The earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth. This we know. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man does not weave the web of life; he is but a strand within it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.

– from a speech attributed to Chief Seattle, 1854

But the Planet Earth circa 400 BCE is not the Earth of today. Our biosphere is rapidly changing. Species are dying and humanity will soon be hard-pressed to live easily with the Nature of the future. Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth website sums up the current global warming threat to our planet, which an overwhelming majority of scientists agree is man-made. We’re already seeing changes. Glaciers are too-rapidly melting, plants and animals are being forced from their habitat, and the number of severe storms and droughts is increasing. To quote from Al Gore’s website:

1) The number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes has almost doubled in the last 30 years.

2) Malaria has spread to higher altitudes in places like the Colombian Andes, 7,000 feet above sea level.

3) The flow of ice from glaciers in Greenland has more than doubled over the past decade.

4) At least 279 species of plants and animals are already responding to global warming, moving closer to the poles.

5) If the warming continues, we can expect catastrophic consequences. Deaths from global warming will double in just 25 years — to 300,000 people a year.

6) Global sea levels could rise by more than 20 feet with the loss of shelf ice in Greenland and Antarctica, devastating coastal areas worldwide.

7) Heat waves will be more frequent and more intense. Droughts and wildfires will occur more often. The Arctic Ocean could be ice free in summer by 2050.

8 ) More than a million species worldwide could be driven to extinction by 2050.

What is Right Action today in a natural world in peril by human actions? Is it the same Right Action as 2500 years ago, when our planet was in perfect balance? In a world in balance perhaps Right Action is to do nothing … at least, nothing to disturb that balance.

We no longer live in that world.

What do we do now? What is Right Effort, now? Right Thought?

On September 28th, 2008, I attended a dharma talk by Thich Nhat Hanh in Dehradun, in India, where he defined for us:

Right View: a view of inter-connectedness, interbeing.
Right Thinking: Ecumenism, compassion and peace.
Right Speech: Speech that is motivated and guided by compassion.
Right Action: Physical action that protects or saves.

I am very grateful for this teaching and I will let it guide me as I continue to ponder my questions.

The sacred moment vs. civilization

I have also been contemplating what I can sum up as the sacred moment vs. civilization.

How are they connected?

For the sake of discussion, let us define the “sacred moment” as that moment of key insight into the nature of reality that gives the individual a satori, or personal peace or salvation or happiness or bliss. Perhaps we found the sacred moment through Advaita or Mindfulness or a traditional means for spiritual practice such as prayer or religious ritual, or perhaps through theatre or dance.

Mindfulness is a wonderful key into the ultimate realization of nonduality and interbeing; but where are these realizations manifested on the world stage?

How do we bridge or link the personal to the global?

Over the years, I have pondered the problem of formulating a system of spirituality that isn’t blatantly designed to control the masses and amass power.

In the West, individuals who have found their spiritual traditions bankrupt of integrity and out of step with their 21st Century needs have begun to discover portals into a simpler and direct spirituality embedded in the core traditions of the East. From the ancient concept of Advaita a.k.a nonduality to the simple but powerful technique of mindfulness, Westerners have found a personal path to psychological clarity and soundness.

And yet the geographical regions from where these ideas originated and incubated for thousands of years remain under the cloud of poverty, political oppression (to varying degrees) and ecological degradation. This observation alone should suggest that there is no readily accessible ramp between personal enlightenment and social utopia.

Personal spiritual and psychological wellness is crucial and yet it doesn’t appear as if that, by itself, could perhaps trigger a transformation in our world leadership (as a collective) to realize that our behavior as a species on this planet has caused and is causing massive changes in our global climate that will in turn adversely affect the biosphere within which we must coexist with all other living beings. Other skillful means at the societal level must also be employed to bring about a paradigm shift in the way we live on this planet, I suggest. Al Gore’s skillful means of the use of multi-media come to mind.

I am a Westerner. It seems to me that “looking inward” to achieve a personal realization of True Emptiness, of interbeing is a new beginning for many of us in the West. Perhaps we in the West should look upon this spiritual discovery as a new Birth Day into an inter-connected universe where we do have the means to shrug off the dualistic “us versus them” mentality, to not just help ourselves but everyone else who suffers in the world. After all, if we have achieved the insight of nonduality, or True Emptiness, then Global issues matter, too, do they not? If “I am Thou” then “We are Global”, I think.

I think, with the newly acquired faculty that gives us Insight, we need to redirect its gaze outward into the world. Not merely as a means of observation but as a means of intentionality which can ultimately be recognized as UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.
What is it about being human and living in human society that prevents us from helping those who suffer and ultimately solve the problem of suffering at its root? Why have we not yet collectively mustered the resolve, the ingenuity and the basic wherewithal to make it happen?

Where do we start? What baby-steps can we take to begin to change our current social paradigm? What kind of new social organizations can we create to leverage that sense of the “sacred moment” to help us bring new tools to bear on the global problems that we all must solve, collectively? Where is the “on-ramp” between personal peace and global peace? I am ready to help figure out how to build one, if we, as a species, don’t know how to do it yet.

Well, imagine this…

What if you and your enemy were the last two living beings on the planet?

What is your enemy, then?

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- dennis landi © 2008

In our society, we engage in a lot of empty sex, just for physical pleasure. We have confused sex with love, but this isn’t love at all. When we love, we have something precious to offer: our heart, our mind. We already know that the heart and the mind are very close to our body. We have secret zones in our soul. There is a pain, or there is a deep and tender aspiration that we want to keep a secret. And we share it only with the one we really love. There is a forbidden city in our soul. In the capitals of Asian countries, the king always had a forbidden city. No one outside the royal family could enter. You risked getting decapitated if you went into the forbidden city. There is a forbidden city in us that we open only to the one we love the most. It is sacred.

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Thich Nhat Hanh,
The Art of Power, 2007
Chapter: The Art of Mindfulness. pg 58-59

The Fourteen Precepts

From Interbeing, Tich Nhat Hanh

1. Do not be idolatrous about or bound to any doctrine, theory, or ideology, even Buddhist ones. Buddhist systems of thought are guiding means; they are not absolute truth.

2. Do not think the knowledge you presently possess is changeless, absolute truth. Avoid being narrow-minded and bound to present views. Learn and practice non-attachment from views in order to be open to receive other’s viewpoints. Truth is found in life and not merely in conceptual knowledge. Be ready to learn throughout your life and to observe reality in yourself and in the world at all times.

3. Do not force others, including children, by any means whatsoever, to adopt your views, whether by authority, threat, money, propaganda, or even education. However, through compassionate dialogue, help others renounce fanaticism and narrowness.

4. Do not avoid contact with suffering or close your eyes before suffering. Do not lose awareness of the existence of suffering in the life of the world. Find ways to be with those who are suffering, including personal contact, visits, images, and sounds. By such means, awaken yourself and others to the reality of suffering in the world.

5. Do not accumulate wealth while millions are hungry. Do not take as the aim of your life, fame, profit, wealth, or sensual pleasure. Live simply and share time, energy and material resources with those who are in need.

6. Do not maintain anger or hatred. Learn to penetrate and transform them when they are still seeds in your consciousness. As soon as they arise, turn your attention to your breath in order to see and understand the nature of your anger and hatred and the nature of the persons who have caused your anger and hatred.

7. Do not lose yourself in dispersion and in your surroundings. Practice mindful breathing to come back to what is happening in the present moment. Be in touch with what is wondrous, refreshing, and healing both inside and around you. Plant seeds of joy, peace, and understanding in yourself in order to facilitated the work of transformation in the depths of your consciousness.

8. Do not utter words that can create discord and cause the community to break. Make every effort to reconcile and resolve all conflicts, however small.

9. Do not say untruthful things for the sake of personal interest or to impress people. Do not utter words that cause division and hatred. Do not spread news that you do not know to be certain. Do not criticize or condemn things of which you are not sure. Always speak truthfully and constructively. Have the courage to speak out about situations of injustice, even when doing so may threaten your own safety.

10. Do not use the Buddhist community for personal gain or profit, or transform your community into a political party. A religious community, however, should take a clear stand against oppression and injustice and should strive to change the situation without engaging in partisan conflicts.

11. Do not live with a vocation that is harmful to humans and nature. Do not invest in companies that deprive others of their chance to live. Select a vocation that helps realize your ideal of compassion.

12. Do not kill. Do not let others kill. Find whatever means possible to protect life and prevent war.

13. Possess nothing that should belong to others. Respect the property of others, but prevent others from profiting from human suffering or of other species on Earth.

14. Do not mistreat your body. Learn to handle it with respect. Do not look on your body as only an instrument. Preserve vital energies (sexual, breath, spirit) for the realization of the Way. (For brothers and sisters who are not monks and nuns: ) sexual expression should not take place without love and a long-term commitment. In sexual relationships, be aware of future suffering that may be caused. To preserve the happiness of others, respect the rights and commitments of others. Be fully aware of the responsibility of bringing new lives into the world. Meditate on the world into which you are bringing new beings.