Birds of a Feather?

Q. Recent news articles estimate that we have lost over 3 billion birds in North America and Canada. Can it be that many? I do not hear birds sing anymore and it pains me to think we are at fault.

A. The numbers are correct. Over the last 50 years we have lost almost 30% of birds across the North American continent. The most likely causes are loss of habitat (especially grasslands and forests) and a wider use of pesticides. Relatively newer hazards include impacts with communication towers and wind power technology. Less birds means more insects and the disruption of other ecosystems. Your words remind me of Rachel Carson’s classic book, Silent Spring. In 1962 she wrote, “On the mornings that had once throbbed with the dawn chorus of robins, catbirds, doves, jays, wrens, and scores of other bird voices, there was now no sound.”

It is important for us to accept that our ever-growing need to modify and reshape the world has displaced or destroyed the natural habitat of other beings, our extended family. We are not just losing birds we are losing nature. But I think you already know this, so maybe you are writing to ask what, if anything can we do to reverse this trend? Or, is there a chance we might not be at fault? I am a ley naturalist. I observe nature, human nature, and Big Nature. I watch and listen and sometimes understand. What I find most interesting these days is how inter-related everything is, and how little we seem to know about what is really happening.

The earth is evolving and so is everything that is related to the earth, including us. There is no reason to assume that anything will be left out of the equation, except that many people still believe they exist apart from nature, or somehow in charge of it. This belief keeps us from understanding and respecting our world; it presupposes that nature will fall in line with human demand. And that, as I see it, is where we may lose the ability to evolve naturally rather than artificially.

The answer, for now at least, is to stay close to what nature is showing us. Observe. Listen with your heart. The earth is a sentient being. This is not the first time the planet has initiated large-scale sequences. We are here to participate in life creatively and uniquely. Some of us are action-oriented, others need only mark themselves present and awake. Blame and judgment displace resources that none of us can spare right now. And hate is even more disruptive.

Like you, I feel an immense loss at humanity’s ignorance, yet I trust the wisdom of the earth. Birds evolved from a group of small, feathered dinosaurs. Over time, their sharp teeth evolved into beaks. These amazing facts fill me with wonder. I hope they will do the same for you.

What Are Open Secrets?

Q. I was a recent guest at a class my friend attends. Whenever her teacher made reference to “open secrets” people nodded in agreement. I am not familiar with the term and was not invited to ask questions, but would like to know more.

A. Kōans like this one have been used in spiritual teachings since the dawn of time. A kōan is a “public proposition” and can be presented as a statement, question, story or even a dialogue. In Zen practice, it is meant to provoke “great doubt”. Western spiritual teachings employ oxymorons to accomplish the same. An oxymoron is a figure of speech that juxtaposes elements so they appear contradictory, like an open secret.

Kōans and oxymorons are helpful because answers to questions like Who Am I? or What is the Meaning of Life? can’t be learned from a teacher or a book, even if the ego and the intellect are convinced they can. So spiritual teachings contain carefully crafted words and phrases that present a paradox; a statement that contradicts itself but can still be right or wrong, or true and false, all at the same time.

Spiritual teachers talk about open secrets, or seeds of truth that are all around us, hidden in plain sight. But we are not comfortable with secrets, especially here in the West. We want knowledge, truth and enlightenment now, and being good consumers, we’re willing to pay for it if need be. Good teachers know that when we discover something for ourselves it becomes visceral – we get it deep down at the gut level, and chances are, we will never forget it.

In spiritual teachings, open means available (as in open door) and secret simply means undiscovered. This veiled teaching is telling us to open the door and see what lies beyond it; we are being invited to look for ourselves. Usually, these masked references refer to enlightenment, something many of us long for but consider unattainable, at least in this life. Again, that’s just our ego. Spiritual teachings give us more credit than we give ourselves; they assume we may awaken today, tonight, tomorrow or next week. In this way, enlightenment becomes a cumulative, day-to-day practice, part of our daylit world.

What is Negative Negativity?

Q. Can you explain what negative negativity is?

A. We all experience negativity from time to time – our own and that of others. Negativity is the antagonistic stance we take when we want things to be different than they are. When we are being negative we would like things to change to suit our view of the world, and the sooner the better. Basic negativity, like basic honesty or basic anger, is simply creativity revealing itself as preference or dislike. It is neither good nor bad, just an accurate telling of what is so for us. If we left it at that and didn’t obscure it with our judgments, it would dissipate naturally. But when we feed it and boil it on a hot stove, it can become something else entirely and take on a life of its own.

Negative negativity is an unpleasant bias; a character flaw we all have and wish we didn’t. It hides behind our better qualities and shows up as an uninvited guest. Before we know it, this ill-mannered guest has made himself at home, leaving us to figure out what it will take to get him to leave. When we feel negative we defend, attack, become righteous and indignant about how unfair everything is, and blame the world for our pain. Negativity breeds discontent and rigidity. Before long, our uninvited guest has invited his negative friends to the party, and if they find the scene to their liking, they’ll invite negative friends of their own. Our negative guests love to gossip about how they are experts on the subject and how little everyone else seems know about it. Within a few hours you’ll have a bunch of negativity experts camped out on your sofa!

Negative negativity is a kind of double negativity. It is negativity for the sake of being negative. Negative negativity loves being negative and feels superior because of it. It’s what we do when we use rationales, philosophies, jargon, and specialized terms to justify or avoid a truth; it’s what was there before negativity emerged as a substitute. Negative negativity is heavy-handed and self-contained; it lives in its own protective shell, shutting out thoughts that contradict it.

So, negative negativity is pretending that we are not being negative, or being negative because we are justified in being so, or acting negatively because someone else isn’t and we feel they should be, or negatively gossiping about how negative gossip can be, or – last one—hanging out with negative people in hopes that our negativity will be seen as a positive thing. Okay, last last one – attracting negative people who tell us that our being negative could be seen as negative by some negative people who don’t think they are being negative.