A Holiday Appeal for Peace

Throughout the holiday season, the phrase ”peace on earth” is an oft-repeated trope. We can choose to respond to it with unconscious skepticism ("Peace on earth? Yeah, right!”); alternatively, we can allow the phrase to serve as a bell of mindfulness. When I hear those words, I imagine that someone has invited a bell to sound; I take a moment and turn my attention to my breath. I silently say this first line as I breathe in, and the second as I exhale:

“Listen, listen! 
That beautiful sound brings me back to my true home.” 

Using the same in-breath/out-breath method, we can then practice mindfulness of interbeing (the interconnectedness of all beings) in this way:

I’ve arrived and I am home,

In the here, in the now.

I am solid, I am free;

In the Ultimate I dwell.

This is a deep and healing practice, very enjoyable and a sure way to regain your balance in the midst of the holiday rush. Peace lies deep inside every one of us and all around us, no matter who or where we are. To realize peace on earth, a critical mass of Bodhisattvas (beings defined by compassion, the heart of enlightenment) needs to practice touching and watering the seeds of peace and joy within themselves. This will be of enormous benefit to all sentient beings.

The heart of reality is non-duality, nondiscrimination. When I realize that the sufferings of my neighbors are my own sufferings; that my family’s joy is my own joy, the walls between myself and other beings begin to crumble. Soul gently pushes ego to one side; in that pregnant pause in the endless parade of craving and aversion, real peace can be created. 

It’s the only way to make peace: as individuals and in groups, we take advantage of the rare lucidity that accompanies true insight and introspection in order to generate lovingkindness. After sitting in deep appreciation of the interconnected nature of reality for ten, twenty, or thirty minutes, you are more than qualified to step outside and put your peacemaking skills to use on behalf of all other conscious beings.

Peace on earth indeed, a joyous Solstice, and happy holidays to all!

Imprinting Joy on the Earth

image from desktopnexus.com

We have inflicted a great deal of damage on the earth. The planet’s biosphere is the only one we know of that supports reflexively self-aware life forms. There may well be more, but for the moment this is it. 

Clearly we inter-are with the earth; we are made of the same elements. When we harm the planet, when we poison our environment, they harm and poison us in turn, along with every other species with which we share the biosphere.

This calls for mindfulness of consumption and of disposal. We send energy and support to our Mother Earth who sustains us each time we mindfully recycle, reuse and repurpose the material things we use. When we walk gently, in awareness of the contact between the soles of our feet and the earth, we can imagine ourselves imprinting happiness and healing upon it with each step. The act of walking mindfully -- to walk in full awareness of the fact that you’re walking -- confers a sense of being tethered to the earth as if by an invisible cord. It’s a powerful way to meditate. 

In Epicurean philosophy, the goals the practitioner seek are ataraxia (the tranquil, imperturbable mind) and aponia (freedom from anxiety and pain). This they do by distinguishing between necessary and unnecessary desires, adjusting their habits of craving, and taking positive energy from life’s natural pleasures in moderation. Like the Buddhist practitioner, the followers of this ancient ethical philosophy work to broaden the breadth of their awareness and widen their circles of compassion to encompass all conscious creatures; indeed, all sentient beings.

The earth wants to heal us, to reach us with the truths of nondiscrimination, impermanence and compassion. In order to receive these wise messages, we have to turn down the noise in our minds. A regular mindfulness meditation practice is one of the most effective tools at our disposal to achieve and sustain a receptive, tranquil and unfettered mind. Let’s walk gently on the earth, imprinting joy, happiness and peace with every step we take.

Stewardship or Dominion?

     Image from permaculture

It is an unfortunate truth that some people can't be happy if their ability to threaten or harm other conscious beings is in any way abridged. Of course, the notion that harm or threats of harm will make us happy is an illusion; what actually fulfills us as human beings is empowering and nurturing other beings-- both humans and other species.

Looking deeply, we see that causing harm to another conscious being is tantamount to harming ourselves.The Buddhist teachings on no-self, nondiscrimination and impermanence come to our aid here. As humans we are composed of nonhuman elements, just as dogs and cats are composed of non-dog-and-cat elements. All three species are made from their ancestors, the air, the water, their food and their environments generally. Remove any of those common elements, and they would cease to manifest as discrete beings. The boundary line between one conscious being and another is largely imaginary. We are all defined by interbeing: what benefits me also benefits you; what does you harm does the same to me.

In the Bible (still an authoritative text for some people), one translation has the deity giving humanity a mandate to exercise stewardship of nature, while another reads dominion over same. The former suggests working to protect natural habitats for other species; the other implies dominance and exploitation. Which of the two translations believers read and believe renders predictable outcomes in the ways they interact with the natural world. For us humanists, there has been copious, often brilliant, speculation among contemporary philosophers on this issue over the past several decades. One of them, Australian ethicist Peter Singer, has distinguished himself as a true champion of nonhuman animal species. His books Animal Liberation and Writings on an Ethical Life are well worth reading for anyone interested in the fascinating field of bioethics.

If we decide we have the inalienable right to mindlessly slaughter other species or render their natural habitats unlivable, we wreak real havoc not only on them but on humanity as well. Poison the environment, and the environment will poison you; it really is that simple. The way we choose to interact with the earth, the biosphere, and other species has profound implications for them and for us. Will we choose sustainability and responsible stewardship over reckless domination? The answer will largely determine how long the earth’s biosphere will remain habitable for us and the countless other species with which we share it.

Thoughts from a Meditation Cushion

Image from yogistar.com

I’m a humanist who engages in a spiritual practice based on meditation, self-care and the compassionate nurture of human and other sentient beings. I was thinking earlier today after meditating about the ways humanistic philosophy and holistic spirituality complement one another. That in turn led to some other thoughts.

We've inherited the full range of emotions, thoughts and behaviors that our Paleolithic ancestors had. We have a well-developed prefrontal cortex that enables cognition, language and cooperation. We also have active adrenal glands that enabled our ancient ancestors to flee or fight in threatening circumstances. That can get us into trouble if we don’t evolve strategies for keeping the flow of adrenaline under control. (In my own practice, mindfulness meditation -- both sitting and walking -- is key in this context.) 

Because belonging to a tribe was key to survival in the ancestral environment, we still retain a powerful tribal instinct. That's why we square off so readily as groups: theist against atheist, conservative against liberal, and so on. When it comes to morality, we are actually much more "groupish" than we are selfish. We’re wired to deal with threats to the tribe quickly and efficiently. That explains the fact that we often feel compelled to step in and “set people straight” when we feel our group identity is being treated unfairly or mischaracterized.

The human moral code is a natural product of primate evolution; it comes from the same cooperative reciprocity observable in our closest cousins, the chimpanzee and the bonobo. Of course our cognitive advantage and creative potential have enabled us to go farther than they, both for better and for worse.

Humanism doesn't fail to account for the fact that all humans are torn between doing what's best for the collective and doing only what benefits themselves. That's what lies at the heart of human ethics in my view: are we in it for the good of all, or just looking for ways of bettering our own fortunes?

Ours is a fundamentally optimistic view of humanity despite its individual and collective failures. It's not a belief that human beings are essentially selfless or unflawed (a quick glance at history cures that fantasy), but it doesn’t take a gloomy, dim view of the species, either. We assert that our collective love, our ability to nurture conscious beings, and our creative cognition all have remarkable, perhaps largely untapped, potential.

Summer's End

And you find yourself on a deck in the midst of the Autumn chill, aware of things you’ve seen many times before, yet apprehending them now as if for the first time. Trees surround you; the specificity of their leaves and their growth patterns are a source of never-ending fascination. 

A natural soundtrack plays: the sound of the distant highway breathing dances with late afternoon birdsong, the trilling of insects. You look about and you realize you are in paradise. Both within and without, your bliss is endless. This is indeed a joyous time: the air is cold and crisp; the pale orb is on the rise as the brighter one descends, painting the sky a riot of pastels. 

This is the heart of mindfulness, you realize. There is no craving in this moment, no aversion, none of the tyranny of the urgent. Here, now, you are aware of your deep connection to every spiritual and physical ancestor that has led you to become the discrete conscious entity you are. Your chair is like a lotus flower, and you sit beautifully in it; there is no agenda to follow and no task to complete. 

Winter is on its way; woodsmoke and peace are in the air. You know there are those whose great wish is to turn the world into a charred shell of itself, but you smile in the realization that they have no chance against the innumerable enlightened spirits meditating in this moment. We are intent on creating a beautiful garden that nourishes life of every kind. It is our intention to liberate suffering sentient beings everywhere, to achieve and sustain deep enlightenment, to send waves of compassion further and further into the realms of conscious beings. Without distinction, we offer our benediction, a world of happiness and contentment for every sentient creature on the earth. 

Welcome to a time of deep mindfulness of the fall of the year. It is Samhain, the summer’s end.

Want to be Happy and Fulfilled Today?

Breathing in Full Awareness Is the Key

Image from huffingtonpost.com

If you wish to be fulfilled, happy and clearheaded right now, begin by Identifying your breath as an inhalation, and then acknowledging your exhalation as you breathe out.

When you focus on your in-breaths and out-breaths to the exclusion of all else, you can reconnect with your deepest nature very quickly. Become aware of your body, of your chest as it rises and falls with each inhalation and exhalation. This is a dependable way of bringing body and mind together in perfect unity. Too often, our minds and bodies occupy completely different spaces. If we want to be genuinely present for the world and for other living beings we encounter, we need to find and claim unity of body and mind.

Practicing mindfulness throughout the day, you’ll find yourself more attentive to your surroundings, ever more aware of what’s going on both within you and around you. The plants, animals and animals around you are in need of your attention, of your radical presence. When you encounter your life as an ongoing series of present-moment realizations, everything deeply healing becomes available to you. The constantly shifting sky, the birdsong, the whisper of the wind in the trees, the living beings you love -- are suddenly there -- truly there for you; you are really there for them, as well. Returning to the present moment, and reconnecting with your true identity through conscious breathing, make it all possible.

Joy, fulfillment and a sense of transcendence are all waiting for you to claim them. Focus on your breathing without giving in to distractions, and you’re there! The entire universe wants to reveal itself to you, to encourage you to be fully at ease in it. Beautiful sights, sounds, scents and sensations lie ready to be encountered in this moment, now. Your senses and mind are in good working order; you can taste and feel, intuit and dream. These are sources of deep happiness, the enduring kind; again, breathing in full awareness is the key that opens the door.

Gut Check

Have you checked your daily life against your mission statement recently? I did mine yesterday, and discovered that some adjustments were in order.

Ideally, the bulk of our time should be spent doing things related to our life’s mission, or in recreational pursuits that feed and renew our energy for the things that matter most to us. My personal statement runs as follows:

“To bring enlightenment, beauty and inspiration into the world through words and music, and to deeply care for the human and other sentient beings in my world.”

What I found upon checking my datebook was that I’d been doing quite a bit to tend to the latter part of that mission (although a bit more would be good): both my two elderly feline companions and the rest of my family have been getting a lot of quality time from me. The other side of the ledger, the writing/music-making side, didn’t get the time it deserves lately. Time to go about rebalancing!

If the things we’re most committed to are getting short shrift in our daily lives, it can be helpful to get a sense of what’s occupying our time in their stead. It turns out I’d been connecting with people in real time on social media, and having really fascinating and substantive talks about ideas with highly insightful people. So that’s a good thing! Now, I just have to allocate a little more time to writing in other fora; I can take ideas from my online dialogues and make them into pieces to inspire and inform readers.

And I’ve really got to get back into the studio and do some recording. The songs inside us don’t do anyone any good if they stay there. They have to be harvested from deep within, lovingly crafted, and skillfully sung.

So, how do things stack up in your own gut-check? If you check your datebook against your statement of purpose, will you find you’ve been spending significant time engaged in activities related to your mission, or in recreation that supports them? If not, you may want to make some changes.

Of course, sometimes things go quite the other way round. Our purposes are evolving all the time; sometimes evidence that you’re involved more and more in something else of value may prompt you to amend your mission statement. The healthiest people spiritually, I believe, are those attuned to the subtle messages received from their subconscious minds and from the phenomenal world. They are intuitive and flexible enough to make subtle changes to their lives in the light of new insights. And that's a really good thing!

Who Remembers This Erstwhile Convention?

There was once an almost-universal American "civic religion" that rode alongside people's actual faith traditions like a sidecar to a motorcycle. Citizens generally respected other citizens' religions; or, if not their faiths themselves, at least their right to practice them unmolested. Church/state separation was a given; intrusions into highly personal bioethical matters of conscience were largely -- and rightly -- considered in poor taste.

Thanks to the pernicious rise of the religious right, all those pro-social civic conventions were infected, compromised. Hitchens was absolutely correct in observing that the evil Falwell and his criminal associates did would live on long after them.

We need to keep encouraging the widespread outbreak of secularism that's sweeping the country right now. It's fed largely by demographic and generational change; still, our best, unwitting allies in this effort are the ever-more-extreme, morally bankrupt, and politically-engaged right-wing Xtians themselves. Their inhumanity and empathy deficits are doing more to drive Americans into a wholesale embrace of humanist values than the best-coordinated anti-theist campaigns could possibly accomplish on their own.

The Fundamentalist Mind

Image from skippingtothepiccolo.com

I know that full consciousness of this concept will never penetrate the fundamentalist mind, but I still wonder: 

Might it ever occur to them that, if their program were wholly spiritual, we would have no objection to their religious beliefs and practices whatsoever? I have no problem with the Amish, Pagans or Buddhist monks, because they practice their spirituality in peace and demand nothing from me.

But the fact is that fundamentalists cannot help but insert themselves into the phenomenal world -- the only one we know exists -- in a supervisory role. Faith in a god is their claim, but regaining their cultural hegemony is their actual aim. Given half a chance, they will set about contracting the civil rights of all who do not share their delusions. For this reason, free citizens in a secular, democratic republic cannot abdicate the fight against them. 

We find ourselves in a war we never wanted -- we humanists are generally the "live and let live" type. But since fundamentalist religion has declared war on the larger culture, we have no choice but to engage.

Seven Guidelines for Mindful Online Communication

Image from mindfulnesshamilton.ca

1) Promote peace and fairness.

2) Call out unacceptable behavior without attacking people personally.

3) Reserve the strongest language for times when genuine harm is being done without remorse.

4) Judge unjust or false statements themselves, rather than the people making them.

5) Highlight the positive in situations in which people are caught in negative feedback loops.

6) Be kind.

7) Do no harm, but take no shit.

Rejoice (A Proclamation)

It's nowhere near reality, this space in which you dwell.

Your make yourself quite ludicrous with all this talk of hell.

The mad beliefs to which you cling are really quite absurd,

But you insist we take you at your great god's holy word.

Thank god your god does not exist! It never could or will.

Ancient Hebrew warrior gods remain not with us still. 

The time has come for growing up, embracing what is real. 

This god is not, but people are; they live, and think, and feel.

So when you say,"you're going to hell!" it sounds quite like a threat

(Which, we both know, it's meant to be), and let us not forget

That you default to this rejoinder when all cogent thought has fled:

"Someday you'll be sorry; you'll be tortured when you're dead!"

Sinister, rebarbative, contemptible and vile.

A childish bit of petulance, an ugly bit of bile. 

We'll have to chalk it up to insecurity and fear

Of atheists and socialists, and liberals and queers. 

We pose a threat to you because we do not bend the knee

To gods of men's invention, nor embrace absurdity. 

We're having too much fun here in the kingdom of the real

To let your silly threats from us one joyful moment steal.

So we proclaim to everyone,

Wherever they may dwell:

Rejoice and be exceedingly glad;

There's no such place as hell!

A Profound Abandonment of Reason

I share a view with many cultural critics: that the profound abandonment of reason, the seething rage stewing (and overflowing) among Evangelicals in the Bible Belt, has been fueled primarily by two discrete phenomena.

First, the "election" of George W. Bush represented the zenith of the Moral Majority's stated goal of "winning the culture for Christ." This was little more than slick sloganeering, of course. The real aim was to establish cultural hegemony (and lasting cash flow) for Christians of Falwell's ilk. The problem was that, in choosing "W" as their candidate, they were very much shooting themselves in the collective foot. Everything the man touched became a clusterfuck; thoughtful conservatives were able to recognize their serious tactical error in joining forces with politically-engaged right-wing religious zealots.

Then, of course, there was the election of Barack Obama. The shock of their lives, from which they haven't yet begun to recover. And not only his election; the man had the audacity to clean up most of their guy's world-class messes and achieve historic milestones for the country, despite their best attempts at total obstruction. No wonder they're losing their minds.

Lucretius Says...

Tantum religio potuit suadere malorum.

(To such heights of evil are men driven by religion.)

-- Lucretius, De Rerum Natura

A Perverse Ideology

Those suckled, immersed and indoctrinated by the gospel of racial prejudice, bigotry and violence act according to their nature in predictable ways. The violence is both institutional and heritable; preserved in City Halls and Confederate flags, instilled by pastors in families and bequeathed by parents to children. How does an enlightened citizenry combat such an evil, facing down generations' worth of perverse ideology?

Will racism ever really be "over" in this country? Perhaps, once intermarriage becomes so widespread that it all but wipes out the visual cues that have traditionally fed it, and we're another century or so removed from slavery and segregation. Meanwhile, we all have our work cut out.

The conservative assertion that we now occupy a "post-racial" America is ridiculous on its face. If anything, racism is more virulent now than during the Jim Crow era, when segregation was the law of the land. We are arguably now more psychically segregated than before 1964.

Find a Better God

It really doesn't matter if you're gay or if you're straight.
The thing that really matters is to choose love over hate.
You're no "abomination," as the fundies like to say.
(Who talks these days like old King James, who was himself quite gay?)

Jesus never married, and he hung out with twelve guys.
He wasn't into shaming "sluts" and leaving them to die.
Among his friends were prostitutes and tax-collecting bums.
He spoke well of Samaritans (to Jews, mere half-breed scum).

The only things that pissed him off were cold, self-righteous prigs,
Slick religious con men, and a tree that bore no figs.
So come on, all you Christian folks: lay down that tired old hate.
Being cool won't turn you gay; no, you can still be straight.

Value gay believers, those who worship in your midst.
They, too, are your brethren, and they really do exist,
Unlike your savage god of war, by ancient herdsmen dreamt;
Find a better god to serve, as yours deserves contempt.

Queen of Graduation

(To be sung to the tune of the Narwhals song)

Mandi, Mandi, Queen of graduation,
Best in all the nation, 'cause she is so awesome.

Mandi, Mandi, Queen of graduation,

Pretty cool and pretty bright,

Her cap and gown are looking tight.

Like a graduation superstar,

We know that she will go quite far,

She is a master of history

(She overcomes adversity!)

Mandi, she is Mandi.

Mandi (nothing that she can't achieve)

Mandi, she is Mandi.

Mandi-- achiever of the century.

(Repeat ad infinitum)

Another Lucid Interval

It borders on the mystical,
This sacred bond we share.
Sensing the same rhythm,
Breathing the same air.

Who could gaze into those eyes
And fail to see a soul?
The love we share's eternal;
It has made me fully whole.

Another lucid interval
Before the curtain falls,
To freeze the flow of time right here,
My fondest wish of all.

It borders on the mystical,
This sacred bond we share.
Sensing the same rhythm,
Breathing the same air.

NOT an Oversight!

The intellects of the founders and framers were formed in the crucible of the European Reformation and philosophical Enlightenment. Some of the most influential of them (including Jefferson) were Deists, who believed in "Heaven and Heaven's God." This was a deity who made the universe and then withdrew, allowing things to unfold naturally. 

The most salient animating principle these men shared was freedom of conscience; they were determined to avoid birthing yet another monarchy where royalty ruled by divine right. Everything we know about the republic's founders, their Zeitgeist and their actual documents confirm their goal: a religiously neutral republic in which rulers received their right to rule from the consent of the governed. 

God was not left out of the Constitution by mistake or as an oversight. Leaving matters of religion and conscience up to individual citizens was the framers' ideal, and one they realized through the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Keep It Well-Defended!

I'm a big fan of the First Amendment to the Constitution. It prevents government from preferring any religious sect to any other -- it has to be religiously neutral. This protects freedom of conscience for the most devout believer and the most outspoken atheist equally.

Religiously neutral government is the reason religion has flourished in the United States: instead of having a state church to which everyone belongs by virtue of their citizenship, all kinds of religious individuals and groups are free to worship in their own way (which of course includes the "not at all" option).

It's in every citizen's best interest -- Christians included -- for Jefferson's famous metaphorical wall between church and state to remain solid and well-defended. Matters of religion and individual conscience are too important, too personal, to be dictated by government.

The Passage Back to You

Image from beingfirst.com

Lest there be some doubt I've broken through,

Show me now the passage back to you.

Ever in my heart you reign supreme,

In this realm of magic and of dreams.

Craving has been sated once again;

I sit in lucid clarity of mind.

I reach across the gulf to what has been,

Touch more than I had ever hoped to find.

And now the light, cascading, covers me,

And calls me to communion of the soul.

Hypnotized, I'm floating out to sea;

Fragile flight again has made me whole.

To Be a Bodhisattva

“Would you be in any way offended if I said that you seem to me to be in every way the visible personification of absolute perfection?”

― Oscar Wilde

William K. Ferro here, loving life deeply in every moment...Noble Nature, I salute you!

I'm a big fan of a secular version of the Bodhisattva Vow: To attain ultimate enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. In Buddhism, a Bodhisattva is a being whose very nature is enlightenment. This can be imagined in natural or supernatural terms according to personal preference. My own orientation is a wholly natural one.

Here’s the Bodhisattva Vow, translated from the Sanskrit:

“Sentient beings innumerable, I vow to save.

Delusive desires inexhaustible, I vow to break.

Dharma beyond measure, I vow to learn.

Enlightenment without limit, I vow to attain.

“As long as space endures,

As long as sentient beings remain,

Until then, may I too remain,

And dispel the miseries of the world.”

When Oscar Wilde has one of his characters say to another, “Would you be in any way offended if I said that you seem to me to be in every way the visible personification of absolute perfection?” it’s reminiscent, perhaps, of the mechanism by which the Bodhisattva idea got its start. It’s the notion that there are indeed people who seem to embody the traits that the vast majority of civilized people find most admirable: love, compassion, generosity, kindness. One would be hard pressed to find any serious philosophical school, any decent religion, any ethical life stance, that fails to honor these characteristics. 

How lovely as well that an orientation toward other people, an awareness of the well-being of other conscious creatures, is built into the Vow. The enterprise on which the would-be Bodhisattva is embarking on is a program of enlightenment “for the benefit of all sentient beings.” What a gorgeous idea!