We understand the connection between the healthy consumption of food and a healthy body and mind.
We seldom consider what we are consuming through our other senses. We understand through scientific research how harmful hate and anger are for our mind and body. They say that the person who hates, does more harm to himself than to the person he hates. Of course, if you hate yourself, you have all the bases covered. We are constantly exposed to vitriolic hate filled messages on a daily basis from a variety of sources.
All you have to do is turn on any radio or television “talk show” and regardless of which side of an issue you are on, you can be assured to hear something that will anger you and offer an object for your anger. The internet is another rich source of hate and anger. Even if you avoid those vitriolic talk shows you are still exposed to a full range of hate filled messages from a variety of sources that find their way into your mailbox. And like any harmful biological virus they are passed from person to person so as to give everyone an opportunity to feel angry and frustrated.
I recall after coming home from a stress filled day, the first thing I did was turn on the television so I could keep up with all of the local, national and international problems of the day as if I could do something to solve any of these problems. Of course by this time I had already read a couple newspapers, magazines, and e-mails discussing the same topics. Then like others I had my favorite "talk shows" where I could be exposed to more discussions about the state of the world and who was to blame. I recall one of the talking heads even mentioned that she does not even own a television.
I read a book by Thich Nhat Hanh titled “Anger”. In his book he talked about mindful consumption. The message was that we should be aware of “everything” we consume through all of our senses and more importantly that we have control over what we consume. I decided to test his message and go cold turkey from my news and talk shows. At first it was a little difficult but after a few days I found how easy it was to avoid all of this vitriolic hate and anger simply by not “consuming” it and in effect not have it consume me. I was amazed at how much more relaxed and enjoyable my evenings were and how I found it easier to fall asleep.
As an example of how I control my consumption of media content; I start my day by turning on my computer to my favorite news server with all of the current events from around the world and I make the decision on which news story I want to consume. I may select an article written by a local paper or from the London Times or any of a thousand other sources.
In his book The Mantram Handbook, Easwaran writes "We eat ice cream through the mouth; we eat television through the eyes and ears. It all goes in and becomes part of consciousness." and "But we can learn to stop what goes in and check its credentials at the door: "This show will agitate me and give me nightmares, so I'm not going to let it come in; that book will make me more patient, so I will let it come in." and finally he wrote "There are choices to make every day in what we eat, what books we read, what kind of television we watch, what sort of conversations we have."
In his book The Mantram Handbook, Easwaran writes "We eat ice cream through the mouth; we eat television through the eyes and ears. It all goes in and becomes part of consciousness." and "But we can learn to stop what goes in and check its credentials at the door: "This show will agitate me and give me nightmares, so I'm not going to let it come in; that book will make me more patient, so I will let it come in." and finally he wrote "There are choices to make every day in what we eat, what books we read, what kind of television we watch, what sort of conversations we have."
Unhealthy media consumption is not limited to hateful messages but also includes the promotion of greed and cravings but that is a subject for another article.
