Elections and choices

So we have another result to an election which has left large chunks of a population bewildered and a slightly larger chunk elated

We go through this round every 4 years or so and things get stirred up, passions aroused, and I suppose in a democracy that's how it should be 

Things got very stirred up with the UK referendum and with the recent American presidential election in very similar ways 

I'm not really in a position to go into the politics of it. But  I noticed a question come up in me that spiked my attention 

The question 'is politics from the people to the representatives' or is it 'from the representatives to the people'. 
Do we give the power to the leaders, is this what is happening during an election? Or are we electing, for convenience one person who can represent our views? Are we abdicating power (our power) to others, or are we asking someone to speak our views?

I think the difference can be quite subtle, but I feel its an important one. Its easy to 'believe in' others and expect them to sort things out, to make things better, (to make America Great Again). 

So every 4 years or so we pick one person, or one party, that's going to sort things out. And then we sit back and behave in exactly the same way, we have been doing for the last 4 years. We vote for change, as long as that change is done by others. 

So we can continue to think, speak and behave in the same way as we have always done, whilst expecting others to make the changes. My feeling is that, this is a great shame. 

We vote every 4 years; but we speak to people every day, we take actions every day. Every day we decide if we are going to make our conversations positive or negative, nurturing or toxic. We decide if we are going to thank the bus driver or not, if we are going to curse the other road user or remain calm, if we are going to spread gossip or support people. If we are going to speak well or ill of people.
Where we are going to spend our money, who we are going to bank with, who supplies our electricity, who we are going to get our groceries from, are we going to support charities, do we volunteer at the hospice/school/scout group/community centre...........  the list can go on and on 

We may not feel that we decide on these things, but we do, we just may not be conscious of it. Every one of these small actions can make a difference and we get to make them every day, over and over, not every 4 years 

I feel we have a duty to vote, but I feel that voting for others to make things better when we are not doing our active bit to make better what we can, results in a dependency on others. Where we place unrealistic expectations on our politicians that they can never live up to.

But this is not easy, to take on being as positive as we can be every day takes time, commitment and thought. I get it wrong more than I get it right. Its easier to give it away to others and say 'make things better for me'

But I feel we have to share the idea of a better future. And that however skillful, our current way of living we can make it more so. 

With persistence, reflection and  effort, we have the potential to be a cause of positive change, every day. 

Mindfulness

I was shown the Ladybird Mindfulness book a few days ago. The person who showed me it sat back (well they may have actually been standing but you know what I mean) and waited  

Now I don't behave in what many people see as the typical Buddhist way, in fact most of the Buddhists I know don't. I get cross, I swear (sometimes) and I express strong opinions (lots). I think she had lit the blue touch paper and was waiting to see what would happen

But on this occasion I was just sad, I was sad because I saw the book as a mild piss take of an aspect of Buddhist thought that I hold very dear, that of Right Mindfulness 

I have had many chats to quite a few people over the last few years as the Mindfulness craze took off. 

My thoughts have always been that practising mindfulness within the specific context that it arose (alongside the other 7 aspects of The Eightfold Path) is wonderful. But that if you have to take this one aspect and use that, its better than doing many other things, but not ideal and not 'the real deal'. 

I feared that the popularisation of  Mindfulness could also lead to its downfall. We (humans) seem to have a habit of half understanding something, half giving it a go and then trashing it when it does not give us the instant results we were sold. I use the word sold deliberately in this context as one can buy Mindfulness (books, DVD's, Courses etc.) 

The book is supposed to be light-hearted and I suppose it is, but it deals with something that I think is a crucial practice for so many people, poking fun at it, is I fear part of discrediting it.

Mindfulness has been commercialised at a shocking rate and been pounced on by lots of folks who want to make money from the craze. I fear that its a result of taking something out of context, but as most people mistakenly think that Mindfulness is Buddhist practice I feel its a great shame  

The body and loving oneself

For quit a while now I have been practicing a form of meditation called loving kindness. The structure is that one develops loving thoughts towards others; close loved ones, not so close loved ones, strangers, people we don't like, people we really despise and finally oneself. 

Of these groups the one I have always had the most problems with has been myself. Generating genuine compassion towards myself seems to be very difficult. I have spoken with quite a few folks around this and my experience is not uncommon. 

I can be really quick to see the less than perfect aspects of myself. My self judgment can be so much harsher than I would ever judge others. If I spoke to others how I internally speak to myself I think I would be friendless very quickly. 

And when it comes to my historical judgment and attitudes towards my body, well it really has not been skilful. 

So I have been starting to try to develop a practice of love and patience towards myself, to treat myself with the same (if not better) level of compassion that I would others. I'm actively practising in meditation and Yoga and dropping into it throughout the day when I remember. 

It's a work in progress but something that I feel is essential. How can I really offer compassion or love to others if I can't offer it to myself. 

The cost of treatment

I have written about the cost in money of Shiatsu and other alternative treatments and I’m sure I will return to that. This post is about other possible costs.

One of my main desires in treating people is to allow them closer, more immediate access to their bodies and therefore themselves. I strongly believe that the more we are aware of our bodies and the subtle shifts in energy or flow the better we understand ourselves.

This access to understanding does not have to be all hippy and out there, (although I did just write both energy and flow)! It can simply be by understanding that ‘when I am tense I hold the muscles in my jaw firm’, or ‘I've noticed that I tense my forearm’, ‘I think it’s when I’m worried’.

Simple little bits of understanding can lead to some powerful discoveries about how we are feeling and doing.  Part of the magic is that it can bring us into the now, it allows greater understanding of how we are really doing, now.

But there is a cost; one of the coping mechanisms we have is to learn to ignore just these signs. We are all inherently capable of being aware on the most deep level but for many, many individual reasons we learn that one way of anaesthetising our lives is to turn off these messages. In this way we are able to continue with the crappy job, the rubbish housing and the less than satisfying relationships.

In my experience when we turn back on these understandings we also can cause ourselves pain and difficulties as we experience in detail what we have been hiding from. Now I feel that the ultimate outcome is an authentic life lived well. And as we have been fortunate enough to be born into these strange bodies, in this strange place we must grasp the opportunity while we can. Sometimes the process is not pretty but the results can be. 

Where to go, what to do.

I have recently finished my Shiatsu course. 4 years of study and practice, of thinking about little else, of (for me) serious effort. Done.

In the few weeks since finishing I have been experiencing a wide range of feelings; happiness, emptiness, confusion, waves of relief and quite a bit of smugness.

I have gone from having a very fixed focus to my time to little or none.

So as a decompression I went on a 5 day silent meditation retreat at Amaravati. It seems to have done the trick, in a way I was not anticipating, rather than me coming away with a clear idea about where next. I have no better idea but have a much more relaxed mind with not knowing about 'what now'.

The people at Amaravati are really lovely, do go if you can. http://www.amaravati.org/

Attention and where we (I) put it.

Attention and where we (I) put it.

I think like lots of people, I have spent most of my life paying no attention to where my attention is.

My mind wondering where it wished and if I thought of this at all, it seemed very much like the weather; nothing I could control, that sometimes pleased me (pleasant thoughts) and at others did not (you get the idea).

So my slow realisation that not only can I control where my attention is, but, that its probably the single most important lesson I never learnt, has been remarkable and a good 25 years overdue.

 

I started reading on and practicing Buddhist ideas from around 15 years old I should have worked this out a lot earlier, I’m sure the information was out there; I was probably just not able to hear it.

So why is this so important in my mind? Well its both simple and very profound. Where we put our attention makes it grow, swell, expand, change. A simple idea but so radical

I have come to realise that I have had a story about my early education and how it set me up for failing. As an un-diagnosed dyslexic in a small working class village school it was rough. But I’m still repeating the "I can't learn" story over and over. So when I sit down to study if I pay clear attention, I find I have the story in my mind and body, it pulses through me and, I feel blocks my learning really well.

I have paid so much attention to this story over the years that it has become the only one.

So now the job is to gently direct my attention away from these, feelings, thoughts, memories and towards the well buried store of positive, affirming stories, thoughts and memories related to learning. I’m sure that the process will take years to even get a basic grip of and the rest of my life, but I’m really excited about it. One of the exciting element is me working out where in my body I have been storing the thoughts, emotions and feelings. I’m booking a Shiatsu sessions to start the work now.

There are so many applications for the skilled use of attention; and I know that I’m one of the least qualified to talk about it. I can't recommend Gill's talks at audio dharma enough.

http://www.audiodharma.org/