I was inspired to write this post, after a small incident about a dint in my car. I called the post the honest Buddhist, (at Tejvan.co.uk) because I was touched by a fellow seekers sincerity and honesty. It was also a reminder than non-attachment gives a sense of freedom and happiness.

What is non-attachment?

Non-attachment means we do not cling to things of this world – it means we do not hold onto opinions, material objects, and people with a sense of personal possession and expectations.

Non-attachment means we love the source of life, but we also acknowledge everything in this world passes away.

Non-attachment means we try to do our best, but without expectation of result or reward.

Non-attachment and indifference

There is a big difference between non-attachment and indifference. Indifference means we don’t care and we ignore what is going on in the world. Non-attachment can involve a pure form of love, where we give and care. But, the difference is that we give this love, compassion and concern, without expecting a certain outcome and reward.

Non-attachment and love

“Detachment and not possession should be the bridge between you and the object of your love. Spiritual detachment intensifies the seeking of our hearts, purifies the vibrations of our bodies, transforms the ignorance of our consciousness into knowledge.”

– Sri Chinmoy [source]

If we love with attachment, we can easily become frustrated. Suppose we offer love, but the person doesn’t behave in the way we expect – then we become frustrated and even angry. However, if it is an unconditional love, a love without attachment, we can never be disappointed, because we love the real, the soul in other people. If outwardly, they disappoint, it doesn’t matter, because the divine love is its own reward.

Non-attachment and relationships

Non-attachment doesn’t mean we avoid relationships with other people. It means we develop relationships, but we are not limited by outer expectations. People come and go throughout her life. We may know people for many, many years, but ultimately everything must pass, at least in the outer sense. However, if we have faith in the soul, in the inner life, we know that a relationship that ends in this lifetime, is not necessarily the end.

Non-attachment and death

The greatest attachment is to our own body. We want to cling on to the body, but life and death are all part of the great cycle of evolution. The poet in Rumi speaks:

“A stone I died and rose again a plant; A plant I died and rose an animal; I died an animal and was born a man.”

Rumi reminds us not to be attached; the soul is in evolution, if we let go of what we currently have, we can become aware of a deeper reality and a sense of who we really are.

“If you realize that all things change, there is nothing you will try to hold on to. If you are not afraid of dying, there is nothing you cannot achieve.”

― Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

If we try to hold on to what we have, we slow down our evolution. Our current state of being is not giving us full illumination, but there is a greater consciousness to attain. To grow, we also have to let go our past and current limitations. When we were a child, we were attached to many things – teddy bear, small bike. But, now we are adult, we know these things no longer give a fulfillment we are looking for.

Non-attachment and freedom

“I want to sing like the birds sing, not worrying about who hears or what they think.”

– Rumi

Non-attachment to the opinions of the world gives us a great sense of freedom and joy. If we live trying to please others, if we are attached to the praise of other people, we will not be true to our real life’s purpose. If we are non-attached to conformity, our real personality will come to the fore, and ultimately, this is more attractive to our current limited sense of self.

If we are a victim to our own desires and addictions, we don’t have real freedom. Instead substances and opinions influence the way we live. If we can gain non-attachment, we no longer act out of compulsion, but according to our inner being’s deepest aspiration.

“By non-attachment, you overcome and deny the power of anything to act upon you.”

– Swami Vivekananda

The path to non-attachment

Non-attachment is difficult to attain. We shouldn’t expect to instantly gain non-attachment – nor should we try to attain non-attachment through suppression.

But, we can start to lose our attachment to harmful habits. Then we can start to lose our sense of attachment to material objects that we don’t need. In relationships with other people, we will seek to gain more non-attachment, not through less concern, but seeking to love the real, and be less attached to what we get back in return.

The path to non-attachment should always be a positive one. For example, if we can experience inner peace in meditation, then we will definitely find it easier to give up attachment to passing desires.

Also, don’t forget some of our most powerful attachments may be our own opinions. If we are rigid in our views and opinions, then we will invariably be frustrated. If we are less attached, we can be like a tree who bends in the wind, staying strong and unmoved from the buffets of life.

Related

• The honest Buddhist at Tejvan.co.uk
• Quotes about non-attachment at Writespirit

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Recent posts include:

• How to avoid negativity.
• Dealing with personal difficulties
• The art of change
• The meaning of non-violence (ahimsa)

People are given 3D glasses, which give a virtual world. In this virtual world, people come across a person who is down on his luck – homeless and suffering. Usually, in response to seeing this person, people offer kind words to this stranger to help him feel better.

Later, the person undergoing treatment, experiences being the homeless person, who is then comforted by their own words of kindness and compassion. They hear the exact words, that they offered from the other perspective.

Whether it works or not, it raises quite a few interesting ideas about the nature of depression and how to try and overcome it.

What goes around comes around. The first interesting observation is that this simulation works by speeding up the law of karma. If we offer kindness to others, this kindness will come back to us. Similarly, if we offer hatred to others, that too will come back to haunt us. Sometimes, we can forget that we should always treat others, how we would wish to be treated ourself.

Bringing out our good qualities. A strong point of this treatment is that it puts us in a position where our natural good qualities – concern, compassion and kindness come to the fore. Everybody has a heart, but when we are stuck in the cycles of the minds depression, we can forget about our own heart’s good qualities.

We heal ourself. Another interesting thing is that in this exercise, we are healing ourself. We don’t rely on the words of other people, we don’t rely on drugs, but we realise that we have the capacity to offer something very valuable to other people. When we come face to face with our good qualities, we feel better about ourself. It is this sense of self-worth that can be helpful for overcoming feelings of isolation and depression.

Giving and receiving. Some people are very good at wanting to give and help others, but we can often block off kindness and good vibrations coming back to us. The mind feels we should always give – but giving isn’t just one way; it is a cycle.  Sometimes the proud mind, doesn’t want to accept good will, but we need to be open to kindness coming our way too. This exercise puts us in a situation where we have to see good will and compassion being offered to us. It is all the more powerful because of the fact it comes from ourself.

We are not alone. Depression often comes from a sense of isolation. Even in the midst of millions of people, we can feel alone and cut off. This exercise reminds us that when we interact in a positive way with other people, we feel a sense of connectedness with our wider self and human family.

To help yourself help others. If we feel cut off and alone, a good place to start is to see what we can give to others. We may not feel like helping ourself, but when we see others in a difficult plight, we can be willing to try and offer good will to those more unfortunate. This is a great exercise for ourself, because it takes us out of our limited mind and sense of self.

Also, the good thing about this exercise is that we are in a position where we are giving happily and unreservedly. When we offer kindness to a homeless person who has nothing, we are giving from our pure heart – we don’t expect anything in return. Sometimes, we give conditionally – hoping to get something back; but this diminishes our offering. We should always try to give happily and unreservedly, as this aphorism from Sri Chinmoy reminds us.

Conclusion

The title of this post is “a simple treatment for depression”. But, in reality, there may not be a simple cure – more a slow progression from a difficult place to a more enlightened place. However, it is definitely worth bearing in mind there are various ways that we can help to look at the world in a different light.

Related

• Effective ways to get out of a negative mindset

Quote at top

“Do you want to be always happy?” From Ten Thousand Flower Flames part 12 by Sri Chinmoy

True, from one perspective there may be a certain justification in our dissatisfaction. But, the real spiritual life is to avoid dissatisfaction – to accept the world as it is and see the world through loving eyes.

I came across this poem by Sri Chinmoy.

Here on earth I feel
Everything is wrong,
Everything is imperfect,
Everything is undivine
If it is not totally to my liking.
Such being the case,
How do I dare
To think that Heaven
Will be to my liking?
The dissatisfaction-tiger in me, alas,
Is infinitely more powerful
Than the perfection-power
That poor Heaven embodies.

• Sri Chinmoy, FF:2585

It is an important poem because when we are full of dissatisfaction, we think that it is the outer world which is wrong and needs to change. But, in this poem, Sri Chinmoy challenges us to be aware that if we see dissatisfaction everywhere – perhaps we will even see dissatisfaction in Heaven.

Some say that the afterlife is very much a continuation of this life. If we are judgemental, dissatisfied and frustrated, moving to a different plane or location will not solve anything. Like moving from one country to another, we can’t expect our problems to be magically solved by going somewhere else.

However, if we can learn to live and accept the superficial imperfection we see all around and instead see the underlying beauty of life, then wherever we go – then we can create our own Heaven on earth.

But, the British reserve rarely says anything. Instead we complain in silence and then don’t go back or just put up with it. Also, there is no point in saying anything, unless there is some receptivity to hearing suggestions. Also, advice is easy to give, but it is much more important to deal with our own problems first!

Recently, I’ve been watching a series on television about failing businesses who ask a business consultant to come in and offer advice on how to turn the business around. It is an interesting insight into human behaviour!

One episode focused on a clothes shop which was losing money and was stuck in the past. The owner was passionate about clothes, but didn’t have much business sense and a mixed consumer service, which was good in parts, but also involved insulting consumers.

The business consultant suggested many changes which would help revitalise the business and reposition it in the market.

Some notes

There is an inevitable resistance to change when we have been used to doing something in our own way for a long time.

Step by step approach. After suggesting several changes, the consultant realised it was too much. The business owner didn’t want to change the name of the shop. Although, he could see some of the benefits of changing, there was still an attachment to the previous ways of working. The consultant saw this and cut back her suggestions. Rather than make complete change, she suggested business owner make the changes he felt comfortable with. The owner had to be happy with the change they implemented.

Accentuating the positive strengths. The suggestions of change were met with resistance and uncertainty about moving out of their comfort zone. Rather than keep hitting on about the need to change, the consultant set up a day, where they would be able to show their skills of retailing in a different environment. By allowing their strong customer skills to come to the fore, the owner gained more confidence in the process of change, and how these skills could be at the centre of the business. Always we need a mixture of stick and carrot. Not just the stick!

Moving out of our comfort zone. From an outside perspective the changes seemed very rational, common sense and you could see the business sense. Yet, for the owner, it was very challenging to move beyond his comfort zone. There was a mixed feeling. Some positivity at seeing the improvements in the store, but also the difficulty of letting go of previous modes of working. We all have an attachment / pride to our existing way of being / working.

Ingratitude. The interesting thing is the relationship between the owner and the consultant. The owner both appreciated the advice and the revitalised business, but at the same time partly resented her presence and influence. In a good moment, he was grateful, but in other moments, he expressed frustration and negative feelings. It felt very much like the rebellious teenager who is helped to overcome a difficult situation by parents, but at the same time the pride of the teenager doesn’t find it easy to be grateful for the parental concern.

Lessons from this

Tough Love

Sometimes, people want us to tell them how good their way of living / working is. This is fine, but if we offer false flattery, the business will fail / the person will keep making mistakes. If we really care about someone, then we may need to challenge that person to try different modes of working and approach to life. This is difficult because when we push someone’s boundaries and move them out of their comfort zone there is much resistance.

If we ask for help, we have to have some humility.

If a business owner doesn’t ask for our help, we have no right to tell them what to do. But, if we become aware of a problem and realise a business is set to fail, we may ask for help. But, if we ask for help, we can’t expect to be told we are doing everything right. If we want to seek help, we also have to be willing to embrace some form of change. It makes no sense to be aware our way isn’t working, but when someone suggests a different path – we reject it and stick with our old way.

Only the person themselves can make the change. A  consultant can offer a path of how to progress, but ultimately, unless the person themselves sees the wisdom and embraces the different path, it won’t work.

A good teacher may set a high goal of complete change, but also he has to be adaptable. If full change can’t be managed, he will begin with encouraging small, step by step change.

It takes courage to admit things aren’t working out and seek help. Many businesses may be making mistakes, but the owner is never willing to seek help / look for another way of doing things – and then they go out of business. If things are going wrong, it takes a certain moral courage and willingness to seek help. This is not a sign of weakness, but strength.

Spiritual Master and disciple

This example was from the world of commerce. There was a business owner and business consultant. But, I see many parallels between that of disciple and spiritual Master. Seekers seek a spiritual Master because they feel there is no satisfaction in their lives and they  hope there is a better way of living. The spiritual Master can lovingly encourage the seeker to make changes which will result in more happiness.

However, often our initial enthusiasm for change diminishes and we see the Master’s suggestions – not as tough love, but we struggle to move out of our comfort zone and accept the challenges to our own limited self. The secret of the spiritual life is to remain willing to make gradual changes; to have the humility that there may be a better way of doing things and always be willing to change.

Related

• Practical ways to change your life

Sometimes I think back and, through rose tinted spectacles, remember the halcyon days of pre-internet. Playing Chinese checkers with my grandma on the lawn. No video games, no computers, no internet, the only tv a 11” black and white set with 3 channels. Those were the days! It makes me feel positively old. You certainly didn’t have to worry about whether people were liking your picture of your cat on t’internet.

Would life have been more enjoyable with the internet? I don’t think so. It would have come in pretty handy for doing my homework, but apart from that I can’t say I lie awake at night – thinking if only I’d been able to read more twitter feeds as a child…

So here are some tips for navigating the world wide web.

Don’t read the comments.

I like this twitter feed,- don’t read the comments. I shall post a couple of my favourites.

“The problem with internet comments is that you can never really know who’s saying them.”

— Winston Churchill

“Whenever you see a smiling child, remember: she’s never read a comment in her life, and she’s doing just fine.”

A few years ago, I was quite happy to find newspapers online, you could read a few articles and save yourself a pound. But, then newspapers started comment sections, and against your inner will, you sometimes find yourself drawn to reading comment with a never-ending stream of  opinion and judgement.  There is something about comment sections in newspapers that seems to bring out the worst in people. I’m sure in real life, they are good people, but there is no enlightenment or joy from reading a few reactionary comments in newspapers. The interesting thing is even though you know comments are useless and a waste of time, you can still be drawn to read them. If you want to read newspapers without comments, try this comment blocker for Firefox.

If you read the comment section on this blog – you will of course find every rule has its exception!

When writing assume good faith.

The problem with the internet is that it is a never-ending playground for those who get a subtle pleasure from criticising, arguing and pulling people down. There are some internet commentators who seemingly scour the internet looking for a flaw or mistake to justify some self-righteous condemnation. The problem is that it can make writers defensive. We can start thinking – but if I write that, people will see it as angle to criticise. Our writing can become full of hedges and clarifications to sub-consciously pre-empt future criticism. But, great writers have the confidence to state the truth as they see it. People will make of it what they want. The best is to write for an audience where you assume good faith, common sense and a certain sympathy. The writing will be much stronger than an article full of hedging and trying to please everyone on the internet (an impossibility)

There is a very good article here on defensive writing on the internet.

Don’t seek validation from online

Sites like instagram, twitter, blogs and facebook can become a tool where we are constantly seeking some form of online validation. It can become addictive to seek validation from likes and views and people who agree. But, this is a superficial sense of validation, and very different from a lasting sense of satisfaction that comes from real interaction with people in the physical.

One Instagram star gave up because she felt her online presence and social media addiction was just a mask for what was going underneath. E.Oneill writes:

“Online it looked like I had the perfect life … yet I was so completely lonely and miserable inside. “

This can occur if we become too addicted to trying to show a certain online face, but ignore the real life underneath.

Don’t spend time on the internet because you have nothing better to do.

We have all done it. A spare 10 minutes – not worth starting something worthwhile, so we check a news feed or favourite site. Before, we know it we have found ourselves following a trail of links to sites and those 1o spare minutes have become 20 minutes. But, there is no sense of accomplishment, only a passing of time and perhaps a missed opportunity.

It requires a certain discipline to avoid  logging on because it is the path of least resistance. There is always something else better we can do.

Spend a weekend without touching a computer / phone and see the difference.

One problem of being online, is that it can become difficult to turn off and switch modes. One of the best ways to see how much joy we get from the internet, is to spend a weekend totally unplugged doing something completely different – like climbing a mountain with friends or whatever. When you have real joy, the attraction of surfing the net is really diminished and you can see there is much more to life than the endless checking of email and facebook.

Choose carefully where you spend time.

One of my favourite Monty Python sketches is the argument clinic. Back in the 1960s, if you want an argument, you had to pay £5. These days if you want an argument, there is an ocean of choice all available on the wonderful world wide web.

But, an important thing to bear in mind is that we always absorb some part of what we read. We may think we can go to an internet forum and remain aloof from the silly arguments and strong opinion. But, consciously or even unconsciously there is part of us that reacts and is influenced by what we read. Even if we think a comment is really silly and misinformed, we have still processed it through our mind. We may react with a mild sense of annoyance or feeling of smugness we are not as stupid as that person. But, we have spent those five seconds we can’t get back. If we spend hours reading rubbish, it will definitely affect us more than we might ever think. It is a slow change, a slow impact on our mind. But, if we are always reading arguments and heated debate, it will affect our world view and it will subtly bring to the fore our own strong opinions and feelings of pride.

If you seek inner peace through meditation, it becomes even more important to protect that precious inner peace and inner joy we get from meditation. The arguments and opinions of the mind which are so prolific on the internet will steal away the childlike joy we can get from meditation.

Remember you are not responsible for correcting the internet.

Comic by XKCD

This is a favourite cartoon because sometimes we think – if only we could correct everyone, then the internet would be OK. But, how often do people change their mind because of a well-reasoned comment? I wouldn’t say no-one ever changes their mind. But, it is like straightening the tail of a dog, world peace will not dawn because people add a few more internet comments.

Create in your own space.

Rather than reacting to other people and  being limited by the space of big providers like twitter and Facebook, it you want to spend time in creativity, do it on your own terms. Write, create music or videos on your own blog or own channel. Feel it is under your terms. Don’t worry about pleasing an audience. People will want to read something authentic and original not just pleasing the prevailing attitude of the internet.

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It was a symbolic victory of dharma over adharma. But, after the victory, Yudhishthira confessed he was not happy, and he couldn’t understand why.

Sri Krishna told Yudhishthira that his problem was pride. His one remaining undivine quality was pride – pride in his adherence to dharma, pride in his victory.

See: Yudhishthira’s worst enemy at Sri Chinmoy Library

Commentary on the problem of pride

This is the great paradox of leading a good life. If we do the right thing and follow all the required wisdom and spiritual scripture, we can gain a feeling of pride from our own actions. This feeling of pride we may not even notice because it is quite a subtle feeling.

It is good to do the right thing and lead a good life. But, pride can be the undoing of our progress and efforts.

How can we avoid this pride in doing the right thing?

The inner pilot. Feel, if we have the capacity to do the right thing, there is something within us, the divine inner pilot which is acting in and through us. This is not our unique achievement but something that belongs to our bigger I.

Feel that God observes all our actions – inner and outer. If this is the case, we can’t fool God. If we are acting selflessly and with the best motivation, then God will know and this is enough. There is no need to broadcast it to the world.

Who is better than who? If the index finger is stronger than the little finger, we don’t let one finger feel proud it is stronger. All the fingers are an integral part of our hand. Similarly, if we do something good, feel that there are many others who made this possible. If is never our achievement alone, but all those who have helped teach and illumine us.

Humility alone gives joy everlasting. If we feel inner disturbance, if we lack an inner peace and poise, perhaps it is our pride which prevents us from enjoying the satisfaction yearned for by Yudhishthira. If we become aware of this, then we can make a conscious effort to let go of our pride and choose the contentment and inner peace from not valuing our pride.

Remember the problem of pride. If we come across someone who is overly proud, we tend to dislike this attitude. Instead, we value those who are modest and don’t boast. When we observe other people, we can choose which characteristics we would like to cultivate in ourselves.

Related

• How to overcome jealousy
• Irrational thinking and how to overcome
• Tales of humility and pride at Write Spirit

“Jesus son of God, avatar of the Western consciousness: Jesus accepted a mortal body so he could reveal man’s immortality. Jesus accepted a man’s consciousness so he could fulfil the divine consciousness. Jesus accepted bodily pain so he could offer the world eternal joy. Jesus accepted betrayal so he could teach the world the meaning of forgiveness.

Jesus, the innocent child, took into his mind the darkness of the world and became Light. Jesus, the loving Son, took into his heart the suffering of the world and became Compassion. Jesus, the all-knowing Father, took upon his body the sins of the world and became Salvation.

Then he offered his human self — the agonised mind, the betrayed heart, the broken body — at the Feet of God. And he offered his divine self — glowing Light, flowing Compassion, the world-Salvation — at the feet of man.

Jesus was the Cross: God’s Revelation and man’s Illumination. Jesus was the Crucifixion: God’s Self-fulfillment and man’s Self-discovery. Jesus was the Ascension: God’s Compassion-Love and man’s perfection-dawn.”

• Having a dynamic feeling to serve the world.
• The feeling of wanted to be guided by the Supreme.

Question: How can I recognise a spiritual experience as such?

Sri Chinmoy: “Millions of times you have had the feeling of true eagerness to help humanity, and with God’s Grace you have helped humanity according to your capacity. Then you have gotten joy.” [1]

This is interesting because I would have defined spiritual experience as something quite different. I would have defined spiritual experience as a sense of peace, a vision of spiritual light, entering trace. (I might even have included take levitating off the floor…)

Perhaps, I think spiritual experience in terms of something that can be measured, something that isn’t just a steady evolution, but a sudden sense of enlightenment.

Occasionally, these flashes of partial enlightenment may occur, but if we define the spiritual life by these kinds of experience there is a danger of disappointment, even a sense of futility. However, if we place value on Sri Chinmoy’s description of spiritual experience, it is something we can cultivate everyday.

When giving meditation classes, I always talk about what is a good meditation.

Sri Chinmoy writes:

“We can easily know whether we are meditating well or not just by the way we feel and see and think. Right after our meditation, if we have a good feeling for the world, then we know our meditation was good. If we see the world in a loving way in spite of its imperfections, if we can love the world even while seeing its teeming imperfections, then we know that our meditation was good.”

– Sri Chinmoy [1]

The reason I feel this is important is that often people come to our classes and perhaps they find meditation difficult. Yet, at the end of the evening, the seekers usually feel very happy, enthused and have an inner sense of satisfaction.

The point is that even if we can’t meditate particularly well, we can still have a positive experience, gaining a different perspective on life and ourself. Rather than a mind filled with negativity, after meditation, we start to view the world in a loving way. If this is not a spiritual experience, what is?

Serving others

When I became interested in meditation, it was purely with the thought – what could I get out of it?

It never really occurred to me the idea of working with detachment / serving the world, trying to share the fruits of meditation with others. Sri Chinmoy places great value on this concept of service – karma yoga. For example, we organise many running races through the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team; we don’t talk about meditation at races or anything like that. It is valuing running for its own sake – encouraging people to have the chance to promote individual self-transcendence. The important aspect of karma yoga, is that we do action without regard to the fruits of the action. The work is not dependent on the result, but the inner motivation.

Setting up a running race at 6am in the morning when it is cold, is not so appealing from our human aspect which likes comfort. But, after putting on a race, there is a sense of achievement, a sense of doing something positive. By putting on a race, you get a lot yourself.

“Movement is always equipped
With the capacity to destroy
The stagnant negativity
Of the mind.”

Sri Chinmoy [1]

It is interesting to see this willingness to participate as a spiritual experience. Sri Chinmoy once said something along the lines of “I don’t know what you do in the rest of your spiritual life, but I feel that when you participate in the the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team and put on races for the public, you are really offering something to the world.”

I participate in amateur cycle races in the UK. The races are put on by local volunteers who give up their time to organise and marshal, without payment. It is often hard to get sufficient volunteers – generally people prefer to race than stand on a roundabout with a fluorescent jacket. Often it is the same key people who do the bulk of the organising. The way, Sri Chinmoy describes spiritual experience, this willingness to serve without reward is a spiritual quality. It shows even those who might not think they are outwardly following a spiritual path or even have a particular belief system are motivated to act in a way that is selfless. This is a key element of spirituality.

The feeling of wanted to be guided by God

Again, when I took to the spiritual life and meditation, I assumed that the spiritual life was like running or school work – it was about the effort you put in. To an extent, this is true – you do need to put in personal effort. But, the real secret of the spiritual life is that we are trying to become one with God. To be aware of the Highest spiritual realities, we need the humility that it is not our little self which will do this. To transform our nature, to realise the Highest, we need the help and guidance of our Inner Pilot. If we feel we can do everything ourselves, we are not ready for the spiritual life, if we feel we want and need to be guided by the inner divine presence, then that is a spiritual experience in its own way.

Sometimes, I try really hard to inner the Inner Pilot, but I don’t hear anything or perhaps there is a confusion of message, with the heart feeling something, but the message being clouded by doubts of the mind. I feel this is a failure. I want to listen to God, but can’t hear what He’s saying.

Previously I may have defined this as another failed spiritual experience. But, again from Sri Chinmoy’s perspective just the willingness to listen, the willingness to be guided is itself a spiritual experience.

If we are really sincere to listen to the guidance of the Inner Pilot, I do feel eventually the message will filter through. It is not like you actually hear a voice, but you start to get an inner feeling of the best way to proceed. When doubts and tension dissipate, and it is replaced by a calmness, poise, lack of ego, then we feel we are on the right track.

Is this not a spiritual experience to feel guided to a choice that gives greater inner peace and poise?

The ultimate spiritual experience

The great Masters and sages say, that the ultimate spiritual experience is to know who you really are, then all your problems will be solved. But, on the way to the goal, we have to be happy with small steps.

Related

• So you think you’re enlightened?
• Things I have learnt from meditation

Thomas Jefferson wrote

“The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers.”

Jefferson also illumines us:

“I do not take a single newspaper, nor read one a month, and I feel myself infinitely the happier for it.”

How we would like the happiness of Thomas Jefferson!

Why I wanted to try take a break from the news

1. Negativity

The problem with the news is that it is mostly depressing, and accentuates the most negative image of the world and people. It can create a disconnect between perception and the reality of people’s good hearts.

The nature of the news is that it tends to focus on bad events. You can have 10,000 people leading good lives; but by nature this is not newsworthy.

2. I spend too long

The truth is I spend too long watching news, reading news online. It is too easy to fill a few minutes here and there. I can find myself checking news sites throughout the day. But, it’s not a profitable or useful experience. It’s bugged me for a long time, so I thought I would try something different over the Christmas holidays.

3. It affects me

The problem with being absorbed in a 24 news stream, is that you can end up thinking about it all day. Your mind cultivates opinions, and you can end up frustrated with the injustice of the world. Yet, at the same time, you are not doing anything to create a better world. You can’t help it, but the more time you spend on the news, the more your mind is jumping around with opinions of its own. It is an energy that is self-perpetuating. There is no peace, no connection with the heart, only opinions and endless un-winnable arguments.

4. Peace

There is an oft repeated quote:

“Be the change, you wish to be.” – M. Gandhi.

It is of-repeated because it is intuitively true. Spending hours reading the news does not make me the person I wish to be. After the news, I don’t have any inner peace or inner joy to offer anyone. I’m just fighting against negativity myself. We only deceive ourselves if we think spending time on reading the news is making us a better person and the world a better place.

“The greatest misfortune that can come to a human being is to lose his inner peace. No outer force can rob him of it. It is his own thoughts, his own actions, that rob him of it.”

– Sri Chinmoy

What I really want is the peace of meditation,  and to hold on to this peace, I need to spend less time in things which suck it out of me.

5. Do something better

My hope is that if I cut down the time I waste on surfing the internet, I will do something more productive / more peaceful / more rewarding.

I think our growing attachment to the internet (be it news or chat) is that we have become fearful of spending five minutes in silence, five minutes with ourself. Instead we always seek to throw ourselves into the never ending churn of events beyond our control.

A zen proverb suggests that if we fill a glass with dirty water, there is no room for any clean water. To fill a jug with nectar we have to empty it first.

6. The all-pervading news

There was a time when you would get a newspaper in the morning, and that was it. Once a day, you had the newspaper, and you made of it what you will. It was then 24 hours to the next newspaper for sale. But, the advent of 24 hour tv news channels and internet news, has made rolling news and opinion a constant presence, a constant temptation to tug on our mind. It is an assault on the senses – a reality hiding in full view, but it didn’t always use to be like this. Everything is now just one click away. I resent the intrusion, or perhaps I resent my lack of will.

24 Hour news fast

I wanted to see if it is possible to spend 24 hours without reading or watching the news. How easy is it? What is the effect?

• First thing in the morning, post-meditation, I resist the temptation to start the day with reading newspaper which lands through my parents door.
• As I turn on the computer, I turn off the wireless connection, to finish off some writing.
• Now with some little trepidation, I turn on wireless and go to a website where I work. I realise it has become such an ingrained habit to check certain newspapers for articles to read.
• I weaken, and glance through the sports section of the newspapers. Football results don’t count as proper news, they are er… educational. I won’t read any of the sports opinion pieces, though. – Manchester United out of the European Cup. Manchester City are through. That’s fine with me.
• Next I’m taking the train, free papers at the station, free papers on the seats. You can’t avoid the headlines. “Hate Speech” are the two words of the day I will have imprinted on my consciousness. Almost helplessly, I formulate a mental response – why can’t we live in a world without hate? – is it a prayer or another human opinion? Perhaps it is a bit of both.
• The person in the next seat is reading a newspaper on their tablet, I can’t avoid briefly seeing. I don’t want to be nosy at all, but still it acts as a little temptation. I busy myself with off-line work on my computer.
• Walking through Leeds city centre, more free papers being handed out. News channels on displays in certain shops. I look at the sky instead. They haven’t yet worked out how to put advertising in the sky yet.
• At the cafe in a bookshop, the wifi connection is not working on my computer. An unexpected bonus. Higher productivity today!
• Back home, the laptop gets flipped open. I have to stop myself surfing around; instead straight to work. It’s a welcome feeling of purpose.
• Dinner time, my parents often have news on whilst eating – but it gives me indigestion. We eat in dining room away from telly. Conversation with family is good.
• I finally stumble upon some news. The telly is on – local evening news. Floods in N.W. England teams of local volunteers helping to keep people fed and safe. This is genuinely moving. By a beautiful paradox, I chance upon the best three minutes of news all day.  A reminder not all news is negative.  I turn off the tv, before my luck runs out.

Overall

• I work as an economist, so I definitely need to keep up with economic news. I dislike politics and debate, but I still feel the need to keep informed on major topics, which affect my country and local surroundings.
• However, I was aware I’d slipped into spending too much time surfing the news. It was counter-productive and creating more negativity in my life.
• Being conscious of how easy it is to avoid work by surfing the net, the experiment of being very conscious about what I’m doing has been quite interesting, and valuable. There’s a great benefit to turning off and keeping life simple.
• For a long time, I’ve felt slightly guilty that I end up doing something I don’t really want to be doing. This has made me realise it is up to me, what I want to do.
• There were never any awkward moments of boredom. If you don’t spend 10 minutes reading news, what else can you do? Plenty of things.
• I felt it was quite a worthwhile day. Much easier than giving up chocolate for a day anyway.

Related

• Life without criticism
• Overcoming negativity
• Peace in the modern world

Footnotes

[1] Sri Chinmoy, Yoga And The Spiritual Life. The Journey of India’s Soul, Agni Press ↩