Right Action- protect life, practice generosity, behave responsibly and consume mindfully

What we do is how we show what we value. Actions are the way we share who we really are as people. What we should do is complicated but comes down to just a few simple principles. Protecting life is one of the core responsibilities we have and doing so while practicing nonviolence toward other and ourselves is what we are called to do. 

Farmers in Gatlang, Nepal, where I have been working with Bipin Lama to rebuild homes after the earthquake 3 years ago. Still so much to do there. People there have so little and yet are so generous.

The second principle is practicing generosity. In the world we live in we all have more than we need and yet there are many that we share this planet with who do not have basic necessities. The school I have been going to and providing support for in a remote and poor part of India is who I look to and am inspired. The children there were both protein and calorie malnourished, now they have enough calories consistently but still struggle to get enough protein. And yet last year they decided to forgo one meal every week at dinner time and to provide that food to another school in the region that is poorer than they are. How many of us know what it is like to go to bed hungry? And yet these children with so little have the generosity in their hearts to do so in recognition of the needs of others and the understanding of their relative privilege. That is generosity.

Behaving responsibly is the third principle of right action. Being honest and treating others fairly based on the principle found in all traditions of treating others as you would like to be treated. And finally consuming mindfully. We consume so much. The average fisherman or farmer in the world provide for themselves and their family by making about $1.5 per day per person in the family. Their income is not $10,000 a year it is less than $10,000 in their entire lifetime. When we consume we look for value but our over consumption of food is literally killing us. Our investments in cars is adding to global warming and our desire to travel is doing more to harm to the environment than any other single activity we do. (Yes I need to change just like everybody else)