We do not exist in separate bubbles.
The products you use, the foods you eat, and the way you interact with the environment (whether intentionally or not) all have a far-reaching nuanced effect on everyone and everything around you.
Think of a pebble tossed into a pond, except here the ripples don’t stop at the water’s edge.
Interdependence makes us examine how resources are created, utilized, and distributed in our relationships, communities, and global society. Responsible consumption acknowledges that we are in a position to make positive, conscientious choices in what we consume and how we live.
According to Buddhist thought, ignorance is the root of all our problems. Awareness, then, is the starting point for all our solutions.
As our awareness of interdependence deepens, we need to consider our intake. What things in our lives are really necessities? What objects are luxuries? What effects do our consumption choices have on people around us, our neighborhood, our world? These are good questions to contemplate as we make these decisions, numerous times, each day.
We’re operating from the viewpoint that each time we engage in an economic, lifestyle, or environmental exchange, that we put in slightly more than we take out. On that basis, we do our best to make decisions that are positive within the entire affected framework. Our positive choices affect the quality of our water and what we eat, working conditions, animal welfare, health and safety, sustainable environmental practices, the climate crisis, globalization, development, mental health, human rights, soil degradation, the future of small farms, preservation of rainforests…and on and on.
There is an Interdependence between mindfulness meditation and our continuing awareness off the cushion.
Be aware of your choices. Pay attention to your actions. Examine your lifestyle not from a place of guilt, but from a mindset of creative curiosity.
Examine and recognize:
how you eat,
what you wear,
why, where, and what you buy,
how you get around,
what you do for work,
your interests,
who and what you care about,
your intention…
the multitude of choices that weave together your day.
Suggested Guidelines for Month-Long Low Impact Practice
One of the big insights that came from those of us who did the practice last time was that if you started out with a few key pieces of equipment it became really easy to cut down on waste and actually saved money too.
Credits: resources compiled by Dorothy Barangan and Ben Gioia with help from Ethan Nichtern, Nomi Kleinman, Leah Rye and others
If you would like to get more involved in this work, contact: dorothy@theidproject.com