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Written by: Kamran Mofid

Published: 22 February 2019

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“We are the first generation to know we are destroying our planet and the last one that can do anything about it.”- World Wildlife Fund

Saving the Web of Life: The Time is now to Tune into Peace, Love  and Wisdom with a Spiritual Revolution

Falling back in love with Mother Earth and not Economic Models will Save the World

We are the seeds of the future. We are the pillars of the better world we are all hoping for. The human family, indeed, the entire web of life,  is going through some very chaotic times now.

The current dominant economic model of neo-liberalism has been one of  materialism, consumerism, individualism, conquest, greed, militarism, war, injustice, inequality, violence and values-less thinking; everything goes, as long as it makes money and profit for the 1%.

That paradigm is collapsing now, mindsets are shifting. Attitudes are changing. We are shifting away from the mechanistic world view, devoid of any humanity or spirituality,  to a holistic, ecological view. Thus, we can now all be a part of something new that is more in tune with the ways of Nature, more balanced, wholesome, compassionate, creative, cooperative, giving, sharing, caring, loving and wise.

All in all, despite many bad and ugly things happening all around us, we must also recognise that there are so many goodness,  beauty and love in this world.

In short, in the wise words of the Persian sage, poet and philosopher of love, Hafez, we must remain positive and hopeful: ‘'Don't Despair Walk On'

With this in mind, below, I offer you the following for your reflection. Hope you may find it of interest and useful.

We are the Ones

We Have Been Waiting For

Thich Nhat Hanh: Be Beautiful, Be Yourself

Photo: goodreads.com

‘Beyond environment: falling back in love with Mother Earth’

Yes, indeed, words of wisdom, love and beauty, are timeless.

In an interview with Jo Confino  for the Guardian Professional Network in 2012, Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh explains why mindfulness and a spiritual revolution rather than economics is needed to protect nature and limit climate change.*

"We have constructed a system we can't control. It imposes itself on us, and we become its slaves and victims.

"We have created a society in which the rich become richer and the poor become poorer, and in which we are so caught up in our own immediate problems that we cannot afford to be aware of what is going on with the rest of the human family or our planet Earth.

"In my mind I see a group of chickens in a cage disputing over a few seeds of grain, unaware that in a few hours they will all be killed."-Thich Nhat Hanh

Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh says a spiritual revolution is needed if we are going to confront the environmental challenges that face us. Photo:balancedachievement.com

‘Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh has been practising meditation and mindfulness for 70 years and radiates an extraordinary sense of calm and peace. This is a man who on a fundamental level walks his talk, and whom Buddhists revere as a Bodhisattva; seeking the highest level of being in order to help others.

Ever since being caught up in the horrors of the Vietnam war, the 86-year-old monk has committed his life to reconciling conflict and in 1967 Martin Luther King nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize, saying "his ideas for peace, if applied, would build a monument to ecumenism, to world brotherhood, to humanity."

So it seems only natural that in recent years he has turned his attention towards not only addressing peoples' disharmonious relationships with each other, but also with the planet on which all our lives depend.

Thay, as he is known to his many thousands of followers, sees the lack of meaning and connection in peoples' lives as being the cause of our addiction to consumerism and that it is vital we recognise and respond to the stress we are putting on Earth if civilisation is to survive.

What Buddhism offers, he says, is the recognition that we all suffer and the way to overcome that pain is to directly confront it, rather than seeking to hide or bypass it through our obsession with shopping, entertainment, work or the beautification of our bodies. The craving for fame, wealth, power and sex serves to create only the illusion of happiness and ends up exacerbating feelings of disconnection and emptiness.

Small is Beautiful: The Wisdom of E.F. Schumacher and Buddhist Economics

Thay refers to a billionaire chief executive of one of America's largest companies, who came to one of his meditation courses and talked of his suffering, worries and doubts, of thinking everyone was coming to take advantage of him and that he had no friends.

In an interview at his home and retreat centre in Plum Village, near Bordeaux, Thay outlines how a spiritual revolution is needed if we are going to confront the multitude of environmental challenges.

While many experts point to the enormous complexity and difficulty in addressing issues ranging from the destruction of ecosystems to the loss of millions of species, Thay sees a Gordian Knot that needs slicing through with a single strike of a sharp blade.

Move beyond concept of the "environment"

He believes we need to move beyond talking about the environment, as this leads people to experience themselves and Earth as two separate entities and to see the planet in terms only of what it can do for them.

Change is possible only if there is a recognition that people and planet are ultimately one and the same.

"You carry Mother Earth within you," says Thay. "She is not outside of you. Mother Earth is not just your environment.

"In that insight of inter-being, it is possible to have real communication with the Earth, which is the highest form of prayer. In that kind of relationship you have enough love, strength and awakening in order to change your life.

"Changing is not just changing the things outside of us. First of all we need the right view that transcends all notions including of being and non-being, creator and creature, mind and spirit. That kind of insight is crucial for transformation and healing.

"Fear, separation, hate and anger come from the wrong view that you and the earth are two separate entities, the Earth is only the environment. You are in the centre and you want to do something for the Earth in order for you to survive. That is a dualistic way of seeing.

"So to breathe in and be aware of your body and look deeply into it and realise you are the Earth and your consciousness is also the consciousness of the earth. Not to cut the tree not to pollute the water, that is not enough."

Putting an economic value on nature is not enough

Thay, who will this spring be in the UK to lead a five-day retreat as well as a mindfulness in education conference, says the current vogue in economic and business circles that the best way to protect the planet is by putting an economic value on nature is akin to putting a plaster on a gaping wound.

"I don't think it will work," he says. "We need a real awakening, enlightenment, to change our way of thinking and seeing things."

Rather than placing a price tag of our forests and coral reefs, Thay says change will happen on a fundamental level only if we fall back in love with the planet: "The Earth cannot be described either by the notion of matter or mind, which are just ideas, two faces of the same reality. That pine tree is not just matter as it possesses a sense of knowing. A dust particle is not just matter since each of its atoms has intelligence and is a living reality.

"When we recognise the virtues, the talent, the beauty of Mother Earth, something is born in us, some kind of connection, love is born.

"We want to be connected. That is the meaning of love, to be at one. When you love someone you want to say I need you, I take refuge in you. You do anything for the benefit of the Earth and the Earth will do anything for your wellbeing."

In the world of business, Thay gives the example of Yvon Chouinard, founder and owner of outdoor clothing company Patagonia, who combined developing a successful business with the practice of mindfulness and compassion: "It's possible to make money in a way that is not destructive, that promotes more social justice and more understanding and lessens the suffering that exists all around us," says Thay.

"Looking deeply, we see that it's possible to work in the corporate world in a way that brings a lot of happiness both to other people and to us ... our work has meaning."

Thay, who has written more than 100 books, suggests that the lost connection with Earth's natural rhythm is behind many modern sicknesses and that, in a similar way to our psychological pattern of blaming our mother and father for our unhappiness, there is an even more hidden unconscious dynamic of blaming Mother Earth.

In a new essay, Intimate Conversation with Mother Earth, he writes: "Some of us resent you for giving birth to them, causing them to endure suffering, because they are not yet able to understand and appreciate you."

Economic Growth: The Index of Misery 

How mindfulness can reconnect people to Mother Earth

He points to increasing evidence that mindfulness can help people to reconnect by slowing down and appreciating all the gifts that the earth can offer.

"Many people suffer deeply and they do not know they suffer," he says. "They try to cover up the suffering by being busy. Many people get sick today because they get alienated from Mother Earth.

"The practice of mindfulness helps us to touch Mother Earth inside of the body and this practice can help heal people. So the healing of the people should go together with the healing of the Earth and this is the insight and it is possible for anyone to practice.

"This kind of enlightenment is very crucial to a collective awakening. In Buddhism we talk of meditation as an act of awakening, to be awake to the fact that the earth is in danger and living species are in danger."

Thay gives the example of something as simple and ordinary as drinking a cup of tea. This can help transform a person's life if he or she were truly to devote their attention to it.

"When I am mindful, I enjoy more my tea," says Thay as he pours himself a cup and slowly savours the first sip. "I am fully present in the here and now, not carried away by my sorrow, my fear, my projects, the past and the future. I am here available to life.

"When I drink tea this is a wonderful moment. You do not need a lot of power or fame or money to be happy. Mindfulness can help you to be happy in the here and now. Every moment can be a happy moment. Set an example and help people to do the same. Take a few minutes in order to experiment to see the truth."

The GCGI-SES Lucca Forum: Here's to 2018, Our Journey of Hope, caring for Our Sacred Earth

OUR SACRED EARTH Tuscany Forum: The Videos

Need to deal with ones own anger to be an effective social activist

Thay has over many years developed the notion of applied Buddhism underpinned by a set of ethical practices known as the five mindfulness trainings, which are very clear on the importance of tackling social injustice.

However, if social and environmental activists are to be effective, Thay says they must first deal with their own anger. Only if people discover compassion for themselves will they be able to confront those they hold accountable for polluting our seas and cutting down our forests.

"In Buddhism we speak of collective action," he says. "Sometimes something wrong is going on in the world and we think it is the other people who are doing it and we are not doing it.

"But you are part of the wrongdoing by the way you live your life. If you are able to understand that, not only you suffer but the other person suffers, that is also an insight.

"When you see the other person suffer you will not want to punish or blame but help that person to suffer less. If you are burdened with anger, fear, ignorance and you suffer too much, you cannot help another person. If you suffer less you are lighter more smiling, pleasant to be with, and in a position to help the person.

"Activists have to have a spiritual practice in order to help them to suffer less, to nourish the happiness and to handle the suffering so they will be effective in helping the world. With anger and frustration you cannot do much."

Touching the "ultimate dimension"

Key to Thay's teaching is the importance of understanding that while we need to live and operate in a dualistic world, it is also vital to understand that our peace and happiness lie in the recognition of the ultimate dimension: "If we are able to touch deeply the historical dimension – through a leaf, a flower, a pebble, a beam of light, a mountain, a river, a bird, or our own body – we touch at the same time the ultimate dimension. The ultimate dimension cannot be described as personal or impersonal, material or spiritual, object or subject of cognition – we say only that it is always shining, and shining on itself.

"Touching the ultimate dimension, we feel happy and comfortable, like the birds enjoying the blue sky, or the deer enjoying the green fields. We know that we do not have to look for the ultimate outside of ourselves – it is available within us, in this very moment."

While Thay believes there is a way of creating a more harmonious relationship between humanity and the planet, he also recognises that there is a very real risk that we will continue on our destructive path and that civilisation may collapse.

He says all we need to do is see how nature has responded to other species that have got out of control: "When the need to survive is replaced with greed and pride, there is violence, which always brings about unnecessary devastation.

"We have learned the lesson that when we perpetrate violence towards our own and other species, we are violent towards ourselves; and when we know how to protect all beings, we are protecting ourselves."

Remaining optimistic despite risk of impending catastrophe

In Greek mythology, when Pandora opened the gift of a box, all the evils were released into the world. The one remaining item was "hope".

Thay is clear that maintaining optimism is essential if we are to find a way of avoiding devastating climate change and the enormous social upheavals that will result.

However, he is not naïve and recognises that powerful forces are steadily pushing us further towards the edge of the precipice.

In his best-selling book on the environment, 'The World we Have', he writes: "We have constructed a system we can't control. It imposes itself on us, and we become its slaves and victims.

"We have created a society in which the rich become richer and the poor become poorer, and in which we are so caught up in our own immediate problems that we cannot afford to be aware of what is going on with the rest of the human family or our planet Earth.

"In my mind I see a group of chickens in a cage disputing over a few seeds of grain, unaware that in a few hours they will all be killed."

*The interview above was first published in the Guardian on Monday 20  February 2012.

Are you physically and emotionally drained? I know of a good and cost-free solution!

"Passing of Knowledge" by Victor Tan Wee Tar

...And now, come and be my fellow-traveler on a journey of self-discovery: Come and visit My Wisdom Corner. Surprise yourself. You will love it!

What is this life all about?

Why am I here? What’s my Life’s purpose? How can I make the most of my Life?

The Wisdom Corner

“Come, come, whoever you are. Wanderer, worshiper, lover of leaving. It doesn't matter. Ours is not a caravan of despair. come, even if you have broken your vows a thousand times. Come, yet again , come , come.”- Jalaluddin Rumi, The Persian Sage of Beauty, Wisdom and Love.

Come, come, whoever you are, come

Do you hear that voice calling you, calling us?

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Written by: Kamran Mofid

Published: 19 February 2019

Hits: 1151

Today (18 February 2018) the The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee of the British Parliament published its final report on Disinformation and ‘fake news’.

The report lays bare horrifying abuses by Facebook and other so-called ‘Social Media’ outlets.

The scale of the report – it drew from 170 written submissions and evidence from 73 witnesses who were asked more than 4,350 questions – is without precedent. And it’s what contributes to making its conclusions so damning.

‘Facebook is an out-of-control train wreck that is destroying democracy and must be brought under control. Facebook behaves like a “digital gangster”. It considers itself to be “ahead of and beyond the law”. It “misled” parliament. It gave statements that were “not true”...Continue to read

‘Death threats, bullying, mental torture, privacy invasion, election rigging, fake news, monopoly abuse: as was said of a medieval pope, this is merely to suppress more serious charges. It is hard to recall the social media of 15 years ago and its offer of universal love, democracy and global peace.’...Continue to read

Yes, it is true, some of us knew all these all along. Yes, we knew that:

 

Photo:blog.rootshell.be

My view on Facebook: the arrogance of power of control and unaccountability, creating a culture of envy, jealousy, inadequacy, virtual reality & friendship, loneliness, anxiety, fear and depression

Yes, it is true, some of us knew these all along years ago and did not keep quiet either. This is what I wrote in 2012, seven years ago:

“The other day, I “Successfully” deactivated my Facebook account. I say “Successfully”, because Facebook does not make it easy to say goodbye, even though I was just trying a short-term separation and not a divorce! At least for now. {Since then, I have now permanently deleted myself from Facebook}

You know, given human weaknesses to addiction, that is any form of addiction, I thought I was watching me and watching you to see if you were watching me, a bit too much: Watching who likes or unlike whatever I post there. As if one click here or there is enough for me to know how good or bad I am doing!

My mind was going “digital” and I was becoming “virtual”: And I said to myself, Hey Kamran, watch where you are going man!

I thought I needed a time out, a time for some reflection and soul-searching. I do not know if you, too, are facing the same or not.”…Continue to read

And also see:

Good on you Ms. Essena O'Neill: Social media 'is not real life'   

"How can we see ourselves and our true purpose/talents if we are constantly viewing others?"… "Many of us are in so deep we don't realize [social media's] delusional powers and the impact it has on our lives." Continue to read

Has loneliness become the new normal?   

Virtual Connecting in the Digital Age

‘In the past few weeks I have posted three Blogs which, to some extent, as it happens, are very much interrelated: Each one, reinforcing the one before it. The first Blog was Loneliness in Modern Britain and this was followed by What is this life if…? And finally A Plea to address Global Youth Depression.

In these Blogs, I have highlighted the damaging consequences of our “digital”, “virtual” modern life: Virtual friends and friendship, virtual forums, virtual gatherings and get-togethers. In all, the emptiness of this virtual life that many millions are leading, when, the only engagement, conversation and dialogue they have is with their virtual friends on their smartphones, tablets, notebooks, Facebook,…etc.’...Continue to read

So, here you have it!

Get off the so-called ‘Social Media’. Help to stop the horrifying abuses, that has made these guys billionaires many times over at your cost! Carpe Diem!