An
Example of Advice for a
Buddhist Ecological Lifestyle
Many of us
feel that we are ready for a change of consciousness and lifestyle, which
would help to heal ourselves and our world.
But in all the confusion and huge choice of information it can be really
hard to know how to go about it. How to even get close to describing such a
change of consciousness and lifestyle?
When visiting the wonderful Buddhafield
cafe this year at
the Big Green Gathering I found the following hand written words hanging on
the wall, which give an inspiring answer to this question. So I copied the
text to share it here with you.
(First
a quotation from Robert Thurman's article "Shambhala Now"
for those of you unfamiliar with the term 'Shambhala':
"Shambhala is the critical mass of people making that shift in their
hearts from despair, paranoia, fear and egotism to openness, vulnerability,
an optimism. And we can be in Shambhala now, rather than waiting for it to
arrive sometime later. If there is going to be a point, some critical moment
when people turn round at once and there's a massive awakening, that's good,
but it will only happen because each individual person awakens in her or his
own heart. One by one the world will awaken. We've got to make the goal the
means. We can't just create peace by using violence." Etc.)
The
Shambhala Warrior
Mind-Training
·
Firmly establish your intention to live your life for
the healing of the world. Be conscious of it, honour it, nurture it every
day.
·
Be fully present in our time. Find the courage to
breathe in the suffering of the world. Allow peace and healing to breathe
out through you in return.
·
Do not meet power on its own terms. See through to its
real nature - mind and heart made. Lead your response from that level.
·
Simplify. Clear away the dead wood in your life. Look
for the heartwood and give it the first call on your time, the best of your
energy.
·
Put down the leaden burden of saving the world alone.
Join with others of like mind. Align yourself with the forces of resolution.
·
Hold in a single vision, in the same thought, the
transformation of yourself and the transformation of the world. Live your
life around that edge, always keeping it in sight.
·
As a bird flies on two wings, balance outer activity
with inner sustenance.
·
Following your heart, realise your gifts. Cultivate
them with diligence to offer knowledge and skill to the world.
·
Train in non-violence of body, speech and mind. With
great patience to yourself, learn to make beautiful each action, word and
thought.
·
In the crucible of meditation, bring forth day by day
into your own heart the treasury of compassion, wisdom and courage for which
the world longs.
·
Sit with hatred until you feel the fear beneath it.
Sit with fear until you feel the compassion beneath that.
Do not set your heart on particular results. Enjoy positive action for its
own sake and rest confident that it will bear fruit.
·
When you see violence, greed and narrow-mindedness in
the fullness of its power, walk straight into the heart of it, remaining
open to the sky and in touch with the earth.
·
Staying open, staying grounded, remember that you are
the inheritor of the strengths of thousands of generations of life.
·
Staying open, staying grounded, recall that the
thankful prayers of future generations are silently with you.
·
Staying open, staying grounded, be confident in the
magic and power that arise when people come together in a great cause.
·
Staying open, staying grounded, know that the deep
forces of Nature will emerge to the aid of those who defend the Earth.
·
Staying open, staying grounded, have faith that the
higher forces of wisdom and compassion will manifest through our actions for
the healing of the world.
·
When you see weapons of hate, disarm them with love.
When you see armies of greed, meet them in the spirit of sharing.
When you see fortresses of narrow-mindedness, breach them with truth.
When you find yourself enshrouded in dark clouds of dread, dispel them with
fearlessness.
When forces of power seek to isolate us from each other, reach out with joy.
·
In it all and through it all, holding to your
intention, let go into the music of life. Dance!
by
John
Wigham / Akuppa akuppa@mac.com
BuddhaField
is a collective of the Friends of
the Western Buddhist Order (FWBO) Buddhists from all over the UK and
beyond. They teach meditation and Buddhism at festivals, fairs and similar
events. They also hold retreat camps, run the Buddhafield
Cafe and organise their own festival in the UK! Highly recommended.
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Page last updated
17/8/2006
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