{"id":3010,"date":"2013-05-20T15:18:46","date_gmt":"2013-05-20T19:18:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/mindfulnessmatters\/?p=3010"},"modified":"2013-05-20T15:18:46","modified_gmt":"2013-05-20T19:18:46","slug":"whats-right-with-america-is-wrong-with-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2013\/05\/whats-right-with-america-is-wrong-with-america.html","title":{"rendered":"What’s Right With America is Wrong with America"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"WelcomeToNewJerseySign-300x225\"<\/a>People love to hate New Jersey. In Vermont, we have bumper stickers that say “Don’t Jersey Vermont.” I did most of my growing up in the Garden State and recently spent some time there. It is a place of contradictions to be certain.<\/p>\n

Where I was, there is high population density and a culture oriented around consumption. I had the opportunity to go to Costco. Now to be fair, you can find Costco anywhere, even here in Vermont. But this Costco, was enormous, much bigger than the one we have here in Vermont. It was a vast expanse of opportunity to have things, including free samples of food as you walk through the store.<\/p>\n

I have not been a member of Costco for two reasons. The first is that for most things, you can only buy them in large quantity and second selection is severely curtailed. You can get what they display. If you are lucky, you like the particular variation they are offering. For some things like nuts, there is no name brand at play–just large quanitieis. Brian Wansink’s reserach has demonstrated that larger containers of food lead to bigger portions and calories intake. But the lure of the bargain seems to be what motivates people in Costco. It’s not hard to see why there is an obesity epidemic growing in this country.<\/p>\n

As I roamed bewildered by the sheer amount of stuff, I practiced noticing the arising of desire and the cessation of that same desire. I walked the entire store without buying anything. How unAmerican of me!<\/p>\n

Greed and desire; having and not having. Why do we want so much stuff?<\/p>\n

I also had the opportunity to go to an gigantic Wegmans supermarket–the biggest selection of food I’ve ever seen in a super market. It blew my mind. It was crowded on a Monday afternoon–the leisure class getting their grocers (the parking was full of Benz’s) and not a smile to be had in the vast expanse of calories. Miles of prepared foods, produce, cheeses, groceries. It was overwhelming. I wanted to pitch a tent there so I could start eating–everything! I\u00a0am safe from Wegman’s. There is nothing appoaching that monolith here in cozy Vermont.<\/p>\n

Ironically, as soon as I started writing this entry, someone offered me a Costco membership. Should I take it? It’s free? I accepted the offer and I will have to be mindful as I roam the spacious isles to be vigilant with desire and to only buy what makes sense to buy. When I come home with the huge packages, it would behoove me to separate it into smaller quantities because I will eat less that way.<\/p>\n

What is more unfathomable than the incredible quantities (and high quality) of available food was the apparent taken-for-grantedness of it all. I saw no sense of wonder, no one genuflecting at the abundance. This is a shame. We are so fortunate to have so much. There was enough food in that Costco and Wegmens to feed a small nation.<\/p>\n

The next time you gather food at a supermarket, see if you can bring a sense of gratitude, wonder, and awe to the bounty that is available to you. Eat what you acquire with mindfulness. Enjoy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

People love to hate New Jersey. In Vermont, we have bumper stickers that say “Don’t Jersey Vermont.” I did most of my growing up in the Garden State and recently spent some time there. It is a place of contradictions to be certain. 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Dr. Kozak's ability to translate ancient healing traditions into pragmatic applications suitable for modern lifestyles through the use of metaphors have made him a strong voice in healthcare and business. Beginning with a journey to India in the 80\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where he took the Bodhisattva vows from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Arnie Dr. Kozak began his lifelong practice in mindfulness meditation. Intent on finding a way to bring the practical healing attributes of mindfulness he began incorporating these techniques in his private practice. In 2002 Dr. Kozak created Exquisite Mind in Burlington, Vermont as a vehicle that could expand his wisdom to larger audiences beyond individual psychotherapy to professionals and corporations, health care providers, public groups and, most recently with Exquisite Mind Golf, amateur and professional golfers. His award-winning new book, Wild Chickens and Petty Tyrants: 108 Metaphors for Mindfulness (Wisdom Publications, 2009) is a thoughtful, funny, and inspiring translation of mindfulness practice through the inventive use of metaphor applicable to our daily lives. In addition to his work with Exquisite Mind, Arnie Kozak, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist\u00e2\u20ac\u201dDoctorate has been a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Vermont and is a Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry and Medicine, University of Vermont College of Medicine. He has studied and practiced clinical psychology, meditation, and yoga for more than 25 years. He has studied with several meditation masters, including S. N. Goenka, Larry Rosenberg, Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. After receiving his bachelors degree with honors from Tufts University, he was awarded a Presidential Fellowship to get his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University at Buffalo. He completed his training as a Psychological Fellow at the Harvard Medical School. Prior to founding the Exquisite Mind in 2002, Arnie worked ten years in the private sector for the PKC Corporation consulting on mental health content for this revolutionary software company.","sameAs":["http:\/\/exquisitemind.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/author\/akozak"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/268"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3010"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3010\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3016,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3010\/revisions\/3016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}