By - Wes Nisker
The writer is a meditation teacher,
author and performer.
“Read
not the Times, read the Eternities.” - Henry David
Thoreau
he heavenly messengers march across the pages of history
and proclaim as well from the skies above that all
things are subject to aging and death. Not only
individuals but entire species of life disappear;
civilizations and ideologies rise and fall; mountain
ranges make temporary appearances; even suns grow old
and die. The truth of impermanence becomes especially
obvious in transitional times like these, in a period of
apocalypse, a Greek word meaning” the lifting of the
veil.”
What we see behind the veil are always lessons of
Dharma, the way things are, which in recent times have
been exposed by the upheaval in global economies. Not
only do we get a good look at the changing whims of lady
fortune, we once again see clearly that the world runs
on greed, competition and a deep delusion about what
will truly offer satisfaction. Unfortunately, the
lessons come with a lot of pain.
As a possible balm, try not to take it all too
personally. A short reflection or a little cognitive
therapy will help convince you of your financial
innocence. After all, the current economic crisis is not
your fault. The entire world has been caught up in the
frenzy of making money and the possibility of becoming
richer, maybe even rich. Few of us had bad intentions as
we put our money into the markets or speculated on real
estate or some other wealth-making scheme. And nobody
knew the timing of the collapse, the moment when
everyone would look around and realise that we were
investing in a house of cards, playing an extended game
of Monopoly. Whoops, there goes Park Place!
What has been revealed behind the veil is that our lives
are less individual than we thought; we behave as a
collective organism. And like fish in the ocean, we
usually swim through history without noticing how its
water shapes our movements. Like Charlie Chaplin’s
everyman figure, the little tramp, we are victims of our
era, caught up in the madness of the gold rush or in the
machinery of “modern times - and at this particular
moment somewhat dumbfounded by the economists’ talk of
derivatives and deflation.
Apocalyptic times
Here’s another perspective that might bring us some ease
as we move through these apocalyptic times. On the
Buddha’s path, one of the most tenacious defilements of
the mind is the tendency to compare oneself with others.
So if you can’t let go of comparisons, at least find
some that will lead you to appreciate your current
condition. For instance, if you are feeling poor and
unfortunate, stop thinking about how well off you were
or how wealthy you could be. Instead, compare yourself
to all the people who have ever lived. Wow! You are
suddenly very rich! Just imagine all those who suffered
through an era of no painkillers, no antibiotics, no
Velcro. Try to remember that just a few generations ago
most of your relatives were peasants. And so today, if
you’ve got some food on the table, a roof over your
head, and a separate bedroom from your farm animals,
there is good reason to rejoice.
As the veil is lifted, other scenarios reveal
themselves. I suspect that the current economic crisis
is exactly the one we need right now in order to see
clearly that our way of life is unsustainable. The human
economy and the planet’s ecology have been on a
collision course for a long time now, and we probably
should be thankful that the economies have finally
started to lose traction. (By the way, did you ever
notice that the words economy and ecology both start
with the syllable eeeeekkk!?)
Yes, these is sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and
despair the land as people lose their money and jobs,
their security and dreams. But perhaps there is also
some measure of joy in the world today over the economic
downturn. If you are very quite, you might even hear
sounds of jubilation. Listen: the great apes are beating
their chests and grunting in delight; the few remaining
whooping cranes are whooping it up; the lions and tigers
and bears are having a big picnic in the woods while the
fox is going out on the town to celebrate.
If you listen even more closely, you might hear the
entire plant kingdom breathing a sigh of relief. Most of
the other species of life are very happy over the fact
that the human-built, worldwide, techno-industrial,
growth and expansion economy has begun slowing down. To
those other species it’s a matter of life and death.
Extinction spasm
In the modern litany of disasters, the one that shocks
me the most is that we are now living through the fourth
or fifth largest “extinction spasm” in biological
history. Species are going extinct at approximately
1,000 times the standard rate. With an impact equal to
that of the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs, this
cataclysm has us humans to blame. It has been clear for
several decades now that we are causing severe damage to
the biosphere, and we’ve known we’d eventually have to
change our lifestyle. But it is hard to give up those
cherished pleasures and comforts - all the luxuries that
have somehow become necessities. Some of you may
remember a movement in the 1970s called “voluntary
simplicity”. Well, unfortunately, not enough people
volunteered. Now we may be in for a period of compulsory
simplicity. Nature is foreclosing on its loan.
The measure of our species’ success is how much we have
been able to bend the biosphere to our needs and desires
- moving mountains, changing the course of rivers,
harnessing the energy of the sun, even from past epochs.
It is somewhat ironic that for most of human history we
have been busy protecting ourselves from nature, but now
we are called upon to protect nature from us. (We can’t
forget that we are nature, so who is leading in this
dance anyway?)
In spite of our remarkable intelligence, human activity
has clearly become a pestilence on the Earth, with way
too many of us trying to live, and way too many of us
trying to live extravagantly. May be now is the time for
that biblical “seven years of lying fallow”. The
ancients say it is good for the soil.
So let’s try to regard the current economic slowdown, as
a blessing, a time for the societies of the world to
retool our machines and re-evaluate our reasons to live.
As we consume less of everything, we could simply
consider it a sacrifice. (This is a great age for
bodhisattvas.
Lots of job opportunities.) You might regard whatever
economic losses you have suffered as a donation to the
cause of life itself. Think of your reduced wealth as a
charitable contribution to the preservation of the
California red-legged frog, the San Bruno elfin
butterfly, the Presidio manzanita, the polar bears, the
coral reefs, the air and water. We have been borrowing
way too much from the Earth’s resources. It’s time now
for a bailout of Mother Nature.
In that regard, I have some practical suggestions for
the United States government. Rather than just trying to
heat up the economy again, I would like to see the
promotion of a new ethos of sane and simple living. The
government is talking about new public works projects
similar to those of the Roosevelt-era New Deal, but I
propose a kind of new-age New Deal. How about a
Department of Meditation and Therapy, which would set up
deprogramming centers around the country to teach
hyperactive American workers how to become
less-productive members of a less-productive society.
The government could pay people by the hour just to work
on themselves! The whole nation could begin practising
with the mantra, “Enough, enough! We’ve got enough
stuff!”
Volunteers
May be we could ask people in Egypt, India or Mexico to
start up a reverse Peace Corps and come as volunteers to
teach us how to live more simply; how to make tasty
meals with less meat; how to wash our clothes on rocks;
and most importantly, when and how to take a siesta.
Another new-age agency might be a Department of Wisdom,
staffed by philosophers, anthropologists, historians,
mystics and even a few jesters - people who see the
world differently from economists, generals and
senators. We could use some right-brain thinking in our
predominantly left-brain government, providing a real
balance of powers.
Last to be revealed, behind the veil we see the
meditation cushion awaiting us. Here we find the Dharma,
the balm for all out transient troubles. Here we find
the possibility of a different kind of satisfaction.
Here we find the breath, bringing us back to the
marvellous mystery of our life, connecting us to all
that lives. Here we discover the fullness of the moment,
and at least occasionally, the satisfaction of a settled
mind. In spite of what the world brings us, here we can
relax.
පසෙලාස්වක
අව
අටවක
අමාවක
පුර අටවක