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Dear Still Water Friends,

This week marks both the fifth anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center and the 100th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's initiation of the Satyagraha, "soul force," movement. For me they stand as alternative ways of living in this world. The implicit assumption which underlies the attack on the World Trade center is a self-centeredness, a group centeredness, which says: "I am not concerned about the suffering of others, as long as my and mine are taken care of." It has been this attitude -- on the part of 20th century American foreign policy in the Mid-East, on the part of the radical Islamic movement, and on the part of the American response to 9/11 -- which, I believe, has brought the world to its current crisis of violence.

Gandhi's movement, in contrast, held steadfastly to the simple belief that we should oppose injustice without demonizing others, that we are all god's creatures and "This world has enough for everyone's needs but not for everyone's greed."   

This week after our meditation period, we will recite the five mindfulness trainings, which remind us of the suffering we may be causing through our acts of thought, speech, and body.

Our discussion will focus on the fifth training, mindfulness of consumption:

Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful consumption, I am committed to cultivating good health, both physical and mental, for myself, my family, and my society, by practicing mindful eating, drinking, and consuming.

I am committed to ingesting only items that preserve peace, well-being, and joy in my body, in my consciousness, and in the collective body and consciousness of my family and society. I am determined not to use alcohol or any other intoxicant or to ingest foods or other items that contain toxins, such as certain TV programs, magazines, books, films, and conversations. I am aware that to damage my body or my consciousness with these poisons is to betray my ancestors, my parents, my society, and future generations. I will work to transform violence, fear, anger, and confusion in myself and in society by practicing a diet for myself and for society. I understand that a proper diet is crucial for self-transformation and for the transformation of society.

For me, a critical element in bringing this training into our lives is attaining clarity about what we really want. I believe self-discipline and diets of all sorts fail when we are not yet entirely clear that it is necessary to give up a behavior in order to bring some greater good into our lives. When there is no part of us still resisting the change, letting go is easy. This perspective is exemplified in the conversation, provided below, between Mahatma Gandhi and Richard Gregg, an American activist who worked with him in the 1920s.

The question I would like us to begin our sharing with is: Where is our edge? In what concrete ways are we possibly creating suffering for ourselves and others in what we consume and how we consume.

I hope you can join with us this Thursday evening for our meditation, our recitation, and our sharing.  

Warm Wishes,

Mitchell Ratner
Senior Teacher
From The Value Of Voluntary Simplicity by Richard B. Gregg

If simplicity of living is a valid principle, there is one important precaution and condition of its application. I can explain it best by something which Mahatma Gandhi said to me. We were talking about simple living and I said that it was easy for me to give up most things but that I had a
greedy mind and wanted to keep my many books. He said, "Then don't give them up. As long as you derive inner help and comfort from anything, you should keep it. If you were to give it up in a mood of self-sacrifice or out of a stern sense of duty, you would continue to want it back, and that unsatisfied want would make trouble for you. Only give up a thing when you want some other condition so much that the thing no longer has any attraction for you, or when it seems to interfere with that which is more greatly desired."