Principles

I recently heard an author on the radio bemoaning her conscience and principles, instilled in her brain by parents, teachers and ministers. Her quest, apparently, is to become unprincipled. While I understood her resentment over certain sexist aspects of her conditioning, I think she is perhaps throwing the (well raised) baby out with the bath water.

While I no longer subscribe to my native Christianity, I do appreciate the one central commandment of the mythic Christ: Love thy neighbor as thyself, or, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. That is the basic principle of all compassion and mindfulness. And, if followed, naturally leads to right thought and right action in its practitioner.

Perhaps this is the key to secular humanist morality and ethics. No harsh paternal figure required. No flames of hell as deterrent. No heavenly virgins as reward.

Being human in the most mindful and compassionate way in the moment when alone or with others as a practice is perhaps a higher standard of behavior than the standard of religions which offer ritual absolution for routine, mindless, hateful behaviors without a requirement of subsequent intellectual or behavioral changes.

My principles are my practice. If I proceed with intentional mindfulness and compassion through each day to the best of my ability, I feel it will be unnecessary to fret over the dictates of any religion, social trend or social pressure, which may be at odds with being a truthful, loving and open member of the human family.

Responsibility

Taking personal responsibility with right action in one's relationships with the world and oneself is a constant challenge of practice.

I was recently approached by a neighbor with a problem he had created by shoddy work in his own house. It became obvious to me very quickly that he felt he could manipulate me into fixing the problem, even though it had nothing to do with me. The question this posed to my consciousness was this: Is it more responsible to ease my way out of this situation or is it more responsible to confront his disrespect and dishonesty in our relationship?

Since I have set a goal of patient discretion in my practice, I did neither in the moment. I gave him a referral to a tradesman who could solve the problem and left the situation for him to work out. Subsequently, I checked with the tradesman discreetly to make sure he had been contracted to fix the problem which was potentially very dangerous.

Many of us choose inaction in stressful or frightening situations. This is not practice. Inaction in the presence of conscious choices of right vs. wrong actions is irresponsible to oneself and one's world.

Learning to deliberate patiently despite anger, fear or frustration is a keystone of practice. This only comes, paradoxically, with practice itself. It takes practice to prime the pump of practice. Today is the best day to start this practice.

Taxes

This year, paying taxes will seem more painful to many people. It is obvious that government has let people down all over the planet. Here in the US, government has mismanaged the nation's financial regulatory system with disasterous results for the majority of American citizens and taxpayers.

Complacency among the electorate is just as much to fault as the greedy manipulations of financial mathematicians, who played a shell game with themselves and brought down the capitalist system. From the Madoffs to the Greenspans, the lack of foresight and oversight will have implications for years to come.

Paying taxes without being involved with government as an active observer and critic is simply stupid. It is like handing money to a drunk or a compulsive gambler without conditions.

I consider it part of my life practice to stay informed, to correspond with representatives and to voice criticisms and kudos equally. As a person who believes that life is simply what it is, bettering my life and those of other human beings is a matter of each daily decision and action. Right action, for me, entails being a responsible citizen and taxpayer.

Righteousness

Right action is seldom easy and hardly ever popular. This is ancient wisdom. Last evening I was reading a memoir by Nichiren Daishonin (1222-1282AD), a revered Japanese Buddhist itinerant monk. The passage detailed his persecution by the local Japanese authorities of his time. He was being harassed and abused by the authorities for advising peace instead of war. Things have not changed much, have they?

Nichiren's advice is simple and clear: Do not set aside righteous action and thought for any excuse. Excuses are many and quite easy to adopt.

I agree with Nichiren's belief that all human beings, with the possible exception of the mentally ill and drug addicted, are instinctively motivated to right action. I have tested this at risk to my own health and well being as a nurse. More often than not, people respond to the message of righteousness. But, I have been kicked, punched and bitten enough times to know that the practice of right action has its risk at all times.

We may be leaving a period of darkness, in which our mentally ill and power addicted leaders have turned the whole American nation's back against right action in the world. I hope so. However, each individual must take daily right action as a practice for the human species to advance toward peace and survival. This is the ongoing challenge of mankind.