It almost seems trite to say that people feel powerless today — in so much of their lives — but I do want to say: this effort to learn to be mindful in our everyday life is the power that we all have to take control of our common destiny by wielding the very personal power that lies latent within us.
The commercialization of meditation has obfuscated — to a certain degree — the inherent power of mind-training to enhance our ability to feel deeply, to be caring and compassionate, and to operate wittingly at a level that is just inconceivable until you have actually experienced the effects of these mind-training techniques upon your mental capacity to be aware of your emotional and cognitive processes.
The commercialization of meditation has done this by focusing our attention on short-term goals such as stress-reduction.
Those short-term goals are a good thing too, but in this crisis facing humanity (even if humanity is not facing it) there is much more to be accomplished by learning how to train your mind, and meditating consistently on a daily basis — so as to realize all of the benefits of mind-training for yourself, yes, but also to see those benefits propagate to your family, friends, neighbors and community.
A mindful person is a better relative, a better friend and neighbor, and a better global citizen, so everyone benefits.
Personally, every time that I feel powerless about some situation, I realize it is time to meditate, because my feeling of being powerless is just a case of my having forgotten the power that I have over my life, and what happens in it — and this, multiplied by the power of each of us doing it, can save this world for our children and their descendants — no matter what species they belong to.
