Here is the second of five Climate Justice Mindfulness Trainings I created to give myself an ethical touchstone in daily life.

Simple Living
Aware of pain caused by the unsustainable production and distribution of goods and services, I will live simply in the nested ecosystem that is my home, invest in locally and organically made essentials, and support the sustainable co-generation of green energy. I will not support private interests which maximize profits while harming communities, animal welfare, food safety, and ecological systems. Instead, I will trade material resources and services in regenerative economies, cooperatives, not-for-profits, and other collaborative entities in service to planetary and societal well-being.

This is a high ideal. As I sit in meditation with this Climate Justice Training, I see I fall shy of manifesting this ethic. While I live much more simply today than in years past, I realize the gym shoes I just bought were made in Indonesia; my state prohibits the sharing of surplus energy generated by parties other than the major utilities; I can’t even keep up with the animal welfare, food safety, social and environmental policies of products in my grocery store, let alone elsewhere. But, the point is not to struggle with these Mindfulness Trainings. I am not to use them as a weapon for self-flogging. I use the Five Climate Justice Mindfulness Trainings to wake to the potential of what could be.

To do this, I hold this aspiration for Simple Living in the forefront of my mind. In meditation, I ask myself if I have studied the issues and practiced applying the guideline in the past week. In so doing, I create an awakened consciousness that will–in time–find expression in healing action. I will gain skill and behave in ever-increasing earth-friendly ways. I will speak out more often and with greater understanding to help others live simply.