Weekly Guiding Teacher Reflection

Dear Common Ground Friends,

As much as the internet has made aspects of our lives more convenient, I am guessing that I am not alone in finding that in many ways we have become addicted and dependent on media in ways that are not essential to fulfilling our responsibilities in life, nor are a cause for anyone’s well-being. How many times a day do we really need to check social media, our email, last night’s sports scores, or our favorite apps? At what point does checking the news go from keeping us wisely informed to keeping us addicted and activated? Although the Buddha’s teachings and practices have been tried and tested for over 2500 years, the context of our practice has now evolved to include us interacting with computer algorithms that learn from our interactions just how best to grab and hold our attention by triggering our mind’s latent tendencies of greed, attachment, fear, and hate.

What can be done? We must learn to respect, with humility and caution, the seductive nature of digital media. The tendency to become addicted is not personal, but still we can choose to take responsibility for our actions and what they set in motion. All addictive habit patterns depend on us not wisely comprehending the conditioning force of feeling tone (vedanā), the underlying and often subtle pleasantness & unpleasantness of experience. For example, if we can learn to be clearly aware of the pleasantness of an experience, and see its insubstantial nature, the addictive pattern begins to fall apart. We discover that in any moment we can simply feel whatever feeling tone arises without it initiating a reflexive response. As challenging as this might be, it is possible to bring wisdom and awareness to these digital relationships.

Here are two programs that might be of interest to you:

Workshop on Relating Skillfully to Technology with Shelly Graf and Gabe Keller Flores
Saturday, November 15, 9:00 - 4:30 p.m. Central time
More information and registration here.

Community Week-Long Media Fast with Mark Nunberg
Beginning Gathering: Sunday, November 16, 4:30-5:30 P.M., Zoom only
Optional Check-in: Thursday, November 20, 4:30-5:30 P.M., Zoom only
Ending Gathering: Sunday, November 23, 1-3 P.M., in-person and on Zoom
More info and registration here. All gatherings are Central time.

May we all be free from an unhealthy dependence on media,

Mark Nunberg
Co-Guiding Teacher