It has taken some time to come to this - the reason for the blog in the first place.
Let's assume that I can decouple wanting from attachment.
The way I farm is not as I would like - it promotes suffering. Our practices are a pragmatic compromise, where pragmatism bows to industrial agriculture and local agricultural tradition - where compromise sickens the soul.
I am committed to so many things. There seems to be no time to be fully present or to practice. My desires drive me. They lead me to treat others (both human and other animal) without generosity, compassion, loving-kindness and sympathetic joy. I am driven by sensory desire and display ill will, sloth, worry and doubt.
So much that I would like to set aside! How to cultivate the path?
Do I set a positive vision of life in relationship to land to which I aspire? Then I can drive towards that vision purposefully, with each action contributing to my positive goal. As long as it is an aspiration (wanting without attachment), then the outcome can be viewed with equanimity.
Do I simply outline the things that I want to avoid? Then I can accept wherever the farm leads me with my energy focussed on cultivating the eightfold path.
Or do I do both? Maintain a aspirational farm and a firm focus on my cultivating the path - both serving to guide my actions now.
More pertinent to my immediate practice - how do I make a transition from farm practices that are traditional but unwise, to ones that conform with my aspirations?
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