Category: post

Here is what my current favorite online Buddhist resource has to say about the precept of Right Effort:

Right Effort means cultivating an enthusiasm, a positive attitude in a balanced way. Like the strings of a musical instrument, the amount of effort should not be too tense or too impatient, as well as not too slack or too laid back. Right Effort should produce an attitude of steady and cheerful determination.
In order to produce Right Effort, clear and honest thoughts should be welcomed, and feelings of jealousy and anger left behind. Right Effort equates to positive thinking, followed by focused action.

Drop a stone into still water, and the water will respond with exactly the right amount of ripples for the size of the stone. A smaller stone will produce less ripples. A larger stone will produce more. But, it will always be in proportion and never more or less. In a similar way, Right Effort encourages us to apply the appropriate amount of action dictated by the intention.

In the last few months, I have worked hard to apply this idea to my social media approach as well. I’m certainly not perfect at it. There have been many times that I have failed. But, in general, if you were to look at my feed you’d find that I try not to post too often or too infrequently. I do my best to find balance between the two. I participate when directly engaged. I try to make sure that what I’m posting is of a positive nature. I try to only post things that I believe are worth the time of those who might be reading it. I rarely engage in debate or argument— and when I do my intention is to try to learn from an opposing view, not to rebuke it. And, more than anything else, I try to be helpful in any way I see that I can be.

The Stock Market, playing the long game, and the importance of setting long term goals.

The past couple of weeks have been a wild ride for those following news of the stock markets. Wild swings, low dips and sell offs not seen in recent years, and speculations about uncertainty in foriegn markets. To many outsiders and armchair analysts, there were fears of bubbles and overvaluations. Allusions were made to the crash of 2008 despite this being nothing like 2008. But, there are many who make profit from such FUD, so here was an opportunity to spread it.

But, those in the know pay little attention to the daily ups and downs of the market. They know that, while the Day Traders might make some fast cash to spend on hookers and blow that way, it has little to do with true wealth. Those who know the market know those folks play the short game.

The smart players, at best, see such low dips as a buying opportunity — like a retail Labor Day sale. Most just ignore it because 3% off is hardly a bargain to tell your friends about. Nay, the truly market savvy are looking far out into the future. The trends they look for are not measured in days or weeks, but years. "Let’s look at where this stock was at 5, 10, and 20 years ago" they’ll say. Because that’s how true wealth is built and measured. They play the long game.

To put it in a concrete example, if you bought $1000.00 of Apple stock in 1998 and still had it today, would you really worry if it took a 5% hit tomorrow? The correct answer is "No". Why? Because you would not only be so far ahead today in 2015 it would be silly but you know that in almost 20 more years it could easily be worth 10, 20, or even 100 times more. Why, because it is worth a hundred times more now than when you bought it less than 20 years ago. The long game is almost always "bull".

This is why it is important to think about, name, set, plan, and work towards multi-year goals. What goals do you want to achieve in 5 years? How about 10 years and 20 years? What does your life look like? What seemingly daunting yet massive, slightly scary, but oh-so awesome things are there? Have you thought about that? Have you put a name on them? Are they on your calendar? Have you mapped out how to get there and achieve them? Do you have a rough idea of the steps you need to take?

If not, you are basically playing the short game with your life. And, frankly, like a Day Trader your success and failure is at the whims of your daily to-do list. Get a lot done today and your life is a bull market. Get little done and it’s a bear market. And, like the Day Trader, your life will feel rich one day and bankrupt the next, more than partially due to forces beyond your control. A boss who dumps a project in your lap or a colleague who interupts you or the person that pulls you into a last minute meeting or the kid who gets sick or the car that breaks down. All of these can sweep in and kill the action of those without goals. Just like China screwing with their currency can send the whole world of short players into a tizzy, so can just about anything wreak havoc on the short player’s task list.

But, those with meaningful, long term goals, know to mostly ignore the fluctuations in their daily grind. That all of this is towards a larger and more meaningful goal. That success is measured in years and not days. You know that the value of that item on your list is a pittance because it will pay off one hundred fold when you finally reach that lofty goal. And if you don’t make any movement on it at all today, hey you’ve got 5,10, or 20 years, and with that much time just about anything is possible.

Recently, my friend Garrick and I came up with the following thought exercise: If you were to design the perfect shopping mall, what types of stores would it have? The rules are simple. It does not have to be existing brands or even what one would find in the modern American mall — just types of stores. To keep it easy we limited ourselves to ten.

Most malls have become bland wastelands of fast fashions targeted towards the lowest common denominator. Beige behemoths located, usually, “out there somewhere” and easily accessible only by those with cars. Yet, the first earliest shopping malls were designed to be a destination centerpiece for the urban family around which walkable self-sustaining communities would form. That was what Victor Gruen envisioned when inventing them.

We thought the exercise would, perhaps, reveal some things about what we like and are interested in that we had not considered before. We also thought that it would expand the idea of what a shopping mall could be.

Here’s mine.

1. A men’s clothing store that carries well made, affordable, timeless, basics. Clothes that last long, wear well, and never go out of style.
2. A fine pen and stationery store, specializing in imported brands/items (Japan, Germany, etc.) with some vintage items too.
3. A travel store specializing in light packing clothing and gear.
4. A really, really, good independent book store with an excellent children’s section, a mix of universally revered classics and great new releases, an expansive selection of magazines and literary journals from all over the world, and a knowledgable staff who provide great recommendations.
5. A really good cooking store that sells seriously good supplies for the home chef.
6. A store that sells nice bags of all different shapes, sizes, materials, and uses.
7. A fitness center with a nice indoor running track, good modern exercise equipment, and plenty of yoga and meditation class offerings.
8. A museum with a nice mix of classic and contemporary art. There is a price attached to every painting — so you could theoretically buy anything assuming you have the money to do so.
9. A great hat store. From formal to casual and everything in between. Some good vintage stock as well.
10. A nice gift store with unique, interesting, useful, and fun items for all ages. The kind of place that always has that “just what I’m looking for” gift for family or friends.

There you have it. I suppose I’m not surprised by any of these. Most that know me well probably would not be either. Still, it was fun to imagine and see what sorts of things are important to me. Quality is a big one — a theme that pops up over and over again. Also interesting is what is not in my mall. One may notice there is not an Apple Store or any modern technology store in there. I’m not against those things, obviously. They just should be in someone else’s mall, not mine.

I find this a lot of fun to think about and have left room on the page I listed these in case I want to expand my malls offerings to more than ten.

Right Livelihood is the fifth precept in the Buddhist Noble Eightfold Path. I have found this one the most difficult for me to find a way to apply to my online interactions and communications (and, thus, write about).

The precept is meant to speak to the way we make income or take on tasks. It discourages making any profit from those businesses or dealings which harm others, ourselves, or otherwise do not respect life. In the Buddha’s time, this spoke to things such as drug dealing, weapon manufacturing or sales, slavery, butchery, and even fortune telling. While I’m sure there are people using social media tools like Twitter and Facebook to help facilitate such transactions, I have not had any first hand experience with such. I certainly do not traffic in any of these nor do I ever plan to. Therefore, it would be easy for me to call this one "done" and move along.

But, I don’t think any of us should get off so easily when navigating the Eightfold Path. Each precept is meant as a prompt for our deeper consideration. Therefore, I feel compelled to seek any way my business dealings might be falling short of my greater spiritual goals. In a way, to borrow the popular Christian meme, I find myself asking "What would the Buddha do?".

Is the price of my products a fair one on both sides of the transaction? Am I paying too much attention to impermanent metrics like sales, downloads, or followers? Am I advertising my products and services in a way that is boastful, deceptive, or insensitive? All of these could just as easily fall under and be addressed by the concepts within Right Livelihood.

Right livelihood also stresses that we do not take our work for granted. That all of our actions, especially our daily tasks, are the result of all that came before and simply a contribution to a greater whole. That pride and hubris in our success is simply a recipe for suffering when change in such inevitably occurs so we should not dwell on it. So, to use social media to constantly promote our good work and congratulate ourselves on our own success simply makes this insecurity apparent to the world. Work that is consistently good speaks for itself.

I use the concept of Right Livelihood to remind me to keep my focus on doing work that contributes to the greater good, that is meaningful and helpful to those that choose to purchase my products and services, to humbly realize that any failures or successes will be fleeting, and that the most mindful path is to simply continue to do good work.

As the old Zen proverb says, "Before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood and carry water.

Right Action is the forth precept along The Noble Eightfold Path. The reason The Noble Eightfold Path is, well, a path, is that each precept is meant to lead to and support the next. Just as our next step follows and is predicated on the one before it. So too, before one takes action, one must have, understanding, intention, and speech rightly aligned. Because your action will be supported, flow from and be informed by all of these — rightly aligned or not.

Because I have taken some time to dwell upon and attempt to be mindful of my understanding, it motivated me to not be so quick to react to someone else’s statement or post, to take a step back and attempt to see and read things for what they are, and to identify and confront my own negativity and desires. By doing so, this informed my intentions. In other words, I engage myself in an internal dialog around what would be accomplished. Would my intention be to understand or instruct? Would it be to learn the truth of what another believes or to advance my own? Would my intention be helpful or hurtful? Only when assuring as much as I could to myself that my intention was for truth seeking, understanding, and coming from a place of compassion, my speech will then be grounded in and driven from there. This, then, would lead to a proper action if one needed to be taken.

Right Action can also be applied to the very reason we might use social media in the first place — to participate in and build healthy community. This begins with who we choose to commune with and who we may not want to. There will be those people and entities we choose not to engage for a iety of reasons. Perhaps they promote a mostly negative view of the world. Perhaps they are unwilling to engage in friendly and respectful discourse. Perhaps it is as simple as not having something to say you are interested in. Or, more simply, you simply have too many you are currently following, you are at the limit of what you can meaningfully engage with, and know that adding a single person more would reduce your capacity for the rest. All of this is not only OK, but are considerations that, in a perfect world, others are making about you.

As for me, I know that the limit of those I can effectively follow on Twitter, or any other social media platform, is around 350. And even then, it is with some allowances and caveats. For example, I allow myself to be comfortable with missing things. When I open Twitter, I rarely scroll back very far to "catch up" on what I may have missed. I figure that if it is important it will likely come up again. For instance, if someone mentions it is their birthday, because many that I follow are friends of others I also follow, I will likely see someone wish them a happy birthday. I, then, see it is their birthday and will do the same. Important news or happenings are usually important to many. Therefore, there is no need to go back and see what you "missed" because it will likely be repeated again and, in most cases, far more than you care to even read.

How we organize Twitter is part of this too. I have recently reconfigured my main timeline to be exclusively people I know and/or care about. Everyone and everything (companies, organizations, etc.) else has been unfollowed and put into a list I have named "Interesting". I dip into this list about once a day and only if I have time. The one other list I have I call "High Volume" — a list of people who’s work I wish to follow or am otherwise interested in but post so frequently that they would drown out others in my main stream and it would be difficult to feel I was taking Right Action when it comes to them. I check this list as time allows as well. What this organizational strategy has resulted in is a timeline that is much easier to engage — a place I want to visit because my friends are there.

Right Action is about how and what we post about as well. Does what you have to say add value, help another, add to the conversation, start a useful dialog, float a good idea, worth someone’s time, or otherwise spread kindness? These are all things worth your action. Negativity, argumentative responses, fear, taking pleasure in the misfortune of others, time wasting, or that which is benign or useless should be rethought.

Action, as a concept, is a dynamic word. It implies activity. It is not something that is "set and forget". Quite the opposite, in fact. A path is only a path of one use it to move from one point to the next. Therefore, all of these steps should be actively applied in all of our dealings, including social media.

How we apply Right Action when it comes to any of our social media tools begins at the root of our use of them. This starts with understanding what role they play on our lives and our intentions when using them. Hopefully, some of the ways I’ve applied the path I choose to take will be helpful to ou as well.

The second precept of the Noble Eightfold Path is Right Intention. The path being that, now that you view the world as it is without being clouded by desire, you can mindfully choose how you wish to engage with it.

I really like how the instruction linked to above puts it:

Right Understanding shows us what life really is and what life’s problems are composed of, Right Intent urges us to decide what our heart wants. Right Intent must come from the heart and involves recognizing the equality of all life and compassion for all that life, beginning with yourself.

Because I have not embraced Right Understanding at all times when it comes to my online interactions, and also because my choices have not always been grounded in compassion for myself and others, my ability to approach social media with Right Intention has suffered. In fact, far too often, I have no understanding or intention at all…

It happens to me more times than I care to admit. I take my iPhone out of my pocket, fully intending to do something — look up an address or take down a note to capture a thought — and suddenly I find myself minutes later deep into checking my Twitter stream or Facebook feed. And the alarming thing is that I’m not even entirely sure how I got there. The choice to check social media was a semi-conscious one born of habit. It even takes me a few seconds to remember the purpose I took my iPhone out for. It’s more than a bit embarrassing.

A similar effect is a crucial strategy in retail design. Referred to as the Gruen transfer, it is the moment when people enter a shopping mall and then are surrounded by an intentionally confusing layout and overwhelmed by choice they lose track of their original intentions. Based on my observations and discussions with others, I often wonder if there is something similar in our digital spaces as well. I know it is true for me.

Too often, I open up Twitter and find my self swept up and out to a sea of negative statements, manufactured controversies, “news” that is designed to keep us in a state of fear and worry, and idly watching the misery of others like bloodsport. Too infrequently do I find things there meant to inspire, engage me in right understanding, increase my knowledge, or show me the joy and beauty still existing in this world. It is infrequently a place I go to have meaningful conversation and connections with friends or open the potential to expand that number.

This all stems from not having Right Intention with how I have chosen to build my stream. I focus on Twitter here because, unlike Facebook that largely hands over what I see to an inhuman algorithm (a consideration I shall make separately), what I choose to engage with on Twitter is still largely under my control — my intentions are what drive the stream. These intentions need to become aligned with my understanding and compassion for self.

So, after careful meditation on this, I think the solution is to realign how I use Twitter, who I follow, and how I use the lists feature, with this goal in mind. For instance, I will be unfollowing some people and feeds to move them into a more meaningful and intentional list where I can better focus on what they have to say and share. To say it another way, I want to make sure Twitter is a mall that is built to my liking, where I know where the things I’m looking for are located, and full of stores and people I’d enjoy running into. So that, when the transfer occurs and I find myself in a bit of a daze, it’s a place I don’t mind getting lost in for a little while.

It was a few weeks ago, during an annual open street festival called Grand Old Days here in Saint Paul, MN, that I decided to pop into my local Patagonia store. I had heard they would have some lightly used and repaired items for sale in store for one day only to promote their Worn Wear initiative. Patagonia has long advocated that their clothing is not only built to last but should be repaired when wear or tear does occur, instead of replacement. They really do want you to use their stuff until it is all used up. If you can’t use it, they ask that you bring it back to them and they will repair and refurbish it to be passed on to someone that will. It is one of the many reasons I’m a fan of the company and their clothing and gear.

I perused the sale racks and, while there were plenty of good deals, I didn’t find anything I truly needed. So, I proceeded towards the exit.

On my way out one of the sales associates asked if I was able to find what I was looking for. I explained I was just browsing, had heard about the special Worn Wear sale event and thought I would check it out but didn’t find anything.

Then, he pointed to an area in the corner of the store that had a couple of people in it, a rack of miscellaneous items of clothing, and a table with a sewing machine and said, "See that guy in the blue shirt over there? That’s Andrew. He’s with our Worn Wear team. They’re doing something special today. If you go talk to him, he’ll let you pick an item in need of repair off the rack over there and show you how to repair it. What you pick and repair is yours to keep, free of charge."

I gave him my "Seriously?!?" look.

"For real! " he said. "Go talk to Andrew and let him know I sent you over."

So, to Andrew I went. Andrew repeated what they were up to and it was just as his partner at the door said. He was with a special Worn Wear team that was traveling to ious stores around the country. They’re selecting people at random and showing them how easy it was to repair Patagonia clothing. In doing so, they were hoping to plant the seed and spread the word about repair and recycling of clothing and gear versus replacing them. Today was my lucky day, he said. He asked my size and pulled some things out from the rack. Nothing at Patagonia could be considered inexpensive and much of the stuff on this rack was in the $200 – $300 dollar range. Everything on there needed some repair, some minor and some a bit more major. Ultimately, I picked a Torrentshell Jacket — their best selling rain jacket. It had a small 2-3 inch rip just to the back of the left side. Andrew said it would be a pretty easy repair and, well, I didn’t have a real raincoat so it was something I was likely to use.

To repair the rip, Andrew suggested a strip of something called Tenacious Tape. It’s a super strong adhesive tape designed to fix rips, holes and gashes in outdoor gear. Therefore, it was perfect for repairing a rip in a rain coat. We eyeballed the length of tape needed against the rip and cut off a piece slightly longer than the rip. Andrew then had me cut the short ends of the tape oval — which reduces the chance of a corner getting pulled up and the tape coming off. Then, we laid the section of the jacket to be repaired nice and flat on the table. The trickiest part was trying to peel off the tape backing with no corners to manipulate while also doing all I could not to get the oils of my fingers on the adhesive, which would compromise the seal. But, eventually with Andrew’s help I got it, pressed it on, held it for a few minutes while it bonded, and, voila! One used, repaired, but still in fantastic shape rain jacket was all mine to keep.

Dare I say, jt has come in very handy in the past few weeks I’ve had it. We’ve had several large rain storms pass through and this jacket has been through the thick of them. It’s great. it packs up into it’s own pocket for easy storage and travel. It has two large side zip pockets (one with a carabiner clip-in loop) that will keep your hands and/or gear nice and dry. And pit zips to keep it from getting too clammy in warm weather. The hood even has a built in visor to help keep the rain off of the face.

The moral of this story though is how great of a company Patagonia is for putting their money where their mouth is when it comes to this stuff. For further inspiration read the many stories on their Worn Wear site of the people who own Patagonia gear that has lasted, broke down, been put back together, passed down for generations, or otherwise been used well beyond expectations. This experience has certainly made me an even bigger fan and made a big impact on me to keep clothing reuse and repair in the front of mind. Going forward, when I run into anything with a rip, stain, or blemish, I’ll look towards how to make it better.

I’ve been a fan of radio since I was a kid. My father, in fact, is an audio engineer and got his start engineering at ious radio stations. Like many my age, radio was the only way to discover new music. Today, 95% of my listening to any media, news, or music is on the radio. I’m lucky enough to live in a market with several really great public and independent stations so it remains a great way for me to discover the new stuff.

But in that group of stations I listen to is also a number of Internet radio stations. I’ve been a fan of Internet radio since, well, I was introduced to it by Apple. You see, even in the earliest versions of iTunes, Apple included an impressive array of existing Internet radio stations one could listen to in iTunes. For many years now, when I fire up iTunes it is principally this list of stations I have turned to. I have long listened to radio in iTunes far more than my own music collection (crazy, I know).

This week marks the release of Apple’s new Music service and apps. Many like me are still trying to wrap our heads around what, exactly, Apple Music is but I think that is largely because it is trying to be so many things at once. But the one thing I got right away was their new Internet radio station, Beats 1. I’ve only been listening to Beats 1 for a couple of hours but it really is fantastic so far. Everything one would hope Apple would offer in a radio station of it’s own making — smart, well curated, globally focused.

So, now that so many are finding enjoyment in Internet radio and many are discovering the idea for the first time, here are just a few of the great stations I’ve listened to for years now:

• KCRW Eclectic 24 — A streaming service of Los Angeles Public Radio, this is always incredibly well organized and curated collection of music that delivers on it’s name. It is heavy on new releases and I know that almost every time I listen I hear something I’ve never heard before but love and have to check out more of. I’ve discovered so many great artists through here alone that I’m sure I never would have heard before. It’s fantastic.

• Radio David Byrne — This is more of a shared, looping, playlist. Sometimes put together by David and other times put together by his friends. There is usually a theme (May was African Pop, for instance) and the flair is towards the international and world music. But, it is always well done and lots of fun to listen to.

• Soma FM — This is actually a collection of themed streams but all of them are great. My favorite of the bunch has long been Groove Salad, a melange of downtempo and chill electronica. It’s the one I like to put on when I’m just hanging out, having a dinner party, or just want to have some music playing in the background while I work. This is, I think, the first Internet radio station I ever listened to.

This does not even begin to scratch the surface of the wonderful Internet radios stations that are out there. There literally is something to fulfill every taste. If you are new to the idea of it and are enjoying Beats 1, I urge you to to check out the many others that have been out for a while.

The first, and most fundamental, precept in The Eightfold Path is Right Understanding (sometimes also called Right View). This step involves seeing the world and everything in it as it really is, not as we believe it to be or want it to be. Without this view, without seeing the truth of things or assuming we know it, everything that stems from that will be clouded — based on potential falsehood. Above all, we will bias what we want to be in deference to what is. In order to get to right understanding we much approach all things with a beginners mind.

This is not only an essential way of moving through life, but I believe we might find it to be especially helpful when we apply it to our interactions on social media. Because, services like Twitter and Facebook are designed for fast thoughts and pronouncements and do not encourage full explanations or deeper examinations. Therefore, it is all too easy to rush to judgement about what another thinks or believes. We easily allow our own immediate assumptions and reactions to take hold and our opinions to become truth.

An immediate reaction or response will most often be a shallow one that only leads to suffering, anger, argument or negativity. Perhaps more importantly, we gain nothing of value by rushing to judgment. We gain tremendous value and insight by taking the time to see a view — all views — in their completeness and with an open heart and mind. We will then more fully understand how beliefs are formed, where biases and emotions can influence fundamental truths, and how our own might benefit from such knowledge.

Instead, take a deep breath, maybe even two or three, to cool your immediate reaction. Then, perhaps you might begin with some questions. Why might that person believe that? Could there be a logic or wisdom within that view that you might learn to appreciate despite the fact you may not agree with it’s conclusion? Might there be a fundamental truth hidden within their conclusion despite your dissatisfaction with it’s delivery? If it is critical of you, might there be an action that you did to cause the other to feel this way? Or, perhaps more importantly, must this view bother you and cause suffering or can you simply let it pass?

If you open up a dialog with that person, start from a desire to understand — a place of compassion. Ask questions. Approach with empathy and a true desire to know where they stand and why. In the end, you may not find a suitable answer or find yourself still on disagreement. But, in order to have even the opportunity to get to an answer or agreement one must take the time to ask in the first place. To do that means to let go of your initial reaction and give way to the potential of understanding.

Ideas and beliefs do not form in a vacuum. They are usually the product of some perception or experience. Some of these may be the same as yours. Others may be vastly different. So different, in fact, that you immediately recoil from and reject them. Yet, these ideas likely formed from very similar places and likely for very similar reasons as yours. The opposite side simply arrived at a different conclusion.

We can’t work towards agreement around that which we disagree on when we already believe we know the truth of what another believes. The only way to know the meaning or reason behind what someone says or why someone believes what they believe is to ask them.

The first step on the path to Right Understanding is admitting "I don’t know". The next is "I wish to know". The only way to know is to admit your lack of knowledge and seek the answers.

In Buddhism, Right Speech is one of the precepts in The Noble Eightfold Path. In short, it is to abstain from lying, from divisive speech, from abusive speech, and from idle chatter. It is to consider carefully and mindfully what you say before saying it — weighing how it furthers the recipient of the message. If what we say does not further understanding, come from a place of compassion, or has no true purpose, it should not be said.

I have been bad at this lately. While I have not lied, I’ve failed at just about everything else. I’ve been cranky and opinionated. I’ve generalized and laid blame on whole groups based on the actions of a few. I have spoken or commented with the knowledge it would create division instead of unity, compassion, or understanding. I have allowed my internal suffering to create external rift. And, I have spoken without having any purpose at all.

I’m sorry.

I write this and put it out in public to acknowledge my failures in this area. As a first step towards choosing a middle path back towards a practice of right speech. To let others know that if they see me less active in social spaces it is because I am more mindfully considering what I say and how I say it before I say anything at all. That my silence is a kind of meditation practiced everytime I feel the need to speak.

Namasté.