Thinking about violence

I recently came across this quotation from the Buddha:

"Whatever a monk keeps pursuing with his thinking and pondering, that becomes the inclination of his awareness. If a monk keeps pursuing thinking imbued with sensuality, abandoning thinking imbued with renunciation, his mind is bent by that thinking imbued with sensuality. If a monk keeps pursuing thinking imbued with ill will, abandoning thinking imbued with non-ill will, his mind is bent by that thinking imbued with ill will. If a monk keeps pursuing thinking imbued with harmfulness, abandoning thinking imbued with harmlessness, his mind is bent by that thinking imbued with harmfulness."

In other words, thinking negative or unwholesome thoughts of any kind has the effect of inclining your future thoughts in the direction of that kind of unwholesomeness or negativity. This should not be a surprise to us, because the mind, like the body, has a tendency to follow the "groove" left by  experience. 

 This is a reason that I am concerned with young people (or anyone) watching violent movies and television, playing violent video games, or for that matter watching TV news about real-world violence. The more we integrate violence into our daily experience, the more we will come to regard it as natural and, in some sense, acceptable. I believe this is particularly true about games and movies in which the individual is intended to identify with the violent protagonist. Because such "entertainment" appeals to the ego - which thrives on pain and destruction - it is very difficult to persuade people of the harm it can cause. Ego will cause one to shrug off this concern, with such comments as "Oh, it's just a game" or "I know the difference between fantasy and reality". Yet beneath the surface, the violent experience is working its way into the viewer's subconscious, wearing a groove that will influence that person's future attitudes and behavior. 

Even popular comedy has its violent aspects. Most of the comedy shows on television today rely on belittling or humiliating their characters to garner a laugh from the audience. This may be even more dangerous than violent drama, because these programs supposedly reflect everyday interpersonal relationships. While this is not new - ego has used comic techniques of sarcasm and humiliation to promote itself at the expense of others for thousands of years - there seems to be a sharper edge to the contemporary genre. When I can't get through a popular show without repeatedly cringing at the psychological violence the characters inflict on each other, I worry even more about the harmful effect on society if this is presented as an acceptable form of social interaction.

I don't advocate banning these or any other forms of entertainment. But I do encourage individuals, and parents on behalf of their children, to be mindful of the amount of physical and emotional violence they are exposed to, and to take steps to minimize the damage. Steps may include limiting the exposure; openly discussing whether the behavior depicted on screen is acceptable or desirable; engaging in non-violent forms of entertainment; meditation on nonviolence; and, perhaps best of all, seeking out opportunities to have real-life experiences of compassionate and loving behavior, such as volunteering.

Thoughts on the passing of a friend

Whenever someone we know leaves this life, we feel grief. It is difficult to remember at such times that passing is a natural step in our existence as immortal spiritual beings. The human part of us, the body-centered ego, clings to this existence as if it were the only existence we will ever have. Because it cannot see beyond the point at which we separate ourselves from the physical body, it fears death and mourns the loss of others who have passed on as if they had completely ceased to exist.

Poets and seers may describe physical death as discarding a worn garment, but that metaphor is not always helpful to those of us left behind who struggle to accept the immediacy of the inevitable. We know that life is temporary, yet we submerge that knowledge in the busyness of daily existence. Aware in our moments of full consciousness that change is constant - that everything changes in every instant - we nevertheless attach our happiness, our hopes, our very sense of self to people and things as if they will be with us unchanged forever. When faced with the rupture of these attachments, we feel as if a part of ourselves has been ripped away.

There is a risk that we may succumb to ego's inevitable attempts to take advantage of our pain for its own purposes. Ego will do what it can to magnify that pain by trying to focus our attention on suffering and loss. It will raise questions about how we will survive without the love, comfort, and security that the physical presence of a loved one provided. It will dwell on the past and make dire predictions for the future in order to increase our suffering in the present.

There is no way to escape feeling the pain of separation, and it would be a mistake to try to do so. (My sister-in-law, Ann Dubes, has written a book entitled "Give Yourself Permission to Grieve".) Denying the pain simply buries it under layers of emotional scar tissue that will eventually need to be dealt with before the wound can fully heal. But we must be mindful also that ego will try to leverage our grief into an obsession. It is not necessary to fight back against this attack; it is enough to be aware that it will come, and that it is not truly a part of our higher self. That mindfulness will enable us to brush ego aside as we deal with the genuine damage that has been done to our world.

When the immediate shock of loss has passed, the opportunity for reflection may arise. The passing of a friend or loved one is a reminder that we, too, will be on this Earth in this form for only a limited time. Other reminders of this same truth surround us - at least those of us who look into a mirror from time to time - but it is in our human nature to ignore this aspect of reality until the departure of a beloved soul provides a slap in the face. At this time, we may ponder the meaning of life; examine the uses we are making of our own window of opportunity as spiritual beings sharing a physical existence; or prepare ourselves emotionally and spiritually for our own passing to come. 

Eventually, perhaps with the aid of study and meditation, we may take comfort in the realization that physical death is a transition rather than a termination. The Universe is an infinite, living, energetic tapestry extending throughout time and space. What we perceive as our separate existence is just a thread woven into that tapestry; now visible, now submerged, but continuous and never-ending. We cross the threads of others' existence again and again within the fabric of the whole. Whomever we meet in the here and now, is also with us in an infinite number of other heres and nows within the infinite Now. 

Our highest purpose is not to cling to what we currently perceive as our place in the tapestry, but to be aware of and participate in the flow of Life that is the energetic whole. When we are aware that all of us - all fragments of existence throughout all dimensions - are perpetually engaged in the process of creating a harmonious, loving Universe, then we can accept our part in that harmony. Acceptance can help bring full awareness of our continuous Oneness with all other souls, and of the continuity of our own Selves through the transitions that connect us to other states of being through eternity. In this awareness, we can find peace.

Read more:

• Transition
• Impermanence
• Knowledge of Immortality
• You Will Call, I Will Answer
• Thinking About Immortality

This is the thanks I get?

We set ourselves up for needless suffering if we expect gratitude for our good deeds, or if we insist that those who benefit from our actions "deserve" what they receive.  Those expectations are far out of tune with the Universe.

First, both require us to judge others, which we are not qualified to do.  They also evidence an attachment to what "ought" to happen, which prevents us from living in the world and experiencing reality. Both are small-self reactions, the reactions of the small self in us to the behavior of the small self in others.

True generosity proceeds from the higher Self and seeks no reward for sharing material or spiritual gifts.  The higher Self in me is not different from the higher Self in another, even if that other is completely unaware of the existence of the higher Self and its bond with the Universe.  The higher Self acts out of Universal love, attuning itself to the frequency of the vibration that pervades all of Creation and the Uncreated. This benefits the higher Self in me as much as in others.  As we manifest that vibration in unselfish loving acts, we inevitably bring greater harmony to our surroundings on a soul level, even if that harmony is not immediately reflected in the actions of those around us.

Divine Healing

Divine healing does not require elaborate rituals, esoteric oils or crystals, or intense effort. Have you read any stories of Jesus, Buddha, or another holy person working himself into a frenzy or to exhaustion in order to manifest healing? On the contrary, healing manifests spontaneously in the presence of divine connection. All that it requires is openness and surrender to Source. No shaman or practitioner can induce healing without that connection. This is because healing is the work of Source energy, not something that is produced within the body or mind of the individual healer. The only effort - if it can be called that - required of him or her is to become and remain aware of Oneness with Source and its omnipresent perfection. Healing will then radiate from him or her like the warmth and light of the sun. 

Source itself does not expend energy, because all the energy of the Universe belongs to and remains within Source. Source merely manifests continual perfection, in which we humans share to the extent we maintain connection to it. 

Science of Mind, as established by Ernest Holmes and practiced by the Centers for Spiritual Living, provides one of the purest examples of this simple approach to manifesting healing (among other things). Called Spiritual Mind Treatment or Affirmative Prayer, this practice is described on the Science of Mind Magazine website  as follows:

Science of Mind uses a five-step affirmative prayer called spiritual mind treatment. The five steps are:
1. Recognition—know that God is all there is.
2. Unification—know that you are one with God.
3. Declaration—state your word for the circumstance you want to manifest.
4. Thanksgiving—give thanks for your word being acted upon by the Law of mind.
5. Release—“And so it is!”
There is no beseeching to or urge to compel an outside entity in spiritual mind treatment.  As Ernest Holmes states in The Science of Mind:

"Effective mental treatment is propelled by a consciousness of love and a realization that the Creative spirit is always at work....A treatment should be given in a calm, expectant manner and with a deep inner conviction of its reality, without any fear or any sense that the human mind must make it effective. The work is effective because the Law is always in operation."