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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 jsmdsch@yahoo.com.

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