Credit

The current news is flooded with stories about failed credit relationships between lenders and borrowers. This is the polite veneer of corporate capitalism in the modern world. All about the paperwork. A distraction from the human misery beneath.

The reality of credit is less dignified. Credit is an invention and tool of those who aggressively gather and horde society's resources for their personal use. It is not a blessing. It is not a civilizing influence. It is a vehicle for the rich to get richer at the expense of those with less. It is a cancer, which eventually increases the spread between the haves and the have-nots.

When government colludes with lenders (banks) by lifting regulation and oversight, as the US Government has done recently, the process of oppression and domination by the haves is accelerated. The historic remedies for this plundering have been catastrophic. Depression, starvation, war.

Yes, I view 'the system' from outside the economists' tight little box. I haven't much liked the few economists I've met actually. Obsession with money makes people narrow and humorless in my opinion.

My practice includes a daily relationship with money, credit and ownership. I am not a monk, supported on the backs of devotees in a pastoral monastery. That is not my concept of practice.

My practice entails being as monetarily independent from lenders as possible in an urban world. I try to avoid paying interest. I do not participate in the corporate machine as much as possible. This takes a great deal of work. It becomes harder and harder to do, since I am a man of meager means.

I think the greatest threat of credit is its invasion of all levels of human interaction. Will we become a species of lenders and borrowers on all levels of interaction? Will we lose the social sense of sharing wealth through generosity and fair taxation, whereby those with more pay more proportionately? Will every good turn be seen as a credit and every human need seen as a debit? Will friendship be replaced by the exchange of debits and credits?

FundaMENTALism

The fundamentally and dogmatically religious are, by definition, intellectually afraid. They are not stupid. They simply are not adult learners or questioners, those human beings who are never satisfied with one simple answer.

The source of this fear could be poor socialization, conditioned dread of change. a genetic predisposition to paranoia or xenophobia, or other dysfunctional personality traits. The primitive human ego externalizes fears and projects them onto 'the outsiders', those outside the comfortable, conditioned or adopted belief system.

Compassion for these individuals can be a challenge for a person in evolutionary practice, since the fundamentalist of any belief system purposely, out of defensiveness, places himself in aggressive opposition to anyone who challenges his fundamentalism. Aggression is a natural defense of the primitive and fearful. The fundamentalist is an expert in fear. He uses it as his natural weapon and defense. The current U.S. government is controlled by these fundamentalists. They fear loss of control of wealth, oil, power. The Muslim jihadists are afraid of loss of control of land, their oil, their women and their wealth.

Mindful interaction with fundamentalists must be based in this understanding of them. Anger is always counterproductive and especially so with fundamentalists and growling dogs. The practitioner of peaceful human evolution can avoid their aggression by distance, silence, kindness, education or any other skill. However, to expect any result outside oneself in practice is folly. So, caution and wisdom are best observed when dealing with the fearfully religious.

I focus on my practice, not on the obstacles to my practice.

Money

Recent fears about Recession in the world's economies point to the near-sighted materialist nature of human civilization. The stupidity if this fixation on money and paper stocks is staggering. The planet is sick. The environment is polluted beyond safety for our species and many others. Yet, men in suits lead us into the mad world of salaries, stocks and new appliances.

If the focus of the world were shifted to health and a balanced existence in nature above all things, there would be ample wealth and resources to support a healthy life for all human beings. There would be ample work to build sustainable communities. There would be ample work to design technologies for a healthy future for all mankind.

If those who hold the wealth of the planet, that self-absorbed 10% of the human population, would open their eyes and abandon the conformity of greed and competition in favor of generosity and cooperation, the concept of Recession would be relegated to history as folly.

Singles

Human beings in pairs are seen as more stable, more trustworthy and more worthy of societal approval. This myth is gradually eroding. Human beings in heterosexual pairs with genetic offspring are seen as the peak of the pyramid formed by the human species. This undeserved social status is being clung to with extended talons by religious fanatics all over the planet.

Those who see the reproduction of human beings in jeopardy when the planet is swarming with nearly 6 billion people are clearly insane. Those who intelligently choose to not reproduce should be compensated by the human species with great appreciation.

The barrier to this sane approach to human reproduction and the choices about pairing or being single is the greed of capitalist thinking, which is based on endless population expansion. Those in power rely on the maintenance of an endless pool of mindless taxpayers and unquestioning laborers.

Being single and independently functional in this capitalist plan is quite stressful and challenging. This, of course, is not the perception created by those who are rabidly invested in marriage and reproduction as a holy crusade. Those who are married with children find it difficult to appreciate the special qualities of their single friends and relations.

The single person is mobile, often well educated, sexually free of emotional chains and more likely to be open to people of varied backgrounds. Single people are used to being in friendships with paired people, as well as single people. Single people are often the caretakers of the elderly in their families. Single people actively confront loneliness and alienation in their lives by working at being socially engaged. They are less likely to be complacent and self satisfied.

My practice has included maintaining 'single consciousness' in my life while allowing myself to be committed and caring in my relationships. This is a difficult practice. It is not a static practice. It is a daily practice.

Cloning

Science, while disciplined in its methodology, lacks ethical discipline and moderation. This is due to the influence of antisocial capitalism. The pharmaceutical companies of the capitalist world are representatives of the unethical mining of science for absurdly high profits.

Now the food production conglomerates are pushing cloned foods for the same reason. Biodiversity is scientifically proven to be essential for a healthy planet. Yet, so-called scientists are working for these greedy corporations to maximize profits at the expensive of planetary and human health.

Practice often includes resistance to the assaults on the personal and global environment. This takes time, self-education through research, and expense. These expenditures are worthwhile. They serve as a non-violent resistance to the evil of capitalist greed and attempt at control over the human community.

January

January in the north is the season of dark, slate-gray skies and white landscapes. Color is removed. Cold becomes a fact of life.

I use January in my practice to test my own state of evolution. My state of consciousness in January is a good measure of the effectiveness of my practice of living. If I am at peace with the person I am in January, I feel that my practice is effective.

Politics

Beware the politician. This is a creature which has convinced itself it knows what you need or what you deserve. In the meantime, the politician is really striving for what it needs and what it deserves. It moves and feeds constantly, like a shark. I use the pronoun 'it', because the politician's personality, as displayed, is a myth, a role, a tactic.

If you practice daily, you will understand the superficiality of campaigns and elections. You will be more able to see the hypocrisy and the manipulation, as well as the core message, of the politician. Seek the core message which comes closest to compassion, mindfulness, non-violence and fairness for all. Disregard the rest and continue your own daily struggle for human evolution.

Structure

Many people rely on their work to provide their lives with a regularity of structured time. Up at 7, at work by nine, break at 10:30, lunch at 1, and so on. In this situation, the basic skeleton of a practice is already there. For instance, from 7 to 8, you could stretch, exercise or meditate, shower, and have breakfast. At the other end of the work day, you could build another structure of time which would compliment your morning regime of proper diet, exercise and meditation/reading.

The key to utilizing and maintaining a positive structure in your life is regularity. How you protect and nurture your positive structured activities is a measure of how you feel about yourself. People who live in chaos reap more chaos. Eventually they burn out. Their lives are hills and valleys of crisis and elation.

With aging, the foundations laid earlier in life must support an increased burden of physical challenges, emotional losses, and periodic disease. This is inevitable. Therefore, building a solid foundation, a structure, while you are vital and strong, will serve you well in later life.

Practice is difficult, but having no practice is more difficult in the long run.

Diet

January is a month of resolutions, gym memberships and weight-loss diets for many people whose lives are plagued by a tidal conformity.

Diet is the most important and first step of establishing a personal practice toward living a compassionate and mindful lifestyle, the key to happiness. You are what you eat. Your diet determines what makes up your body, how it works, how you feel and how you experience the Universe outside of your body.

Bad diet, bad life. Very simple.

Diet includes alcohol, drugs of all kinds, herbs, minerals, vitamins, etc.. It even includes the water you drink and the air you breathe.

It does not require an advanced education to assess your diet, read information about nutrition, and set up a plan for yourself as a beginning of a daily practice for the rest of your life. Waiting until you find the perfect plan from someone else is simply an excuse to not practice. I have a diet page which speaks to weight loss and general healthy nutrition. Feel free to look it over.

If you are too fat, too thin, tired, depressed, lonely, feeling unattractive, etc., you might want to establish a daily practice starting with better nutrition. It will be the best step you can take to improve your life.