MenoSundays; Life Lived Lovingly

Last week, the concept of being a 'good person' was under discussion. Thank you to those who engaged in the comments!

It is a simple fact that everything, yes everything, in life which requires change ultimately starts with one person. Why cannot that person be you or me? The post on plastics is one place to begin that process. Okay, so part of the self-monitoring on our plastics usage is to conform to what is currently a social 'hot potato', but overall, the outcome will be a positive one. Firstly for ourselves but then for the wider community and environment. For ourselves, because we can gain a sense of wellbeing from 'doing the right thing' (and we all seek approval for that, do we not?): for the broader community because the world will be just that bit cleaner for our efforts.

There is a general feeling that 'being good' means to help others. Well, no argument here - yet I have been around situations and outreach enough in life to know that not all helping of others is actually done in the spirit of 'goodness'.

A great many folk will 'do good' because it makes them look good from the outside, yet their minds and hearts are raging with one or other - or several - of the 'shatripuu'. We all know such folk. On one extreme, they are the 'look at me, am I not the best?' people, and on the other end, the 'so humble even the church mouse is higher than me' types. The egotist and the doormat - and many shades of both in between. Both will be who they are not because they have worked on themselves but because they are products of their upbringing and circumstances of life.

To be a truly good person, one must have the whole of oneself immersed in it; not just the body, but the mind and the soul (however you define that) also. Only when we can give without thought of return, when we can act without expectation of praise, yet without also losing our sense of self-identity, can we consider ourselves to be on the road to true goodness. This is why each person must seek to self-improve, to be self-honest and to be one hundred per cent responsible for who they are. This is an everyday, ongoing process. Yet life is such these days that often the last person we are thinking of in these terms is ourselves. We are so directed to look outwards and even, quite often, made to feel bad about looking inwards. Society, as a whole, is not keen on 'navel-gazers'. In the West, anyway. Many of the Eastern cultures understand and even promote such personal behaviour.

The example of the 'shatripuu' is a testament to that. Most of the philosophy of Vedanta - the underpinning of Sanatana Dharma ("Hinduism") - is geared towards self-assessment and raising one's personality to its highest vibration.

This can be found in Western culture too. It is generally found through timed and costly therapy sessions or workshops and such like. The West has cherry-picked the bits of Eastern philosophy it thinks it can profit from (monetarily, not just personally). It is the philosophical equivalent of the drug companies taking the active ingredient out of willow bark and creating aspirin. The more and more that chemical structure is replicated now, the further the drug gets away from the original efficacy that the whole herb provided.

The buzzword at the moment is 'mindfulness'. This has arisen from the Buddhistic, first-stage meditational discipline and encourages the practice of focused action. If one is eating, for example, concentrate only on that act, without engaging in conversation, or allowing the mind to ponder other matters whilst consuming the food.

There is no question that many are now finding tranquillity in their day that was not there before. However, the core purpose of the practice is, for the most part, getting left behind. Taking this part out of the context of its whole philosophy means that self-growth cannot fully emerge.

Western thought is to put things under the microscope. It seems to be impossible for a large part of our society to accept the subjective experience of significant other parts of society. The thing is that trying to quantify meditation scientifically is akin to studying how sound is seen, or smell is heard. If two people are sitting together and one has a look of contentment, the other is bound to ask why. The first will then say, "I have tasted the sweetness, and it is Bliss." The second person is now bound to start asking questions because this is something they want for themselves... or they don't believe the first person. Whether from greed or scepticism, they will interrogate the other in the hope of coming to a conclusion about the sweetness that is called Bliss, which they can then use or offer to others.

The trouble with this is that nothing can possibly come close to the actual experience. It is only direct apprehension of the sweetness of Bliss for oneself that genuinely brings understanding.
(Refer to yesterday's 'menorise'.)

Which brings us back to making the self-effort to change! How did we get into discussing meditation in relation to goodness? One of the best tools for self-assessment is meditation. Used well, we are forced to face ourselves.

Before we get to that though, we need to do some preparatory work, and this is where understanding our motivators comes in - the 'shatripuu'. These will be explored over the next few weeks here, (with occasional interludes, perhaps), so I hope you will be happy to come along for the ride.