Here and now

Television as a technology has become truly ubiquitous. I recently stayed at a hotel in San Francisco and noticed there was a small screen television mounted next to the mirror over the washbasin so I could watch television even while I was brushing teeth or shaving! Kicking back and watching television at the end of the day sounds relaxing, and most of us don’t even question it.But watching television has tremendous negative effects that become apparent on inspection.
The effect of television on the quality of life is unbelievable. It is an insidious monster lurking and sapping inner vitality. It is not so much simply the time spent watching television but the effect of that on ones consciousness.

Here is what I have observed as negative side-effects and after-effects of watching television:

• Eye strain
• Buildup of body tension (neck and eye muscles in particular)
• Depression and feeling of lack of energy
• Disinterest in doing anything creative
• Lack of enthusiasm for life
• Feeling of being defeated
• Feeling of emptiness and wanting to eat/drink/smoke
• Lack of interest in doing any exercise
• Irritability
• Impatience
• Quick temper on small things
• Feeling of contraction and tendency to judge and condemn quickly
• Apathy towards world events and feeling of isolation
• Worldview that there is a lot of evil out there
• Reduced empathy towards other people

Here is what Eckhart Tolle says about television in his book New Earth:

“The average American, by the time he is sixty years old, will have spent fifteen years staring at the TV screen. … While it provides some relief from your mind, you again pay a high price: loss of consciousness.”

Steve Pavlina talks about giving up TV. Instead of giving up television altogether, he has a clever suggestion. Give up TV for 30 days, and see how it feels.

Personally, I have found the effects of not watching television to be positive in every area of life. Are you ready to let go of this addiction?

The Hundredth Monkey effect refers to the observation that when a critical mass of people subscribe to a certain behavior, that particular behavior or belief is instantaneously transferred from one group to another. In other words, there seems to be an automatic acceptance and adoption of the new behavior by new sets of people. Recent books like The Tipping Point examine similar types of phenomena in our modern world. There are examples of how change happens in areas from healthcare to economics to marketing.

Examining the potential application of this effect to human consciousness is fascinating. Tolle in his recent book The New Earth talks about human evolution reaching a point where we seem to be at the crossroads of choosing higher levels of consciousness versus staying stuck in identification with ourselves as separate selves. Many thought leaders have observed that there seem to be unprecedented and rising interest in expanded states of consciousness. It is no longer a small new-age group of people into this stuff. It is becoming more mainstream with every passing day. Books, movies, TV shows increasingly touch on altered states of consciousness.

What is the critical mass of people needed to significantly alter the level of consciousness of the entire planet? David Hawkins (author of Power vs Force) states in an interview “We clearly see that the evolution of consciousness on the planet is now speeding up. It was flat for practically billions of years then suddenly began to rise. Now it’s rising at a very rapid rate. Because? The collective intention of mankind. We’ve crossed over 200 collectively and now we’re really moving from force into power.” The 200 he refers to is his calibration of levels of consciousness where 200 is a critical number above which positive energies dominate.

Some surmise that if 1% of the human population raises its level of consciousness, even temporarily, through meditation or chanting or simply intending while in a relaxed state, it will impact the entire population in a measurable way.

The idea that we are all interconnected is of course core to Buddhism. The model of Indra’s Net depicts how every element of creation is inextricably linked and reflects every other element. It is hardly a surprise that we as individuals can have a huge impact on the overall level of consciousness. In fact, the higher and purer our level, the bigger the impact. It is said that yogis in remote regions of the Himalayas have positively affected humanity for several centuries. Intriguing!