Violence

Violence begets violence. To indulge in violence for entertainment or aggression brings violence in return. The true tragedy of September 11, 2001 is the failure of most Americans to see their hands in creating the atmosphere for that horrific act. America's history of aggression and support of violence, since World War II especially, in the name of capitalist ideology is at the root of the hatred against it around the world.

American culture is violent. High murder rates, gang violence, domestic violence, violent media. These plague American culture. Yet many continue to iconize violence for profit. The film industry, the computer gaming industry and professional sports are vendors of violence for profit.

Violence porpogates more violence. A personal practice of peace eliminates violence from the seeker's life. Violent speech and fascination with violence are as corrupting as violent behavior. Striving for personal growth and peace for many begins with channeling impulses to be violent into conscious intentions to promote peace in all situations, moment by moment.

Aggression

chalking the prophet for fun
children pushing in the yard
just chiding childish insanity
in those eaten by violent rage
at being poor and so ignored
in dry desert lands of hunger
crushed under diamond heels.

will we be spared for laughing
so broadly while standing by
the aggression of bad humor
in our ailing brothers' faces?

Practice

I come back over and over again to thoughts of practice. Perhaps I am simply post-traumatic.

The earliest years of my education were spent among American Catholic clergy in the 1950's. Coming from a English-Russian-speaking home, since my grandmother who lived with us spoke Russian, I endured daily U.S. propaganda and Vatican propaganda about the evils of the Soviets, referred to as "the Russians". And, at home, I listened to stories about how my Russian-American uncle, an engineer, caused the family to be under constant Federal scrutiny because he worked for the Manhattan Project during WWII.

From my perspective, the U.S. bathes in its own hypocrisy culturally. I touts equality and is racist, sexist. It touts democracy and is a plutocracy. It touts morality and is hedonistic. It touts peace and is militaristic, belligerent, aggressive. It touts diversity and is exploitive of new immigrants. It touts mass prosperity and begrudges the people health care. It touts free markets and exploits nationalism.

So, how does this relate to humanist practice? Humanist practice, as I see it, is an antidote to hypocrisy. If I attempt daily to live with midfulness, honesty and compassion in all aspects of my life from moment to moment, I cannot be hypocritical in the moment. This is a key process to overcoming personal fear and insecurity. It is liberating. Liberation promotes internal peace. Human beings, freed of internal fear, are less likely to be materialistic, greedy, aggressive or defensive.

The first benefit of this practice is the practitioner's internal peace. As personal liberation takes hold, the humanist can be more open and understanding in each moment. Truly owning oneself in honesty and in peace leads to greater individual balance in the world. This is an ongoing and dynamic practice, requiring daily commitment and perserverance.

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.

Aggression

Human life comes with aggression. It is simply part of being an animal. It is hormonal. It is hard-wired. Learning to first recognize aggression in one's own consciousness and behavior is a challenging practice. Road rage, cutting into lines, racing others to check out counters...these are easy examples. However, the harder examples are the subtle forms of aggression that occur when we compete unconsciously with others. This competition is increasing as the world becomes polluted and overpopulated. Resources are dwindling. Capitalism encourages aggression. In fact, anyone who is awake can see the increase in female aggression in the new economy of the US, where women are striving with men for economic equality or dominance. This alone explains to me why capitalism does not bring peace. An economic (survival) system that is based on aggression has not and cannot possibly foster world peace. Propaganda about professional (capitalist) sports as a medium for cooperation and peace is so obviously flawed, when one considers the history of violence at Olympic games and the increased occurrence of drug abuse and corruption in the whole arena of professional sports. People increasingly find surrendering their aggression in capitalist societies frightening. It is the surrendering of a significant defense against poverty and the delusion of control. Yet, no human, male or female, will evolve beyond basic animal behavior and consciousness without surrendering voluntary aggression as a first step to enlightenment, mindfulness and compassion.

How to practice the surrender of voluntary aggression in daily life? First, it is important to recognize the simple physical signs and behaviors of aggression, such as increased heart rate, blood rushing to the face, increased vocal volume, clenched jaw and/or fist, increased driving speed, rushing, and many other signs which must be observed, accepted and recognized in the moment they occur. Otherwise, how can anyone practice control of aggression?

Then what? The daily practice to control aggression by recognizing impulses to be aggressive takes many years to develop. It also requires patience with and acceptance of one's own animal instincts. That is, patient acceptance that we are indeed animals. If a person is wedded to religious notions of man as non-animal, that person will never understand his aggression. Let alone control it and evolve away from it. He will live in denial of it.

Finding and fostering affection and compassion in one's life for oneself and others equally facilitates the process of managing and evolving beyond aggression. I recommend it. It takes time, meditation, determination, and, above all, practice, practice, practice.

Materialism

Pop singer Madonna, with all her erudite brilliance, once extolled the concept that it's a material world. Well, it appears to be a simply material world to those who do not look beyond the surface of things. In reality, the world, and the universe, actually seem to be composed of what we call energy. Matter, it seems, is really a form of energy. In any case, the impermanence of matter eludes those who are focused on the surface of things. Aggressive hoarders of material wealth and objects rule this world. That is indisputable. But look at the world they rule and how they rule it. Yet the oppressed and the exploited still look to the acquisition of material wealth as a solution to their personal problems. I suppose they deserve the world as it is. They will certainly keep it the way it is by subscribing to the engine of aggression and greed which currently dominates politics and economies. A core principle of my practice is letting go. This principle allows me to enjoy the more pleasant material realities of life without having to aggressively accumulate and possess more and more at the expense of others.

Beauty

Tiny rain drops were clustered on the petals of a new iris in my garden this morning. The beauty of the living plant was unintentional and pure, like the rain water itself. Later in the day I stopped my car at an intersection to allow a pedestrian to cross. The pedestrian, a young man in his twenties, was indeed beautiful. His beauty, however, was so different in my eyes from the beauty of the iris. His eyes held a cruelty. His walk was aggressive. He was very conscious of my eyes on him. I then went to my supermarket on my way home. One of the baggers, a plump and cheerful young man with a severe learning disability, was seated at a long table by the door. "Buy a raffle ticket for the Jimmy Fund. Win five hundred dollars. Everyone's a winner." The Jimmy Fund benefits research on pediatric illnesses. Here in my day was another kind of beauty. It was the unconscious beauty of a person who was being happily himself in the moment, despite considerable barriers to that happiness. It is that beauty to which I aspire in my practice.

Justice

There is no inherent justice in life. Poetic or otherwise. Justice is the fairness and lawfulness we create as a species from day to day by acts of political and individual will. If love, a deeply felt desire to be kind and compassionate to all beings, is the basis of those day-to-day decisions, then justice will evolve. However, injustice, based in greed, often passes for justice among the human elite of the world. There is never justice in belligerent aggression. There is never justice in denying individuals control over their own bodies and minds. There is never justice in trying to discourage love, kindness, commitment and generosity in human relationships. The just are often those who quietly support and defend the lawful rights of others despite great odds. I seek justice by trying to foster it in myself.