The Art of Contemplative Self-Cultivation

The ancient Chinese classic, The Book of Changes (I Ching), teaches that all things in nature change based on dynamic relationships between contrasting opposites: there is no up without down, hot without cold, summer without winter, young without old, or part without whole.  Contemplation is no exception; contemplation is a complement to meditation.   A primary goal of meditation is to foster stillness and tranquility by means of undercutting thought.  Through practices such as focusing closely on one’s breath, repeating a mantra, or cycling through sequences of movements with one’s body, the streams of thought containing one’s impressions, ideas, plans, memories, identities, and anxieties are dissolved; allowing one to have an experience of quiet and simple clarity of mind.  Such clarity, or mindfulness, is vital to the resiliency required to manage complex challenges in our daily lives.

What meditation does not directly address however, is the operation of how our thinking shapes how we make choices, solve problems, bear difficulties; or any other ways that thought is used to resolve life’s problems.  Meditation will help to clear one’s thoughts, but it is not intended to provide guidance on how to make good choices; choices require us to use thought in action. They require a philosophy – a love of wisdom (in Greek, philos means love and sophia means wisdom).   Consequently, learning to resolve conflict within ourselves and outside ourselves requires the guidance of some form of practical wisdom to help us to shape our thinking, in order to creatively manage how the habitual forces at work in our choice-making do or do not generate positive outcomes in our lives.  In this sense, one’s moral orientation can be understood as a reflection of one’s choice-making; and we make better choices when we have access to practical wisdom. 

To highlight this contrast between meditation and contemplation, imagine you are a teacher in a kindergarten classroom with a dozen energetic youngsters revolving around you.  Every school day you are faced with challenge after challenge in your responsibility for the social and academic growth of your students; all of which takes a toll on your energy and your patience.  Meditation could be a godsend for you, helping you come into the classroom with grace, focus, and compassion for the innocent young minds in your care.  Yet, meditation will not guide you on how to strike the right balance between being firm and nurturing, how to diffuse impassioned arguments between students, how to effectively support their learning; or in more general terms, how to successfully embody moral excellence in your behavior. 

Such goals can only be measured by the self-awareness that comes from consciously reviewing your own personality and contemplating how the way you manage your personality plays out in your experience of self, and your behavior: What principles do I live by?   How do my actions affect others? Does my behavior reflect my intentions? What perspectives make up my worldview?  What does it mean to be healthy?  What is my role in processes greater than myself?   Thus, in contrast to meditation, contemplation is to think deeply about life and apply practical wisdom to generate balance in thought, for positive self-cultivation of human character (I give an overview of what I mean by human character in my previous piece, Crisis in Perception – Respond by Evolving Character). 

By reflecting on principles that outline how the interpretive nature of our decision-making can come to promote conflict-resolution, the art of contemplative self-cultivation can aid us in fostering health in our individual experiences of life, and in our effects on the world around us.   As my father, Gola Wolf Richards, would describe it, “To seek, find and integrate into consciousness the eternal harmony underlying the world’s endless points of disorder is how one becomes centered. Contemplation provides a means to this end”.  

Generally speaking, common sense would teach that, when dealing with problems, a limited frame of reference can prevent us from realizing potential solutions.  In other words, fixing something becomes far more challenging if you don’t know how the thing you are fixing works.  For example, if my bike breaks, I have enough of a frame reference to diagnose and fix the problem.  But if my computer breaks, my lack of understanding of the technical aspects of digital electronics renders me useless as a source of resolution.  However, given enough time and effort, it is possible for me to widen my frame of reference, by learning the principles of digital electronics; and, through practice, develop the skills for dealing with such problems in the future.  This is the power of education to cultivate higher capacities of human understanding.

Along the same lines, regarding the experience of conflict in our personal circumstances of self, family, friendship, creative pursuit, profession, civic participation, etc.: When we are able to expand our frame of reference through contemplative education, to provide a more comprehensive context for understanding, we are likely to be better equipped to navigate the complex difficulties we face in our growth toward maturity.  Therefore, continually expanding our perspectives throughout the course of our human development is a requisite to the cultivation of maturity in our character; or in other words, growth requires consistent efforts over time.  Again, turning to the words of my father, “Maturity is balance in thought; it acts to harmonize opposition”. 

In my view, healthy human character is a function of maturity; and maturity is a product of sustained growth over time.  Always a dynamic process occurring within relative stages of human development, maturity is cultivated slowly through the accumulation of individual attempts at transforming difficulties into growth, problems into insights, or challenges into achievements; by navigating conflict-resolution in the various aspects of our human experience.  By learning to become centered, the wisest among us have earned their wisdom through being challenged time and time again to create solutions to the complex difficulties inherent in their growth. 

What do I mean when I say that contemplative self-cultivation is an art form?  In the simplest terms, art uses creativity to communicate meaning; and meaning is understood through interpretation.  Whether it is the creative arrangements of shapes and color in a painting, the lighting and focus of a photo, the notes and rhythms in a piece of music, fabrics and threads in a fashion show,  the words and syntax of a poem, or movements and gestures in dance; artists interpret the principles of their craft to create works that communicate meaning for the interpretation of others.   The beauty of art is how an artist can use their craft to communicate rich layers of meaning that no amount of explanation can fully describe.

Regardless of the medium, all good artists achieve their mastery through the complementarity of principle and practice.  The principles of the craft outline the core aspects and dynamics of the given system.  An architect must have a working knowledge of physics to design a beautiful building; a composer must understand the ins and outs of music theory to write a symphony; and a poet must learn the rules of grammar before she bends them with poetic license.  However, knowledge alone is not enough to create great art; the artist needs to routinely practice applying the principles of their craft in creative pursuits over time.  In other words, artistic mastery must be cultivated through processes of refinement.

This same demand for refinement is at play in the character of our personalities, if we are to grow toward maturity.  In the contemplative traditions of ancient China, self-cultivation of one’s character was considered to be one of the highest forms of art, as well as one of the most difficult to practice.  Described in The Book of Changes as the daily renewal of character, living a virtuous life, by sustaining a positive attitude and maintaining emotional composure in response to life’s challenges, was considered the way in which human nature can come to reflect the harmony of the natural world.  Again, the emphasis here is on the actualization of virtue in your character, not the mere intellectual understanding of how it could be done; it requires both comprehensive principles and sustained practice.  As we have all surely experienced, this is easier said than done.

Difficulty arises from the fact that, with self-cultivation, there is no intermediary medium on which to focus.  While the painter can focus her interpretative efforts on the brush and canvas as conduits of meaning, regarding self-cultivation, the very thing you are attempting to interpret is your own interpretation of life itself! It is trying to see your own seeing, to analyze your own analysis, or to become aware of the character of your own awareness.  Consequently, self-cultivation requires us to understand the principles of perception itself.  Sages in Chinese antiquity considered the principles within The Book of Changes to be the “principles of the craft” for human perception and found great value in contemplating and applying them to practical aspects of their lives.

In the coming installments of Language of Change, I will discuss these universal principles that shape the nature of perception, and their practical application to commonplace concerns.  In the meantime, I invite you to watch my new video, The Art of Contemplative Self-Cultivation; which explores this topic further, my background as a teacher, and a few of the core principles that I use to teach.  Thanks for reading and I wish you health and happiness.

Crisis in Perception – Respond by Evolving Character

Humanity has reached a turning point defined by a simple truth:  our survival on Earth depends on our ability to change ourselves.  Like no other time in human history, every individual, in every community, of every nation has become part of one global community; yet overall, many of the customs and habits from which our societies operate are magnifying potentials for the destruction of human life, and the biosphere.  Entangled in a complex web of global conflicts and crises, what is done in one region of the Earth, now intimately affects all others; the pollution from our industries, the gains and losses of our economies, and the displaced refugees from our wars are no longer limited by the borders that once separated us.  There is nowhere to hide from the fate of humanity’s challenge to climb out from the midst of our own shadow(s) and find light in a new stage of human development.

There are those of us who can envision a global community of peace, based on a united purpose of living in harmony with each other and with the Earth.  Presently however, in contrast, as habitual modes of being unconscious incline conventional ways of thinking to fail, as unnecessary limits to human development are perpetuated; we stand to repeat what history could otherwise teach us to change.  With confusion on the rise worldwide, if we are to change our trajectory from being ensnared in destructive forces that engender global conflict to consciously embracing creative forces to cultivate global conflict-resolution, then how we think must become the central issue.   

It has become customary to search for answers to our problems outside ourselves; as when activists take to the streets to demand social justice; corporations celebrate new technologies that will cure what ails us; economists speculate on how to achieve relief through perpetual economic growth; politicians make promises based on the benefits of their brand of public policy; all with the supposition that adjustments in the objective circumstances of humanity could be the mechanism that will finally realize potentials for peace in society.  However, when we approach our complex global conflicts from the most comprehensive perspective, we are able to realize that the barriers to conflict-resolution do not stem from a lack of “practical” solutions, but rather, from deficiencies in the quality of character enacted by individuals.

We need go no further than the climate change crisis to understand this point.  Over the recent decades since scientists began to warn society of the dangers associated with the effects of emissions on the climate, not only has a strong consensus of certainty developed within the scientific community, but also a steady ideological shift toward environmentalism in the public; as well as a relatively rapid technological movement in the development of sustainable energy innovations.  Empowered by new ecological insights and readily available practical solutions, it simply appears that we have only to act to avoid catastrophe.  Yet, with nothing less than the survival of humanity at stake, why is it that our political leaders actively deny the existence of climate change, uproot environmental protection policies, refuse international cooperation, and actively work to favor extending the fossil fuel industry’s dominance over the energy sector; despite such abundant evidence that doing so will cause continued ecological destruction? 

In principle, the same question could be posed to an individual person battling with an addiction; take smoking cigarettes as an example.  Many smokers are aware of the large body of scientific research demonstrating that smoking cigarettes can lead to various health issues, diseases, and ultimately to an early death. Yet, those same individuals, informed of the risks associated with their behavior, continue to smoke, nonetheless.  Just like in the case of climate change, the problem does not stem from an absence of practical solutions.  In fact, the opposite is true when you consider the significant number of resources available to assist smokers to quit.  Furthermore, when asked, many smokers will even clearly admit that they would ultimately like to quit, however, despite their best intentions, they continue to smoke.  Possessing the desire to quit and access to the resources to do so, why is it so difficult to quit smoking?

At both the global and the individual level, the difficulty in our efforts to change comes from the power that habits have on behavior.  When we think and act in certain ways, over time, we will form habits.  The more time that passes, the stronger the habit becomes, and the harder it will be to make a shift; every cigarette smoked serves to strengthen the habit.  The metabolic processes of the body habituate to the regular intake of nicotine, to the point where an absence of nicotine will cause the body significant stress.  A smoker’s day to day activities become so intertwined with the habit that it becomes hard to imagine life without smoking; everything in daily life can become a cue, to reach for a cigarette.  Even one’s social relationships are affected by whether or not the people around them smoke.  The longer a person smokes, the more the identity of being a “smoker” will take hold in their understanding of self.  And although medicines and therapies can be a helpful assist to quitting, for real lasting change to take root there needs to be a change within oneself; what is needed is a change in the character of our personalities.

Our character is how the dynamics of our thinking and feeling are expressed in our behavior; which determines the effects of our habits of perception on the world around us.  Here I am intending to use the terms thinking and feeling symbolically, to represent an expansive set of categorically related terms – thinking is meant to represent more interpretative faculties such as reason, logic, analysis, discernment, etc.; while feeling is meant to represent more visceral faculties like emotion, passion, intuition, impulse, etc.  Both sets of faculties constitute forms of human perception within our personalities that are in constant dynamic interrelation.  The dynamics of how these two poles of thinking and feeling are, or are not, in balance is reflected in both subjective and objective outcomes in our lives.

Everything we do, from the most mundane to the most profound, is an expression of our character.   The various spheres of influence present in our lives – physical health, family life, cultural context, natural environment, education, racial identities, spiritual orientations, and political affiliations – have effects on the formation of our personalities, as we gradually grow more and more conscious, in our development from youth to maturity.  Concurrently, the growth of self-awareness within our personalities, if regularly cultivated, provides us the opportunity to creatively shape how we see the world and how we act within it.

Character can be interpreted by means of qualities, containing potentials for health, compassion, sustainability, creativity and balance; and as well, potentials for illness, ignorance, waste, destruction and chaos.  The quality of our individual character is determined by how the dynamics of thinking and feeling within ourselves shape our conceptions, choices, and actions; thereby influencing the outcomes of our behavior.  The freedom to make choices arising from our self-awareness is inextricably tied to the responsibility that arises from how we choose.  This is the distinctive challenge that lies at the root of human nature.

The choices we make express our character in subtle ways: do we hold the door for people behind us, or charge inside without a look back; do we stop our cars and allow pedestrians cross the street, or do we assume the next car will stop; do we smile and express gratitude to the grocery clerk for bagging our groceries, or do we walk away without engagement?  Likewise, the choices we make express our character in the most fundamental of ways: do we think that the universe is random and meaningless or do we see ourselves as parts of an integrated (w)hole; do we see ourselves as separate from everyone around us or do we see ourselves as members of one human family on Earth; do we allow differences of race, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, and religious orientation to become sources of conflict, or do we see these differences as comprising a mosaic of potentials that inform what it means to be human?

When we act from dynamics such as ignorant perspectives, limited identities, selfish interests, or orientations lacking sufficient compassion, we induce deficient character that promotes conflict within and outside ourselves.  The more we allow our choices to be shaped by such dynamics, the more chaotic tendencies will tend to dominate the character of our perception. (Remember the smoker, moving closer and closer to death with every choice to light up).  Yet, even more important to realize at this time in history is that, the more that chaotic tendencies dominate the character of individuals, the darker the cloud that forms over human history. The worldwide stream of news stories describing poverty, violence, environmental degradation, political deadlock, oppression, and corruption is a mirror, showing us the extent of our urgent need for change in how our individual character shapes humanity at large.  As my father, Gola Wolf Richards, once wrote, “When the scope of personal cultivation is lacking on the part of able individuals, then the scope of advancing human potentials will be lessened among the weak”. 

The large-scale problems that threaten humanity are aggregations of countless choices guided by the character of how we think as individuals.  This point is echoed in the work of system thinkers Frijof Capra and Pier Luigi Luisi, when they explain, “Ultimately, these problems must be seen as just different facets of one single crisis, which is largely a crisis in perception.  It derives from the fact that most people in our modern society, and especially our large social institutions, subscribe to the concepts of an outdated worldview, a perception of reality inadequate for dealing with our overpopulated, globally interconnected world”.

The character of human perception defines the course of human history.  Like all other forms of the evolution of life, human consciousness grows as it adapts to greater and greater complexities, challenging humanity to transcend greater and greater limits of awareness.  And when how we understand ourselves and the world around us is incapable of adapting to the challenges we face, we experience crisis in perception.  As Albert Einstein said, “The significant problems we face today cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them”.  Consequently, in order to survive the crisis before us, we must evolve beyond the limited perspectives that confine our growth; by reaching for wisdom to change our perspectives and realizing how collective peace is achieved through individuals learning how to resolve conflict within themselves. 

How do we go about learning how to evolve the character of our perception, in order to better resolve conflict?  In the next installment of Language of Change, I will discuss the art of contemplative self-cultivation as a means to this end.

Do Better Next Time

Mature growth requires constant self-observation – actively being on the lookout for ways that we may unintentionally allow negative patterns to dominate our personality, leading to unintended negative outcomes.  However, when faced with the painful realization we have done wrong, all too often, reactionary responses of shame or regret may mire our ability to make positive change; yet another way we can allow a negative pattern to dominate – essentially trading one negative for another.  Allowed to continue, we can all too easily find ourselves in a vicious cycle, and we risk being habitually stuck.  Either we turn away in fear, or we perseverate in the pain.

What is the alternative?  Remember that growth requires us to have something about ourselves that needs to change and allow yourself to humbly accept there is work to be done.  Shame is only valuable as a call to action, not a long-term state of self-deprecation.  As soon as we have insight clear enough to see how we have erred from a healthier ideal, go right to considering how to address the situation.  Is an apology called for?  Does something need to be communicated more clearly? Do you know a better way of framing your situation, such that you can move toward the healthier ideal?  If not, who can help you find it?  Whatever the need, muster the energy to attend to it right away.  If you need help, ask for it.  The longer we wait to make a shift, the harder it is to break the inertia of indecision.

Once you have done all that you can do to address the issue, move right to embracing the attitude: do better next time.  Align with an honest intention to be on guard for how this pattern could come up again.  Say to yourself, “I’ll do better next time”, and believe it.  If you don’t’ feel confident in the assertion, force it.  This is a conscious choice – an act of resistance against the subtle and seductive pull away from clarity, toward the same negative patterns that came up in the first place. 

Recognizing that many of our negative habits require us to be faced with the same issue many times over, it is wise to expect that we may err again.  And if so?  Allow do better next time to become the positive habit that carries you through, to transform the negative into mature growth.  If you want to strengthen your body, you go to the gym.  But going to the gym just once will not make you strong.  It is showing up regularly over the long-term, repetition after repetition, that builds enduring strength.  Our power to make choices about how we see, understand, and respond to various aspects of our personality is like a muscle, growing stronger and stronger with each repetition of affirming the positive over the negative, the holistic over the narrowly limited, the wise over the immature.

So, the next time you are faced with an opportunity to grow: make a change and do better next time.  Every step toward the light is a step away from the dark.