#616 Meaningful Living

     "What moves us to serve humanity, to achieve meaningful change, is genuine empathy; the capacity to feel the pain of others, to experience an intimate shared humanity, to accept discomfort and sacrifice in the path of a greater cause. In entering an authentic communion with others, we also discover a profound expression of our own dignity."

       Payam Akhavan, from the 2014 Vancouver Human Rights Lecture, "Beyond Human Rights: Building a World on Empathy."
       CBC radio interview: http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/episodes/2015/01/06/beyond-human-rights-1/

srb7109   www.dpreview.com

#586 Who is Suffering when I Rest in Awareness?

      "... when I pay attention, it is impossible for me to feel like a self at all: The implied center of cognition and emotion simply falls away, and it is obvious that consciousness is never truly confined by what it knows. That which is aware of sadness is not sad. That which is aware of fear is not fearful. The moment I am lost in thought, however, I’m as confused as anyone else.

     The whole of Advaita ("non-dualism" in general) reduces to a series of very simple and testable assertions: 
          • Consciousness is the prior condition of every experience;
          • the self or ego is an illusory appearance within it;
          • look closely for what you are calling ‘I,’ and the feeling of being a separate self will disappear;
          • what remains, as a matter of experience, is a field of consciousness – free, undivided, and intrinsically uncontaminated by its ever-changing contents.”

       Sam Harris. "Waking Up. A Guide to Spirituality without Religion." Simon & Schuster, 2014.

     "Free Will"? - see: http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2013/07/373-how-free-is-our-free-will.html 

Austin Beahm, National Geographic   http://photography.nationalgeographic.com

#454 Divided Life - or - One Continuous Mindfulness Practice?

     For some of us, dressing up, going to school or work, behaving professionally and doing our tasks, all feel phoney. It all feels like "acting" to earn money so we can put food on the table, and be able to do the things we really enjoy doing & be ourselves. The sense of having to work, having to expend (minimal) effort, producing products & services that (barely) meet standards under tight supervision, are the natural result of living a divided life. This breeds an us-against-them, adversarial attitude between students & teachers, between staff & management. There's no engagement, no personal investment or initiative - the "real me" wants to be elsewhere. This is presenteeism - the land of the walking dead. A huge desire, & unrealistic expectations arise for any opportunity to escape drudgery: weekends, holidays, and the holy grail - retirement. Such students & workers complain because they're truly unhappy, & externalize their unhappiness, believing that the cause lies outside of themselves. Their teachers & bosses usually don't understand the underlying psychology, but do look forward to replacing them with far more collaborative, vital, engaged people.
      Of course it's perfectly normal to sometimes have "a part" of us want to stay home from work - go skiing or read a good book. However, it's also perfectly normal & healthy for another "part" of us to want to go to work and fully, authentically engage in our profession. All play & no work also makes Jack a dull boy! Judging either work or play all good or all bad is extreme, unbalanced & unhealthy.  
     Even retired wealthy individuals feel the need to contribute meaningfully to society. So how can healthy young people possibly feel phoney by working? Is it not that their ideas of "meaning", "self" & "worldview" require maturation?
     These are not simple matters of morality. None of us have had ideal childhoods, full of unconditional love, stable healthy wealthy wise families, friends, etc. But we do have to start where we are - right here, right now. The opposite of externalizing all our problems is seeing all that we encounter as a learning opportunity. We can choose to be fully engaged with, directly experiencing every moment of life with our heart-mind open.
     It is possible to live authentically through continuous mindfulness practice.

Don Pentz - Flood Tide, Broad Cove   www.fogforestgallery.ca