It occurs to me though, that my body of thought is emotionally weak. I have developed a theoretical template for defining and facilitating the growth of Goodness, but I have not articulated a Dharma, which is a Sanskrit word meaning many things, but for this purpose I intend duty, or path; a behavioral gestalt that guides and informs decision making and behavior.
What I would submit we must all do roughly daily is spend some time working to understand our world in a dispassionate way and improve it. This means working daily to grow emotionally, intellectually, and physically. Emotionally, particularly.
We need to work daily in building an inner beauty that is contagious. This means surrounding ourselves with beauty, in music (I’m listening to this right now, and it is quite pleasant), in poetry, in visual art. I think laughing daily is highly helpful, and think most people would benefit from watching at least one good comedy a day. I just ordered the first season of Frazier.
Ponder deeply what you feel when the energy of generosity flows from you. Most emotionally healthy people will know what I am talking about. There is a wind that blows when you are being truly loving. It is very pleasant. Feel this energy and work to build it.
And notice all the ugliness around you. You can’t help the world, the shootings and wars–at least in the near term–but why ADD to it with violence in media and music? Why allow yourself to be addicted to the worst aspects of life? If you like excitement and adventure, take up motorcycle racing or mountain climbing. I have no objections to those. They are healthy outlets for energy. But why expose yourself to things that drag you down, even if they are titillating or exciting in the process?
Consider that you can raise your daily emotional state, you can improve it, by changing all the inputs you allow. Your unconscious is geared to process what you feed it, and if you are feeding it junk, it is adjusting your internal qualitative state to match. It is doing what you tell it to do.
I feel heaven sometimes. It is very different than here. But why not exuberate (yes, a neologism) it? Why not develop the courage to be a center of balance and peace and positive energy? Why not use your time here to build what is good and wholesome, and oppose with all your heart what is evil and pernicious:?
It can be done. It has been done. It needs to be done again, better.