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understanding karma 3 zen and the planet 11 chakras 18
MINUTES TO MEDITATE PULL THE PLUG24 BEAUTY IN THE WORD 26 HOOD HARMONY 28 32
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As the blazing fire reduces wood to ashes, similarly, the fire of Self-knowledge reduces all Karma to ashes. ~Bhagavad Gita
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by Thanissaro Bhikkhua bit of explanation
Karma is one of those words we don’t translate. Its basic meaning is
simple enough —action — but because of the weight the Buddha’s
teachings give to the role of action, the Sanskrit word karma packs in
so many implications that the English word action can’t carry all its
luggage. This is why we’ve simply airlifted the original word into our
vocabulary.
But when we try unpacking the connotations the word carries now
that it has arrived in everyday usage, we find that most of its luggage
has gotten mixed up in transit. In the eyes of most Americans, karma
functions like fate — bad fate, at that: an inexplicable, unchangeable
force coming out of our past, for which we are somehow vaguely
responsible and powerless to fight. “I guess it’s just my karma,” I’ve
heard people sigh when bad fortune strikes with such force that they
see no alternative to resigned acceptance. The fatalism implicit in this
statement is one reason why so many of us are repelled by the concept
of karma, for it sounds like the kind of callous myth-making that can
justify almost any kind of suffering or injustice in the status quo: “If he’s
poor, it’s because of his karma.” “If she’s been raped, it’s because of her
karma.” From this it seems a short step to saying that he or she deserves
to suffer, and so doesn’t deserve our help.
THE SANSKRIT WORD KARMA PACKS IN SO MANY IMPLICATIONS THAT THE ENGLISH WORD ACTION
CAN’T CARRY ALL ITS LUGGAGE
UNDERSTANDING KARMA
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Without the karma of good deeds, they are only destroying themselves. ~Sri Guru Granth Sahib
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This misperception comes from the fact that the Buddhist concept of
karma came to the West at the same time as non-Buddhist concepts, and
so ended up with some of their luggage. Although many Asian concepts
of karma are fatalistic, the early Buddhist concept was not fatalistic at
all. In fact, if we look closely at early Buddhist ideas of karma, we’ll find
that they give even less importance to myths about the past than most
modern Americans do.
For the early Buddhists, karma was non-linear and complex. Other
Indian schools believed that karma operated in a simple straight line,
with actions from the past influencing the present, and present actions
influencing the future. As a result, they saw little room for free will.
Buddhists, however, saw that karma acts in multiple feedback loops,
with the present moment being shaped both by past and by present
actions; present actions shape not only the future but also the present.
Furthermore, present actions need not be determined by past actions. In
other words, there is free will, although its range is somewhat dictated
by the past. The nature of this freedom is symbolized in an image used
by the early Buddhists: flowing water. Sometimes the flow from the past
is so strong that little can be done except to stand fast, but there are
also times when the flow is gentle enough to be diverted in almost any
direction.
So, instead of promoting resigned powerlessness, the early Buddhist
notion of karma focused on the liberating potential of what the mind is
doing with every moment.
KARMA ACTS IN MULTIPLE FEEDBACK LOOPS, WITH THE
PRESENT MOMENT BEING SHAPED BOTH BY PAST AND
BY PRESENT ACTIONS
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Thus the whirligig of time brings in his revenges. ~William Shakespeare
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Who you are — what you come from — is not anywhere near as important
as the mind’s motives for what it is doing right now. Even though the
past may account for many of the inequalities we see in life, our measure
as human beings is not the hand we’ve been dealt, for that hand can
change at any moment. We take our own measure by how well we play
the hand we’ve got. If you’re suffering, you try not to continue the
unskillful mental habits that would keep that particular karmic feedback
going. If you see that other people are suffering, and you’re in a position
to help, you focus not on their karmic past but your karmic opportunity
in the present: Someday you may find yourself in the same predicament
that they’re in now, so here’s your opportunity to act in the way you’d
like them to act toward you when that day comes.
This belief that one’s dignity is measured, not by one’s past, but by one’s
present actions, flew right in the face of the Indian traditions of caste-
based hierarchies, and explains why early Buddhists had such a field day
poking fun at the pretensions and mythology of the brahmans.
As the Buddha pointed out, a brahman could be a superior person not
because he came out of a brahman womb, but only if he acted with truly
skillful intentions.
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Men may not get all they pay for in this world; but they must certainly pay for all they get. ~Frederick Douglas
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We read the early Buddhist attacks on the caste system, and aside from
their anti-racist implications, they often strike us as quaint. What we fail
to realize is that they strike right at the heart of our myths about our
own past: our obsession with defining who we are in terms of where
we come from — our race, ethnic heritage, gender, socio-economic
background, sexual preference — our modern tribes. We put inordinate
amounts of energy into creating and maintaining the mythology of
our tribe so that we can take vicarious pride in our tribe’s good name.
Even when we become Buddhists, the tribe comes first. We demand a
Buddhism that honors our myths.
From the standpoint of karma, though, where we come from is old karma,
over which we have no control. What we “are” is a nebulous concept at
best — and pernicious at worst, when we use it to find excuses for acting
on unskillful motives. The worth of a tribe lies only in the skillful actions
of its individual members. Even when those good people belong to our
tribe, their good karma is theirs, not ours. And, of course, every tribe
has its bad members, which means that the mythology of the tribe is a
fragile thing. To hang onto anything fragile requires a large investment
of passion, aversion, and delusion, leading inevitably to more unskillful
actions on into the future.
So the Buddhist teachings on karma, far from being a quaint relic from
the past, are a direct challenge to a basic thrust — and basic flaw — in
our culture. Only when we abandon our obsession with finding vicarious
pride in our tribal past, and can take actual pride in the motives that
underlie our present actions, can we say that the word karma, in its
Buddhist sense, has recovered its luggage. And when we open the
luggage, we’ll find that it’s brought us a gift: the gift we give ourselves
and one another when we drop our myths about who we are, and can
instead be honest about what we’re doing with each moment — at the
same time making the effort to do it right.
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THICH
NHAT
HAHN
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HAHN
ZEN AND THE ART OF PROTECTING THE PLANETA rare interview with zen buddhist master Thich Nhat Hahn
by Jo Confino
It is not exactly a traditional Sunday stroll in the English countryside
as 84-year-old Vietnamese zen master Thich Nhat Hanh leads nearly
a thousand people through the rolling Nottinghamshire hills in walking
meditation.The silent procession takes on the shape of a snake as it
wends its way extremely slowly through a forest glade and an apple
orchard. The assembled throng are asked to deeply experience each
step they take on the earth in order to be mindful in the present moment.
Thay, as he is known, steps off the path into a field of tall grass and
sits quietly in meditation. He exudes a sense of serenity, born of his
68 years’ practice as a monk. Despite having hundreds of thousands of
followers around the world and being viewed with the same reverence as
the Dalai Lama, Thay is little known to the general public. He has chosen
to shun the limelight and avoid the shimmer of celebrity endorsement
in order to focus on building communities around the world that can
demonstrate his ethical approach to life.
There are monasteries in France,America and Germany as well as
groups of supporters that meet all over the world, including more than
20 “sanghas” across the UK.
He is seeking to create a spiritual revival that replaces our consumption-
based lives with a return to a simpler, kinder world based on deep respect
for each other and the environment. He rarely gives interviews but
recognizes that the enormous challenges facing the world, combined with
his own increasing age and frailty, means it is important to use what time
and energy he has left to contribute what he can to re-energizing society
and protecting the planet.
Thich Nhat Hahn Buddhist retreat at Nottingham University. Photograph: Frank Schweitzer
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For a man of his age, Thay keeps
to a punishing schedule. After
having lectured to thousands at
London’s Hammersmith Apollo,
Thay has come to Nottingham for
a five day retreat, then goes on to
a three month tour of Asia, before
returning for a winter retreat at
his Plum Village community in
France, where he has lived in exile
for more than 40 years.
Thay, a prolific author with more
than 85 titles under his belt,
has taken a particular interest
in climate change and recently
published the best-selling book
‘The World We Have – A Buddhist
approach to peace and ecology.’
In it, he writes: “The situation the Earth is in today has been created
by unmindful production and unmindful consumption. We consume to
forget our worries and our anxieties. Tranquilizing ourselves with over-
consumption is not the way.”
In his only interview in the UK, Thay calls on journalists to play their part
in preventing the destruction of our civilisation and calls on corporations
to move away from their focus on profits to the wellbeing of society.
He says that it is an ill-conceived idea that the solution to global
warming lies in technological advances. While science is important, even
more so is dealing with the root cause of our destructive behaviour:
“The spiritual crisis of the West is the cause for the many sufferings we
encounter. Because of our dualistic thinking that god and the kingdom
of god is outside of us and in the future - we don’t know that god’s true
nature is in every one of us. So we need to put god back into the right
place, within ourselves. It is like when the wave knows that water is not
outside of her.
“Everything we touch in our daily lives, including our body, is a miracle.
By putting the kingdom of god in the right place, it shows us it is possible
to live happily right here, right now. If we wake up to this, we do not
have to run after the things we believe are crucial to our happiness like
fame, power and sex. If we stop creating despair and anger, we make the
atmosphere healthy again.
“Maybe we have enough technology to save the planet but it is not
enough because the people are not ready. This is why we need to focus
on the other side of the problem, the pollution of the environment not
in terms of carbon dioxide but the toxic atmosphere in which we live; so
many people getting sick, many children facing violence and despair and
committing suicide.
T
TRANQUILIZING OURSELVES WITH OVER-CONSUMPTION
IS NOT THE WAY
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Spiritual pollution“We should speak more of spiritual pollution. When we sit together
and listen to the sound of the [meditation] bell at this retreat, we calm
our body and mind. We produce a very powerful and peaceful energy
that can penetrate in every one of us. So, conversely, the same thing is
true with the collective energy of fear, anger and despair. We create an
atmosphere and environment that is destructive to all of us. We don’t
think enough about that, we only think about the physical environment.
“Our way of life, our style of living, is the cause of it. We are looking for
happiness and running after it in such a way that creates anger, fear
and discrimination. So when you attend a retreat you have a chance to
look at the deep roots of this pollution of the collective energy that is
unwholesome.
“How can we change the atmosphere to get the energy of healing and
transformation for us and our children? When the children come to the
retreat, they can relax because the adults are relaxed. Here together we
create a good environment and that is a collective energy.”
WE ARE LOOKING FOR HAPPINESS
RUNNING AFTER
IT IN SUCH A WAY
THAT CREATES
ANGER
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Thay talks about capitalism as a disease that has now spread throughout
the world, carried on the winds of globalisation: “We have constructed
a system we cannot control. It imposes itself on us, and we become its
slaves and victims.”
He sees those countries that are home to Buddhism, such as India, China,
Thailand and Vietnam, seeking to go even beyond the consumerism of
the West: “There is an attractiveness around science and technology
so they have abandoned their values that have been the foundation of
their spiritual life in the past,” he says. “Because they follow western
countries, they have already begun to suffer the same kind of suffering.
The whole world crisis increases and globalisation is the seed of
everything. They too have lost their non-dualistic view. There are
Buddhists who think that Buddha is outside of them and available to
them only after they die.
“In the past there were people who were not rich but contented with
their living style, laughing and happy all day. But when the new rich
people appear, people look at them and ask why don’t I have a life like
that too, a beautiful house, car and garden and they abandon their
values.” While Thay believes that change is possible, he has also come
to accept the possibility that this civilisation may collapse. He refers to
the spiritual principle that by truly letting go of the ‘need’ to save the
planet from climate change, it can paradoxically help do just that.
IN THE PAST THERE WERE PEOPLE WHO WERE NOT RICH BUT CONTENTED WITH THEIR LIVING STYLE, LAUGHING AND HAPPY ALL DAY
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“Without collective awakening the catastrophe will come,” he warns.
“Civilizations have been destroyed many times and this civilization is no
different. It can be destroyed. We can think of time in terms of millions
of years and life will resume little by little. The cosmos operates for us
very urgently, but geological time is different.
“If you meditate on that, you will not go crazy. You accept that this
civilization could be abolished and life will begin later on after a few
thousand years because that is something that has happened in the
history of this planet. When you have peace in yourself and accept, then
you are calm enough to do something, but if you are carried by despair
there is no hope.
“It’s like the person who is struck with cancer or Aids and they learn
they have been given one year or six months to live. They suffer very
much and fight. But if they come to accept that they will die and they
prepare to live every day peacefully and they enjoy every moment, the
situation may change and the illness may go away. That has happened
to many people.”
Thay says that the communities his Order of Interbeing is building
around the world are intended to show that it is possible to “live simply
and happily, having the time to love and help other people. That is why
we believe that if there are communities of people like that in the world,
we will demonstrate to the people and bring about an awakening so
that people will abandon their course of comforts. If we can produce
a collective awakening we can solve the problem of global warming.
Together we have to provoke that type of awakening.”
IF WE CAN PRODUCE A COLLECTIVE AWAKENING WE CAN SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF GLOBAL WARMING. TOGETHER
WE HAVE TO PROVOKE THAT TYPE OF AWAKENING
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He stops for a moment and goes quiet: “One Buddha is not enough,
we need to have many Buddhas.” Thay has lived an extraordinary life.
During the Vietnam War he was nearly killed several times helping
villagers suffering from the effects of bombing. When visiting America,
he persuaded Martin Luther King to oppose the war publicly, and so
helped to galvanize the peace movement. In fact King nominated him
for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1968.
In the following decade Thay spent months on the South China Sea
seeking to save Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees from overcrowded
boats and, in more recent years, he led members of the US Congress
through a two-day retreat and continues to hold reconciliation retreats
for Israelis and Palestinians at Plum Village.
His whole philosophy is based on watching the breath and walking
meditation to stay in the present moment rather than dwelling on the
past or worrying about the future.
He says that within every person are the seeds of love, compassion and
understanding as well as the seeds of anger, hatred and discrimination.
Our experience of life depends on which seeds we choose to water.
To help the creation of a new global ethic and sustain those positive
seeds, Thay’s Order of Interbeing has distilled the Buddha’s teachings
on the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path into five core
principles.
The Five Mindfulness Trainings, updated in the last year to make them
relevant to our fast changing world, are not a set of rules but a direction
to head in. Beyond calling for mindful consumption, they encourage an
end to sexual misconduct as well as a determination “not to gamble, or
to use alcohol, drugs or any other products which contain toxins, such as
certain websites, electronic games, TV programmes, films, magazines,
books and conversations.”
ONE BUDDHA IS NOT ENOUGH, WE NEED TO HAVE MANY BUDDHAS
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YOUR CHAKRAS
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AND YOU A PRIMERby Thanissaro Bhikkhu
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Chakra is a concept referring to wheel-like vortices which, according to
traditional Indian medicine, are believed to exist in the surface of the
etheric double of man. The Chakras are said to be "force centers" or whorls of
energy permeating, from a point on the physical body, the layers of the subtle
bodies in an ever-increasing fan-shaped formation. Rotating vortices of subtle
matter, they are considered the focal points for the reception and transmission
of energies.Different systems posit a varying number of chakras; the most well
known system in the West is that of seven chakras.
It is typical for chakras to be depicted as either flower-like or wheel-like. In
the former, "petals" are shown around the perimeter of a circle. In the latter,
spokes divide the circle into segments that make the chakra resemble a wheel
(or "chakra"). Each chakra possesses a specific number of segments or petals.
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Muladhara or root chakra is represented as a yellow square, with 4 red
petals. The seed syllable is Lam, the deity is Ganesh, and the Shakti is
Dakini. The associated animal is the elephant Ganesha. This chakra is
where the 3 channels are merged, then separate and begin their upward
movement. Inside of this chakra is wrapped up the goddess kundalini
three times around a black lingam. It is the seat of the red bindu, the
female drop (which in Tibetan vajrayana is located at the navel chakra).
Swadhisthana, Svadisthana or adhishthana is symbolized by a white
lotus within which is a crescent moon, with six vermillion, or orange
petals. The seed mantra is Vam, and the presiding deity is Bramha,
with the Shakti being Rakini ( or Chakini ). The animal associated is the
crocodile of Varuna.
Manipura or manipuraka is symbolised by a downward pointing triangle
with ten petals. The seed syllable is Ram, and the presiding deity is
Braddha Rudra, with Lakini as the Shakti.
Anahata, or Anahata-puri, or padma-sundara is symbolised by a circular
flower with twelve vermillion, or green petals. Within it is a yantra of 2
intersecting triangles, forming a star of David, symbolising a union of
the male and female. The seed mantra is Yam, the presiding deity is
Ishana Rudra Shiva, and the Shakti is Kakini.
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Vishuddha (also Vishuddhi) is depicted as a silver crescent within a
white circle, with 16 light or pale blue, or turquoise petals. The seed
mantra is Ham, and the residing deity is Panchavaktra shiva, with 5
heads and 4 arms, and the Shakti is Shakini.
Ajna is symbolised by a lotus with two petals, and corresponds to the
colors violet, indigo or deep blue. It is at this point that the 2 side nadis
Ida and Pingala are said to terminate and merge with the central channel
Sushumna, signifying the end of duality. The seed syllable for this
chakra is the syllable OM, and the presiding deity is Ardhanarishvara,
who is a half male, half female Shiva/Shakti. The Shakti goddess of Ajna
is called Hakini.
Sahasrara, which means 1000 petalled lotus, is generally considered
to be the chakra of pure consciousness, within which there is neither
object nor subject. When the female kundalini Shakti energy rises to
this point, it unites with the male Shiva energy, and a state of liberating
samadhi is attained. Symbolized by a lotus with one thousand multi-
coloured petals, it is located either at the crown of the head, or above
the crown of the head. Sahasrara is represented by the colour white
and it involves such issues as inner wisdom and the death of the body.
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Finding time for meditation is tricky, but I steal a few moments for
it whenever I can: while reclined in the dentist’s chair, waiting for
the hygienist; while riding the pleasantly rumbling bus on a morning
commute; and, on increasingly rare occasions, while sitting on my
bedroom floor in half lotus position. At this woefully meager rate, however,
enlightenment—or any of meditation’s benefits—seems miles away. For
devout meditators (some with more than 10,000 meditation hours under
their belts), meditation provides clear rewards. Scientists have indicated
that meditation can alter experienced meditators’ brains, changing their
gray matter to improve concentration and mental health. Now, even
the time-crunched masses can enjoy the positive results of meditation,
reports Jason Marsh in Greater Good. A study published in the journal
Psychiatry Research: Neuroimagingreveals that “meditating for just 30
minutes a day for eight weeks can increase the density of gray matter
in brain regions associated with memory, stress, and empathy,” Marsh
writes. Researchers studied 16 participants in the Mindfulness-Based
Stress Reduction (MBSR) program at the University of Massachusetts
Medical Center. None of them were master meditators, yet their brains
were changed by 30-minute meditation sessions.
Minutes to meditate by Margret Aldrich
Serenity photo by Don Reed
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“When their brains were scanned at the end of the program, their gray
matter was significantly thicker in several regions than it was before,”
writes Marsh. He continues: One of those regions was the hippocampus,
which prior research has found to be involved in learning, memory, and
the regulation of our emotions. The gray matter of the hippocampus is
often reduced in people who suffer from depression and post-traumatic
stress disorder (PTSD). The researchers also found denser gray matter
in the temporo-perietal junction and the posterior cingulated cortex
of the meditators’ brains—regions involved in empathy and taking the
perspective of someone else—and in the cerebellum, which has been
linked to emotion regulation. Carving out even 30 minutes a day for
meditation can feel daunting, but Marsh points out that every little bit
counts:
The upshot of all this research seems to be: Small steps matter. Many of
us can bring about positive effects on our brains and overall well-being—
without an Olympic effort.
Serenity 2 photo by Don Reed
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Regardless of your creed or convictions (or lack thereof), it’s hard to deny that the King
James translation of the Bible is an epic tome of efficient diction, unforgettable narratives,
and beautifully wrought poetry. The translation—arguably the most widely read text in the English
language—celebrates its 400th birthday this year and deserves praise for its enduring allure and
literary relevancy. Ann Wroe of More Intelligent Life recently lauded the elegant language of the
King James Bible in a passionate piece of personal essay and approachable scholarship. First, she
describes her initial interaction with the KJV, a chance reading at St. John’s College Chapel. “The
effect was extraordinary” remembers Wroe, “as if I had suddenly found, in the house of language I
had loved and explored all my life, a hidden central chamber whose pillars and vaulting, rhythm and
strength had given shape to everything around them.” And when you open its pages, she continues,
“[I]t is to enter a sort of communion with everyone who has read or listened to it before, a crowd
of ghosts,” Wrote continues. “Puritan women in wide white collars, stern Victorian fathers clasping
their canes, soldiers muddy from killing fields, serving girls in Sunday best, and every schoolboy
whose inky fingers have burrowed to 2 Kings 27, where Rabshakeh says, “Hath my master not sent
me to the men which sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss
with you?”
Beauty in the word by Will Wlizlo
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Although she covers many of the KJV’s linguistic curiosities, her ruminations on the specificity
of vocabulary are particularly interesting: By the same token, the reader of the King James lives
vicariously in a world of solid certainties. There is nothing quaint here about a candle or a flagon,
or money in a tied leather purse; nothing arcane about threads woven on a handloom, mire in the
streets or the snuffle of swine outside the town gates. This is life. Everything is closely observed,
tactile, and has weight. When Adam and Eve sew fig-leaves together to cover their shame they
make “aprons” (Genesis 3:7), leather-thick and workmanlike, the sort a cobbler might wear. Even
the colours invoked in the King James—crimson, scarlet, purple—are nouns rather than adjectives
(“though your sins be as scarlet”, Isaiah 1:18), sold by the block as solid powder or heaped glossy on
a brush. And God’s intervention in this world, whether as artist, builder, woodsman or demolition
man, is as physical and real as the materials he works with.
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Connecting to your neighborhoodYou’ve probably heard of borrowing a cup of sugar from your neighbor, but what about borrowing
skills, talents, and support? In Yes! magazine, John McKnight and Peter Block convince us that
utilizing the gifts of the people in our communities can help rebuild families and neighborhoods.
Although the term “dysfunctional” is often used to describe a unit that is not working, McKnight and
Block say that the problem with today’s families and neighborhoods is not dysfunction, it’s non-function.
The essential roles once played by kinfolk and neighbors—babysitters, caregivers, listeners, teachers—are
frequently outsourced, leaving us isolated and disconnected. The benefits of reinstating community function
are clear, say McKnight and Block: Where there are “thick” community connections, there is positive child
development. Health improves, the environment is sustained, and people are safer and have a better local
economy. The social fabric of neighborhood and family is decisive.
by Margret Aldrich
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by Margret Aldrich
But how, exactly, do we repair our non-functional communities? McKnight and Block point us toward a
success story propelled by a group of six neighbors who named themselves the Matchmakers. The group was
born after Naomi Alessio witnessed a simple act of kindness: A friendly, older neighbor named Mr. Thompson
invited her son Theron into the metal-working shop in his garage and taught him how to fashion a few pieces.
Naomi and the Matchmakers wanted to pair up other like-minded members of the community and began
taking stock of their neighbors’ various talents.
It took three weeks to visit all the men on the block. When they were done, they were amazed at what they
had found: men who knew juggling, barbecuing, bookkeeping, hunting, haircutting, bowling, investigating
crimes, writing poems, fixing cars, weightlifting, choral singing, teaching dog tricks, mathematics, praying,
and how to play trumpet, drums, and sax. They found enough talent for all the kids in the neighborhood to
tap into.
The kids on the block had their own usefulness, too, teaching older folks how to use computers or listening to
their stories and writing down the oral history of the neighborhood. Beyond skills and talents, neighbors can
share other resources, like food or yard space. What can result is a neighborhood that feels connected and
capable—a new kind of functional family. So when you hear your next-door neighbor practicing “Slow Ride”
on his Stratocaster for the twelve thousandth time with cheers from his toddler in the background, don’t
think of ways to silence the offender; think instead, I wonder if I offered an hour of babysitting if he’d teach
me that sweet lick?
typical suburban neighborhood photo by Don Reed
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Paying the price to be lazy by Will Wlizlo
You’ve thoroughly forgotten your New Year’s resolutions. Long gone. We understand—it happens every
year. The best-laid personal improvement plans often go awry under pressure from back-to-school blues,
winter snowstorms, income taxes, and—to the chagrin of the neglected all-inclusive gym membership
in your wallet—chocolate. Sweet, sweet chocolate. Of course, one of the most common New Year’s
resolutions is to lose weight, to tone up those thighs, to run longer and faster, to lift more weight more
times. This is only natural: America is collectively letting out more slack on its belt each year, only to
fill the gap with Double Downs and Trenta caramel Frappucinos. America needs exercise resolutions,
but maybe the exerciser-membership dynamic could use some reform. Or, as Good’s Cord Jefferson
puts it, “what if our workout facilities started hitting us where it really counts; not in our guts, but in our
pocketbooks?”
Spin Class photo by Don Reed
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Jefferson isn’t just postulating, he’s describing the incentive structure of Gym-Pact, a Boston-based
enforced fitness program. The idea is simple: Sign up for Gym-Pact and get discounts on memberships
to local gyms, yoga studios, and dance centers. But there’s a hitch. When you sign up, you commit to a
workout schedule—and if you don’t follow through with your fitness regimen, you’re charged a $10 per
day “motivational fee.”
The developers of Gym-Pact were inspired by the pillar of behavioral economic theory that states people
are more incentivized by concrete consequences than uncertain benefits.
“[B]ecause many gym fees are paid for up front,” Jefferson explains, “people tend to give up on working
out fairly easily, as they consider the cost sunk regardless of whether they go. But by instituting an
immediate daily cost, the motivation behind the penalty drastically increases.”
Yoga Class photo by Don Reed
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Digital Detox by Margret Aldrich
Developed by Reboot, a nonprofit organization that aims to reinvent Jewish traditions, the NDU is
for people of any faith or no faith. The 25-hour period is guided by Reboot’s Sabbath Manifesto,
which encourages a weekly “time-out” following ten principles:
For the National Day of Unplugging, avoiding technology is the most important of these principles.
The digital day of rest is in its second year, and Reboot expects it to have the same resonance
that it did in 2010. “People are craving a discrete sanctioned moment in time to unplug from
technology,” says Lou Cove, executive director at Reboot, in a press release. “They are seeking
permission to disconnect without fear of missing an urgent work email or a breaking news story,
and to return to what’s most essential in their lives: community, meaning, and belonging.” This year,
Reboot is offering a tech-aided way to unplug: a “Check Out” app that allows smartphone users
to post messages on Twitter and Facebook announcing when they are unplugging. Users can also
sign up to receive text messages reminding them to unplug. Tanya Schevitz, Reboot’s national
communications coordinator, writes in an email:
Connect with loved ones
Nurture your health
Avoid technology
Avoid commerce
Light candles
Find silenceGet outside
Drink wine
Eat bread
Give back
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Elizabeth Drescher, reporting for Religion Dispatches, appreciates the mission of the National Day
of Unplugging but suggests it is possible for technology to help us reconnect to the world around
us and within us: At its very best, the National Day of Unplugging encourages reflection on the
deeper meaning and value of our relationships with families, friends, our communities, the wider
world of beauty and need, and whatever we might understand as God or the divine—however
much these may or may not be enriched or diminished by our use of technology. In that sense…
the event might better be named “The National Day of Connecting.” On such a day, as I see it,
foundational practices would surely include the intentional powering off encouraged by Reboot.
But there’s no reason it might not also include a digital retreat with the teachers of the online
Buddhist community, Tricycle.
Believe me, we fully appreciate the irony of using a high-tech app to announce a low-tech day. But
really, what better way to tell your followers that you won’t be tweeting on the weekend? We are
not anti-technology. The idea really is to take a pause from the technology that consumes our lives
and reconnect with the people and community who are all around us but are lost in the noise of
today’s relentless deluge of information.
pulling the plug -Don Reed
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DOODLE TIME
each month we select a doodled submitted by a reader like you for this section of the magazine, for this month’s theme we asked you to associate words and images with peace, love and happiness and take some time out of your day to meditate on what those words mean to you. these doodles were submitted by [email protected].
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