean by prayer I agree that prayer is the answer.
Norbu