Honesty

You cannot achieve peace and happiness in your life without developing the practice of honesty in relating with others.

Honesty with others requires honesty with oneself. Honesty with oneself requires self knowledge, self acceptance and the practice of self improvement, or evolution.

We are currently living in a popular culture in which alcoholism and distaste for self exploration are in vogue. Denial is rampant. Denial of real financial worth. Denial of responsibility for debts. Denial of responsibility for children's education. Denial of responsibility for the welfare of the society as a whole.

Self exploration, through meditation, intimate relationships, psychotherapy or other tools, is absolutely necessary to achieve self knowledge and honesty. It is necessary to take regular hard looks at your motives, emotions, reactions and hopes. Doing this throughout your day and your life will deepen your understanding of your life.

Self acceptance is the practice of looking at the results of your self exploration and accepting those results as who you really are. Warts and all!

Self improvement entails working from your real self image and daily working to make yourself more loving, more compassionate, healthier and more generous. It also can entail making yourself less selfish and less obsessed with your own needs at the same time.

"Spiritual" practices, based in sanctimonious and ethereal rites, are useless when seeking happiness and peace in one's life. Incense and fancy dress never made anyone a better or happier person. Hard work does. And it is best to start working right now.

Economics

The human economy reflects the folly of the human denial of the human condition. In general, human beings live their lives irresponsibly. This is grossly obvious in the state of the planet, which human beings continue to consciously pollute and abuse every day.

The vast ignorance and denial of the inevitable consequences of overpopulation among human beings of all social and educational levels is obvious in the lack of discussion of overpopulation by world leaders, scientists and educators. This too is irresponsible.

The economics of the human species are less science than manipulation of markets and money to perpetuate the power of the few at the expense of the many. The current turmoil in the global human economy is evidence of this reality.

Humans spend their lives trying to balance their conditioned denial and religious illusions with the reality of mortality and their own irresponsible attitudes toward their own species and the rest of the planet. These contradictions will not be balanced. By letting this farcical play fall apart, the human mind awakens. By embracing mortality and taking a determined path to make the world a better place with daily right action and right thought (practice), human Being can be happy Being, liberated from the pain of constant uncertainty and illusion.