shojiwax.com<p><strong>Learn the backward step.</strong></p><p>They call it a poly crisis. A confluence of existential threats that is actuating around us and within us. Instead of calling it a crisis, refer to it as a collapse. </p><ul><li>World population overshoot.</li><li>Over-consumption of (and addiction to) algorithm driven social media content.</li><li>The failed experiment that is capitalism.</li><li>The foreboding uncertainty of Artificial General Intelligence.</li><li>An accelerating extinction of animal species.</li><li>Political shifts to authoritarianism, fascism and elite-centric governance.</li><li>Loss of authentic contemplative, mystical, spiritual, or religious experience.</li><li>Global climate destabilisation.</li><li>Shifts in unconstrained power to the uber-wealthy and corporate behemoths.</li><li>The <em>en-shitification</em> and <em>en-dumbification</em> of our social structures and relationships.</li></ul><p>This all leads to an overwhelming dysphoria, and a feeling of being impotent to stop or even divert this tsunami of badness.</p><p>I am no different here. I do not have any answers. I am a numpty. Yet I have a strong feeling the most important thing at this time (as Dogen Zenji, founder of Zen in Japan in the 13 century advised), is to:</p><blockquote><p>You should therefore cease from practice based on intellectual understanding, pursuing words and following after speech, and learn the backward step that turns your light inwardly.”</p><p>Dogen</p></blockquote><p>Take the backwards step that turns your light inwardly. What is that backwards step? For each of us it might be something different.</p><p>But there is a sense of making an effort in ways that are not of the <em>thinking</em> mind… and moving in a non-conventional direction. There is a sense of light and of inner illumination and of not seeking deep solace from the other.</p><p>Learning the backward step requires commitment and effort.</p><p>Hmmmm.</p><p>How could this sort of vague, contemplative, esoteric not-really-saying-anything stuff possibly make any impact on the impending collapse?</p><p>Wouldn’t you prefer a bullet-point list? <br>Some tips on recycling? The dates for the next protest march? A prepper manual? A list of social media influencers to follow? Some decent feel-good distractions? A gym program? <br>SOMETHING CONCRETE I SHOULD DO FOR CRIPES SAKES!</p><p>Nope, I got nothing. <br>Learn the backward step.</p><p></p><p><a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://shojiwax.com/tag/climatechange/" target="_blank">#climateChange</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://shojiwax.com/tag/life/" target="_blank">#life</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://shojiwax.com/tag/love/" target="_blank">#love</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://shojiwax.com/tag/meditation/" target="_blank">#meditation</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://shojiwax.com/tag/mental-health/" target="_blank">#mentalHealth</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://shojiwax.com/tag/mindfulness/" target="_blank">#mindfulness</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://shojiwax.com/tag/politics/" target="_blank">#politics</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://shojiwax.com/tag/psychology/" target="_blank">#psychology</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://shojiwax.com/tag/spirituality/" target="_blank">#spirituality</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://shojiwax.com/tag/writing/" target="_blank">#writing</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://shojiwax.com/tag/zen/" target="_blank">#zen</a></p>