Capitalism & Spirituality: The Dehumanizing Effect of Materialism

Man can only worship that which he was made for.

This is his true life, the life that is pre-ordained by his body.

A life of devotion is a journey where the goal is to arrive more fully where you already are—to live for the sake of life alone. From this point of view, the steps we take in order to complete our journey are characterized by an attitude of willingness, rather than willfulness. The present moment is revealed to be an endless act of consent, where we are giving into the revelation of who we are, and as a result, who we are becomes our technique.

Initially the journey is necessarily concerned with your relationship to the external world. This is simply because the search begins with a mind that is scattered out in multiplicity. Our minds are all over the place and we feel trapped in an authentic way of life. But as the search matures and the questions become simpler our focus begins to move away from the margins, back to the center, out of which, our authentic life emerges. Only an unmediated life, a life characterized by simplicity and directness, can accept the search itself—the very question, "Who am I?"—as the definitive answer.

We are looking for the ground out of which the seeds of meaning and love sprout into our lives. And we must look with all our heart, as a life disconnected from meaning and love is a life prey to misery. We must look under every rock, every stone, and in every nook and cranny. We must be willing to question anything and everything, including the existence of God and what we think is important in life.

We must search until we find the truth in our heart that cannot be undone by reason or rationale, as it is unspoken Truth, substantiated by direct experience. Then, we devote ourselves to the unfolding of Truth by organizing our life around the expression of Truth. This is the proper meaning of devotion and worship. Devotion, in its proper context, is not blind obedience. It is an attitude of willingness that transforms us into a disciple of Truth. In this way, our life is shaped by the expansion of Truth into the domain of our Incarnation.

In the modern world, many of us worship money.

We seek gain for the sake of gain, and in doing so, make money our master. We follow it as we organize our lives around the dehumanizing patterns of behavior that lead to the acquisition of money. Then, we use the acquired money to purchase 'things' that require more money, which reinforces the automatized habits necessary for the production of more money. True, many of us have families to support, and we want to provide the best possible life for our children, but we need to understand that the life we give our children is not the one we pay for, but the one we live. We must be sure that the life we are offering our kids by way of our example is not an automated life that reduces us, and consequently them, to just another cog in the wheel of an economic machine. This is the rat race, the unavoidable consequences of which, are sickness and insanity.

Spiritual practice is necessarily a challenge. It is a protest of the dehumanizing manner of living prescribed by materialism. "You cannot serve two masters, as you will love one and despise the other."

But true spirituality never calls you out of the world. In fact, it brings you into a greater intimacy with the world. True spirituality brings you back to the self existing world, which cannot be undone by any amount of effort or rationalization, as it is pre-dates both effort and rationalization. So naturally, spiritual practice appears to take you out of 'this' world, but only because it is pulling you away from the automated routine and bringing you back to a spontaneous way of life that enables you to realize your humanity.

Practical Approach to Daily Living: Follow Love or Die on the Spot.

"Everyone has to love something even if its just tortillas." - Chogyam Trungpa

We all love. There is nothing we can do about that. It is our nature to love. The question is, Will this love be intentional or will it get tied up in some mindless waste of time like video games or TV?

There is an element of will power involved with love. Love has to be disciplined. In fact, we must become a disciple of love. This means that when we find what we love, we must do whatever it takes to stay with that. In this sense, discipline is a fidelity to truth, as it manifests within the context of our life.

Love is uncompromising. We  must give our self wholly and completely over to it. Nothing can stand in the path of love—not relationships, not work, fear, pride, or naysayers: internal or external. You may say, "I do not have time to paint, or go mountain biking, to write, or play music. I have to make a living." But in fact, you do not have time not to love. To love is to be who you truly are. It is to follow your heart.

 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself." Matthew 6:25-34

Whatever stands in the way of love must be destroyed on the spot, lest we misplace our journey with worry.

This is the path of the spiritual warrior. It takes courage to abandon your self to love. To abandon worry and follow blindly the stirrings of your heart. But it is also not an option. If you do not do it, your life will begin to unravel from the inside. You will be prey to misery. So, if the courage is not there, I urge you to cultivate that courage. Courage is not the absence of fear, but, as Chogyam Trungpa said, the willingness to move forward with your knees knocking.

The universe is forever calling us back to who we truly are, back to our true Self. This calling is heard in our passion. Learning how to love, how to live an impassioned life is the only way to effect change in a world that is generic and mass produced. If painting is your passion then paint; if writing brings you joy then grab a pen; if it is charity or service work that sets your heart on fire then give your Self—your whole self, holding nothing back.

This is what it means to truly live. Everything else is death.

Working with the Un-Common Funk: 6 Steps, 30 Days, Freedom from Despair.

Sanity is not optional. 

The modern lifestyle seems to be characterized by busyness and noise. We get so lost in all of our busyness that we forget about sanity and well-being. It is so sad, because we might even say that sanity is not important, it is essential. As a society, we have bought into the misunderstanding that sanity is an option. We believe we can choose whether we want to invest in our health and well-being or watch the news and hurry off to work. Unfortunately, this misunderstanding has disastrous consequences. 

After just a short time, we are depressed. We have stared into the light box or our cell phone for so long that our brain feels like an inanimate mass stuck between our ears. We start to yearn for some spark, some sort of vitality. We eat a bag of M&M's or drink two or three soft drinks. This provides us with a jolt, but it is short lived. In the end we feel only more depressed. This approach is dangerous. A day or two is one thing, but if this goes on for weeks or months, it can lead you into a pit of despair that seems nearly impossible to escape.

Change is not an option, it is a necessity. But, at this point turning around is easier said than done. We are un-motivated because we have depleted the brain of pleasurable neurotransmitters with our junk food diet, lack of exercise, excessive sexual activity, drinking, and/or drug use. To make matters worse, we are fighting an uphill battle because the very physiological system that was meant to reinforce healthy behavior was used to create and reinforce the self-destructive rut we are now stuck in. So, not only will everything in you want to eat a pound of candy and watch TV, but none of your attempts to change will, in the beginning, be reinforced. Hence the famous words of St Paul, "For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing."

Digging out of this rut is, in the initial phases, little more than a struggle against self-centeredness. Basically, we are struggling against our own self-imposed limitations, which are experienced as an inability to do what we do not want to do, and not do what we do want to do. We are protesting our self-imposed imprisonment. So, step one is to dispose of all un-realistic expectations about this journey:  the fire under your butt will burn out after about three days; not being fired up does not mean you cannot move forward; knowing that will not change the fact that at some point you will want to give up; you are not perfect, but that is not an acceptable reason to not try. 

Change isn't necessarily about results.  

In a situation like this commitment can be incredibly effective. However, our sense of commitment is only as strong as our intention. So, before we begin we must strengthen our intention. Before we get out of bed in the morning, we need to connect with a motivation that we cannot wear out. We need a motivation that transcends our self-centered way of thinking. Every morning we have to dig deep and find a sense of inspiration buried within ourselves that is sustained, not by the promise of profit, but by a fundamental form of gratitude that reminds us of the great potential embedded in the human condition and our responsibility to manifest that potential in our daily lives.

So, once we have strengthened our resolve what do we commit to? Do we commit to a dogma, a person, or a divine presence? No. We commit to a way of life. We are concerned with where and how, not why, who, or what? To begin with we are devoting ourselves to action. 

What follows are six simple steps that seek to reconnect you with the center of meaning and inspiration in your life.

1.     Study: Look for a book that offers you a challenge, not a source of entertainment. If you are a religious person, sacred scripture may do the trick. If not, look through the philosophy or perhaps the spirituality section at your local book store. Remember the emphasis here is on open-mindedness, not entertainment. So, pick something that resonates with you, while encouraging you to step out of your comfort zone. We want something that challenges our worldview and makes us think. We are looking for something that is simply fun. If you cannot think of anything ask Google or a friend. We should read for at least 10 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes in the evening everyday for a month. 

2.     Fasting: This is not a diet. The emphasis here is not on nutrition, but discipline. With that said, keep it simple. Perhaps you would like to give up fried foods or red meat for 2-3 days. While it is important not be so extreme that you set yourself up for failure, it is equally important not to sell yourself short. Pick something that is a problem for you—pizza, candy, or soft drinks—and give it up for a few days. Honesty is all that matters. If you do not struggle with eating, one day with no food, or two days just juicing is plenty. Whatever our choice, we should perform the fast once a week for one month. No more, no less. Remember discipline and asceticism are not the same thing. We are practicing commitment (samaya) in order to break out of a rut, not punishing ourselves for being a slouch. 

3.     Cleaning: In extenuating circumstances action and more action (karma yoga) is the remedy. It reconnects us with the body, which is the source of inspiration. For the next thirty days, we should devote 30 minutes per day to cleaning our environment. This includes laundry, sweeping the floors, washing dishes, the whole bit. Your environment is a reflection of your mind. If your mind is messy, your environment is messy. If the environment is connected to your state of mind, then we should be able affect our mind state by effecting the environment. When we have cleaned our house or finished our yard work a sense of dignity is resurrected within us.     

4.     Hygiene: Bathing is another form of action based practice. However, bathing has more ritualistic connotations and therefore a greater capacity to effect change in one's mind-stream. We should bathe and/or shower twice daily for thirty days. A morning shower and an evening bath have proven most practical for me. While a shower is acceptable it is important that we work in a proper bath whenever possible, as the full body submersion has a purifying quality. If you would like to add candles, bath salts, bubble bath, or any other bath product that strengthens the experience for you, please do so. Do not skimp. When a bath is not possible, sitting on the floor of the shower under the running water is the most effective option. This practice can be enhanced with prayer. If you have a morning prayer routine or would like to start one, I highly suggest bringing it into the shower. Praying under the running water is powerful.

We can also effect a great deal of change in our mind stream by putting on a nice set of clothes. For the next thirty days we should pay close attention to how we dress. Allow yourself to look good and feel good. We do not have to wear a suit everywhere, but we should invest in our appearance as it is but a symbol. How we look is a reflection of our quality of life. Effecting our appearance is an excellent way of reconnecting with our intrinsic sense of self-worth. The emphasis of step four is on self-love (maitri).

5.     Exercise: We are not training for the Iron Man. Keep it simple and allow your own capacities to define simplicity. If you are quite fit, then establish a routine that is on par with your fitness level. But remember, fitness is not the only thing that should be considered when thinking about sustainability. We have to take time into account. Within the framework of our current goal—breaking out of our rut—consistency is more important than breaking personal records. So, always consider your daily schedule and plan an exercise routine that you can stick to. If you are not in great shape, do not fret. Start where you are. If that is a simple walk or recreational bike ride, then so be it. But whatever your fitness level, consider your time constraints. We do not want to set ourselves up for failure. We should be able to find at least a half hour we can devote to our physical fitness for the next thirty days.

6.     Meditation (silence): We live in an age where silence is becoming more and more rare. We are perhaps the first generation in the history of the human race that has completely eliminated silence from our daily life. Just 20 years ago most people were forced to be totally quiet at least once a day while using the toilet. Now we just take our phones and look at FaceBook. We have completely filled our periods of natural silence with noise. In order to remedy this issue, we can take a few practical steps. First, catch yourself when you are fiddling with your phone just to past time and quit: on the bus, while waiting in line, or on the toilet identify mindless phone activity and eliminate it on the spot. Second, eat dinner without the TV. Third, turn off the radio when you are in your car. Take out the head phones while you are walking or riding your bike.

Now, we can begin to install periods of intentional silence. We can begin with 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the middle of our day and allow this to carry on for thirty days. It is important to allow silence to form our intentions before we leave the house, and to allow silence to interrupt our busyness throughout the course of our day. If you are familiar with meditation practice or would like to start a practice routine, you can use these two periods for formal meditation practice. If you are not really interested in meditation as a practice, take about 15 minutes in the morning and fifteen minutes at lunch to sit in silence. Walk outside and sit on a park bench or in your back yard. Take a deep breath to begin and feel the crispness of the air and its effect on your body. Feel your lungs and abdomen as they expand with the in-breath and contract with the out breath. Feel the heart beating. Just notice any sensations, including thoughts, as they arise. We do not need to do anything with them. Just let them come and go. In fact, it is our willingness to let things be as they are, including the compulsion to mess with everything, that qualifies this period as silence.

This simple process is intended to reconnect you with the source of inspiration in your own life. Once you have found that inspiration, above and beyond everything else, hang onto it. This is your journey. Making the journey is not an option. Jobs are optional. The journey can be intentional or we can deny it and become a prisoner within the walls of our skin. When it is intentional it is commonly referred to as the spiritual path. 

Spirituality is a process of discipleship. Once we reconnect with the movement of bliss within, we must become its disciple, its student—allowing it to discipline and guide us deeper into who we are.  Listen to it. Follow it everywhere. No matter where it goes. We must be willing to follow it into our darkness and uncertainty. It will bring us face to face with our demons and give us the courage to face them. It will teach how to be both nurturing and strong. It will never destroy fear, but it will teach you how to be yourself in the face of fear. 

12 Step Spirituality & the Practice of Meditation.