Beyond environment: falling back in love with Mother Earth - Thich Nhat Hanh

[oxymoron]

Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh explains why mindfulness and a spiritual revolution rather than economics is needed to protect nature and limit climate change

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.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/zen-thich-naht-hanh-buddhidm-business-values

[ellisonz]

1. Thank you for posting.

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."

I shared this article on facebook

[Newest Reality]

2. I've seen some of his

talks in videos and the deep calm radiates. You can seen and hear his practice of mindfulness as he is talking and even drinking water.

Mindfulness is not merely a concept where one says, well, I will be mindful or more aware; I will pay more attention. Like a trout in whitewater, the distraction-seeking, conceptual mind moves on to its next eddy and mindfulness becomes a quaint idea -- another rock in the river. There it goes!

From my experience, actually practicing mindfulness can yield some unmistakable insights by its direct experience. However, it does require some practice time and, like any skill, it involves a initial effort that then becomes more natural and automatic itself. Due to its potency, it is suggested that one practices briefly at first, especially without a teacher for guidance. Unbroken, all-day practice can be a very radical change like being woken-up abruptly in the morning. While daily practice for various periods is safe, if you have deep or serious issues that are driving you unconsciously, it is best to deal with those first and approach this with more caution, research and personal guidance.

One of my first insights was into a realization of what is meant by awakening, (another nice word that becomes a quaint and vague reference without experience). Many things we learn to do become automatic and, in varying degrees, unconscious. Not having to think about every detail after you have become proficient is very useful and driving a car is a good example. After you get used to it, you don't have to think about where the break pedal is and how and when to use it, for instance. Imagine how impossible many things would be if you had to consciously direct and think about each step, over and over. Mindfulness does not end or eliminate what we have learned to do effortlessly, it unveils how that works as we watch.

If we lose our awareness to various, internal distractions while automatically performing programmed routines, then what is to be said of intention, will and our reality? We can quite naturally do tasks in the moment while being somewhat lost in stories, fear, worry, memories, anticipations, fantasies, etc. Living in fabrications can seem like a normal way of life and so, what attention to we have for the immediate aspects of our experience? We could ask ourselves just how much of our life is merely a virtual reality of abstraction versus an immediate and direct actuality.

So, the value of insight meditation is that one can demonstrate to one's self the automatic and habitual while revealing more of the essence of experience and one's nature. You can then come to realize just how much of a day is like a dream than a contact with what is. It can really stand out. You also benefit from sharper and more precise focus. One can awaken.

[Odin2005]

3. K&R