"We are doing it this way, that's how I want it to be." It seems that, in various ways, this has become the theme song of our days. Greed, possessions, power and untethered disparity are written about in the news daily - if not multiple times per day.
Lying by politicians and others in power has become so common that it is trite to note the lying. The worry is that we have become so inured by lying that we sort of dismiss it, make jokes or let it slide by. Powerful liars don't seem to mind being caught. There is the "post truth" era; "alternative facts" and so on. Truth is becoming a value of rapidly diminishing worth.
Fake news even hits the supposed bastion of truth. Academia is struggling with this, not so much in the way of fraud, as exaggeration of results. It is only with sensational results or breakthroughs that many can find their way into top tier journals. Academia is also being plagued by fake or predatory journals.
Recent research has reaffirmed that children caught in bitter divorce and custody battles suffer long term emotional damage. Yet, courts are clogged with these protracted, bitter disputes.
As societies we honour the rich and profit. How many photos of any particular celebrity can be consumed in a day? Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, Facebook are full of them as are other forms of media.
Why you might ask, does this matter to meditation. Well, philosophers from as far back as the Greeks, have been debating ego versus altruism. In ego, we allow the personal wants and desires to matter over any other need, even if it negatively impacts another. If ego were the only true emotion, then altruism could not exist as we would not care about others. If altruism were the only, then we would not care about the self. Only the other would matter. For healthy positioning, we balance the two.
The imbalance in society and self leads to harm. Too much ego and pollution, destruction and wanton consumption takes over. Too much altruism, then the self gets ignored and the strength of care weakens. The self is destroyed.
Meditation allows us to find the balance. Care of self and care of others. Knowing within self where each of these emotions lies becomes our way of being in society. It also helps to step away from the significant egoist imbalances that seem to be so predominant at the this time.
Care transmitted
She walks into the room
Each night the ritual is performed
There her son lies
For the last time
Love exists but now shared
Upon waking he will prepare
To honour another love
Marriage
Weeks go by
She walks into the room
He must be well
The bed is empty
One day the bed is gone
She still walks in
Sure he will not be there
Does he look like the memory she holds
He returns one night
Baby in hand
Newly minted life
He talks of checking each night
© Peter Choate 2017
Lying by politicians and others in power has become so common that it is trite to note the lying. The worry is that we have become so inured by lying that we sort of dismiss it, make jokes or let it slide by. Powerful liars don't seem to mind being caught. There is the "post truth" era; "alternative facts" and so on. Truth is becoming a value of rapidly diminishing worth.
Fake news even hits the supposed bastion of truth. Academia is struggling with this, not so much in the way of fraud, as exaggeration of results. It is only with sensational results or breakthroughs that many can find their way into top tier journals. Academia is also being plagued by fake or predatory journals.
Recent research has reaffirmed that children caught in bitter divorce and custody battles suffer long term emotional damage. Yet, courts are clogged with these protracted, bitter disputes.
As societies we honour the rich and profit. How many photos of any particular celebrity can be consumed in a day? Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, Facebook are full of them as are other forms of media.
Why you might ask, does this matter to meditation. Well, philosophers from as far back as the Greeks, have been debating ego versus altruism. In ego, we allow the personal wants and desires to matter over any other need, even if it negatively impacts another. If ego were the only true emotion, then altruism could not exist as we would not care about others. If altruism were the only, then we would not care about the self. Only the other would matter. For healthy positioning, we balance the two.
The imbalance in society and self leads to harm. Too much ego and pollution, destruction and wanton consumption takes over. Too much altruism, then the self gets ignored and the strength of care weakens. The self is destroyed.
Meditation allows us to find the balance. Care of self and care of others. Knowing within self where each of these emotions lies becomes our way of being in society. It also helps to step away from the significant egoist imbalances that seem to be so predominant at the this time.
Care transmitted
She walks into the room
Each night the ritual is performed
There her son lies
For the last time
Love exists but now shared
Upon waking he will prepare
To honour another love
Marriage
Weeks go by
She walks into the room
He must be well
The bed is empty
One day the bed is gone
She still walks in
Sure he will not be there
Does he look like the memory she holds
He returns one night
Baby in hand
Newly minted life
He talks of checking each night
© Peter Choate 2017
No comments:
Post a Comment