Kindfulness

This term, coined by monk Ajahn Brahm, speaks of a kindly, non-judgmental curiosity of things, exactly as they are, which develops inner peace and gentleness. This is the natural outcome of a mindful approach to living. A few moments of meditation and prayer at the start of the day raises our game and positions us to bring peace and kindness to everyone we meet. There is no downside. We have a better day as does everyone around us. So why wouldn’t we do it? Might it just be a force of habit? – Do we leap out of bed at 7am and turn on the TV to a news digest of war, labour conflict, political corruption or migrant crises etc? What sort of day are we heading into if we’re carrying the woes of the world before we’re even dressed? It’s not that the horrors of the world are not a reality of our temporal existence. We should acknowledge them but not dwell on them. Rather, we can use them to impel us to do what we can to bring peace into the world in which we live. Let us choose to live in Love rather than Fear. ‘Newsworthy’ items tend not to dwell on the good in our world. Shame, there’s a lot of it. Nature is beautiful at all times of the year. We all have a special place where we feel grounded, that evokes the best in us, that helps us appreciate life itself in all its variety. And spring brings such abundance that spending time in the outdoors is almost overwhelming. Personally it’s like a chord is struck in me, with which I resonate and want to propagate the vibes throughout my day. Nature is my go-to ‘filling station’ for peace. Parenthood is perhaps the richest expression of human love. A newborn infant has no interest in world affairs, only the close attention and love of its parents. It may sound gushy and sentimental to coo and giggle with a baby but we would quickly mistrust anyone who didn’t spontaneously warm to one. All infants live in the Now trusting totally in the parents to provide the nourishment and love needed to sustain it. In the earliest days there is no sense of ‘me’ or ‘other’; there is only oneness. Through childhood, adolescence and early adulthood we develop our individuality and agency in the world. This is absolutely necessary to equip us to be productive but can lead us astray if we simply become acquisitive consumers driven by greed. Instead there needs to come a point where we recognise, or indeed remember, that we are all one and that our true needs are at all times met by a Higher Power in whom we can trust like an infant. Each cell in the body will naturally perform its function at its best when its environment allows it to. The science of Epigenetics is discovering the dominance of the environment, rather than DNA alone, in the expression of the genes. The cell in the big toe has never met his brother in the kidney or the brain but regardless of location (birthright) each cell needs every other in order for a body to be whole. The function and needs of each cell are defined and met by the innate intelligence that brought them into being. This kindly presence sustains our existence and when, through mindful awareness, we bring our efforts into alignment with it then we move toward a greater harmony and best expression of our humanity. It is through ‘Kindfulness’ that we can productively join in the co-creation of our world. One final thought: If Paul looks like a monk, lives like a monk and talks like a monk, perhaps he is a monk? – Please be kind to him though, he’s very much a novice 

Sideways to the Sun

One of my favourite Irish bands, from yesteryear, is Horslips. They recorded ‘Sideways to the Sun on their ‘Book of Invasions’ album telling the story of the fairy-like Tuatha dé Danann people of Ireland, who faded from view when they were defeated by the Milesians. ‘We stay around, to watch you laugh, destroy yourselves for fun. But you won’t see us, we’ve grown, sideways to the sun’. If the Dé Danann managed to survive by melting away as the culture changed then their fate was much kinder than that suffered by Native Americans, Aboriginals, the Zulus and many other peoples. Like most Western children of the 60s, I grew up playing ‘Cowboys and Indians’ where the Indians were always the bad guys. It was only right that these savages had only bows and arrows or they could have inflicted greater carnage on those brave frontiersmen as they drove out West. Only decades later can I understand the settling of the New World as a tragedy. As a species we have not learned to accept others unlike ourselves. This leads to prejudice, hate crimes and violence the world over. Is war fuelled by the greed of the invaders or by the pride of natives defending a cherished way of life? Winners write the history books and children immortalise the outcomes in their games. Cultural influences run deep in the human psyche. It is extremely difficult for us to bridge the divide even when we can see the innocent suffer. The Holocaust is probably the worst example of attempted cultural extermination but Apartheid in South Africa tried to legitimise racial segregation, the Hutus and Tutsis went on a rampage, the Middle East is a tinderbox, the Ukraine is extremely tense and recently the town of Charlestown in South Carolina showed us continuing race hatred in America. Even here in Ulster, our recent history has been shameful and in several areas mistrust and tensions remain. As humanity has evolved we developed the abilities to both grow and defend. It’s easy enough to understand when we lived as hunter gatherer communities constantly in danger of becoming dinner to something more dangerous. But now as we inhabit every part of the planet, and have the ability to communicate as never before, surely the time is ripe for us to evolve a greater consciousness so that we can appreciate the rich diversity of humankind and the environment in which we live? We are losing animal species at a higher rate than ever as the world is ravaged by insatiable greed. The environment is now so poisoned, and the very air we breathe so polluted, that we are risking our own extinction. As Alan Deutschman puts it – ‘When the stakes are so high, knowledge isn’t power, it’s anxiety. My hope with this piece is not to deal in Deutschman’s 3 Fs: Fear, Facts and Force but rather to adopt his 3Rs of Relate, Repeat and Reframe. Instead of waiting for the world to change we must recognise that it is our task to change it; we are responsible. Each of us, in our own way, must be courageous enough to do what we can to restore this paradise we live in. Start today with a smile to a stranger, an outstretched hand of peace and the breaking of bread together. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Let us not follow the Tuatha dé Danann underground.

Surgical Strike

We’re supposed to be impressed by the precision of military smart bombs and to swallow the myth that these help to make our world a safer place. Computer screen pilots guide drones to their targets 10,000 miles away so that terrorists stay off our streets in the West. We’ve learned to use the most sophisticated technology to get our revenge in first but we’re slow to understand the connection between stirring up wars and coping with the resulting refugee crisis. For several years I’ve used the idea of a healthy human body as a metaphor for how things can be done right. I’ve also come to understand that our allopathic approach to cancer and most chronic diseases is wrong. Culturally we’re fed the idea that the ‘War against cancer’ will one day be won and we’re encouraged to wear our pink ribbons and donate generously for research into the cure. In the meantime improving technology allows us to accurately locate the tumours so that precision surgery can remove them while chemotherapy mops up any residual cancer cells. Modern oncology over-claims for the effectiveness of its ‘one-two’ knockout procedures and tens of thousands are enslaved to lifelong prescriptions for drugs with debilitating side effects. No thank you, there has to be a better way. Surprisingly, just by scratching below the surface, one finds that there are many complimentary therapies with much more favourable outcomes. By far the most effective preventive measure is good nutrition. Not only does it prevent most chronic diseases, but it can often reverse long established disease processes and offer a drug-free and healthy life. But it certainly doesn’t stop with physical nutrition. Mental and Spiritual nutrition equips us to think clearly and to question the cultural memes that unconsciously control our everyday existence. Stressful living causes chronic disease by constantly flooding the body with hormones intended to provide protection against short term threats. Rather than medicating the symptoms we should be removing the causes of illness. No illness means no need of medication – and there’s the catch. If no one’s sick then there’s no money to be made, nor intrusive surgical procedures to be performed. We all know that ‘Your Health is Your Wealth’, but our economy requires that we make people sick – Shame! Just as there’s no money in health, there’s no money in peace. Peace doesn’t sell bombs. If peace broke out the world might build respect and communication among its peoples. We might turn our energies to solving our problems instead of profiting from them. That’s a truly subversive idea. You’d think that having pondered such ideas for millennia, we’d have started to do what works? Nope; it’s too difficult and there’s no money in it. Anyway, a peaceful world makes for a boring 6 o’clock news. Humanity’s greed is rapidly consuming available resources and destroying the natural habitat of thousands of species the world over. Rather than celebrating and protecting the diversity of the natural world we seem hell bent on its exploitation, even to the point of death. We show the same contempt for our own species as we spread fear of others and respond with protectionism. Apartheid, between ‘Haves and Have Nots’ is alive and well. But let’s not change course too rapidly. Instead let’s, poison some cells, cut out some tumours, drop some more smart bombs, kill some baddies and tell the masses that we’re winning. It’s better for the quarterly results.