Consciousness

I have been reminded this week of the importance of practice when I have listened to accounts from the Democrats' Convention In Denver, Colorado.

Angry women allow their rage over the loss of their idol, Hillary Clinton, to endanger the accomplishment of a great cause for all the American people: The displacement of the fascist regime of the Republican presidency of George Bush. Others decry Obama ostensibly for this or that reason, while their racism is obvious, though (perhaps) unconscious on their part.

Consciousness, mindful awareness in each moment, is the keystone of practice. Without consciousness, right action and right thought cannot be pursued in the moment because life will always place distractions in the way of the unconscious person. We all suffer for the lack of practice among most of our brothers and sisters on the planet. Human beings will continue this suffering until practice is the keystone of life on the planet. This may or may not happen before the human race becomes extinct.

Politics

We are on the verge of a political season of promises, dirty tricks, celebrity worship and unrealistic expectations. The party conventions will be held later this month in the US.

Politicians, like religious leaders, often present their own compulsion for fame and power as selfless compassion in order to win votes. I am sure that some of them believe their own myths. However, someone committed to practice understands that power corrupts. It distracts from the focus on personal responsibility and personal evolution toward compassion, humility, acceptance, and liberation from need and desire.

Administration of the basic infrastructure of society is necessary. Politicians are failures at this. One needs only look at the nearest bridge or highway. One needs only to walk along the shore of the nearest public beach of lake or ocean. One needs only to ride through the poorest neighborhood in any city.

Politicians ignore the one largest threat to planetary peace and well being. Totally. That is overpopulation, of course.

So, as part of my own practice, I stay informed about politics. However, I focus my energy upon my own responsibility and development. No matter who becomes president, senator, representative or selectman, I must live my life with open consciousness in order to evolve. To do otherwise is reactionary and delusional. If every adult simply lived in practice, based in responsible action and just cause, politics, as they now exist, would be unnecessary and obsolete.

Boredom

There is no boredom in practice. Boredom is a symptom of a failing or flagging practice.

As we know from psychological theories and science, boredom is frequently a symptom of sexual frustration, clinical depression, lack of understanding through basic education. Boredom is a symptom of an inability or unwillingness to channel energy through meditation or chanting or hard work or intellectual curiosity.

The beauty of Zen practice, as an example, is its relentless attention to refining the usual, the routines of daily living. Zen practice entails a lot of hard physical work as well as sitting meditation. Balance. This leaves little time for the ego to corrode energy with obsessions about sex, food, alcohol or other addictive behaviors.

Any practice, mine or yours, can adopt the best of Zen and other practice forms. Just reading and then applying these different techniques of practice leaves little time for boredom. The payback is huge and far outweighs the effort.

So embrace boredom as a symptom. Use it as an alarm to get off your ass and do something that will increase your knowledge, your ability to be a growing person and your daily practice. Reaching for the TV remote control is the way of the lazy and the unadventurous.

Loving

Loving is a process, as opposed to LOVE, a vague and often commercialized thing for which millions yearn but never find.

Loving is an act of mind and choice in every moment. Loving is the neutralization of hatred and anger towards others in the moment. Loving is giving patience as a gift to yourself and others. Loving is taking and extra breath, counting to ten, thinking before saying. Loving is paying attention to the needs of others before thinking of your own. Loving is being brutally honest when it is the right thing to do. Loving is refraining from using honesty as a weapon. Loving is accepting and exchanging loving freely. Loving is the middle path. Loving has nothing to do with orgasms.

Loving is a part of being and becoming an evolved person. Loving is an essence of practice.

Folly

Belief in permanence is the greatest folly of the human mind.

We are impermanent phenomena. We change from moment to moment without control or intention. Our bodies are similar to chemical reactions in a test tube. They begin, proceed and end. All this occurs according to physical and chemical laws of energy and matter. That's it!

Living a happy and compassionate life with the constant awareness of this reality takes practice. Folly is the absence of practice and is a waste of human intelligence.