BASED ETHICAL LIVING (MiBEL)
BASED ETHICAL LIVING (MiBEL)
WHY MENTAL-IMAGERY BASED ETHICAL LIVING :
We are living through a mindfulness revolution. Hundreds of thousands of people are taking classes in Mindfulness and other meditation techniques. A multitude of studies have suggested that mindfulness is a near-miracle cure for everything from anxiety and depression to heart disease.
But a growing number of critics have been putting mindfulness under the microscope. It may not be the revolutionary panacea for human wellbeing that many of us have come to believe.
Matthieu Ricard, one of the world’s most famous mindfulness experts [explained], “There are a lot of people speaking about mindfulness, but the risk is that it’s taken too literally — to just ‘be mindful.’ Well, you could have a very mindful sniper and a mindful psychopath. It’s true! A sniper needs to be so focused, never distracted, very calm, always bringing back his attention to the present moment. And non-judgmental — just kill people and no judgment. That could happen!”
Ricard was only half-joking about the sniper. [However], Ricard’s point is that the secular mindfulness movement typically offers mindfulness without morals. It’s a “me me me” mindfulness that might be good for you, but doesn’t necessarily make you good. [Instead of] offering a much-needed ethical framework that integrates concepts like compassion, empathy and caring, the secular courses are too busy packaging mindfulness for our age of hyper-individualism.
("How we ruined Mindfulness", by Roman Krznaric
WHAT IS ETHICAL LIVING :
Ethical Living is the philosophy of making decisions for daily life which take into account ethics and moral values, particularly with regard to consumerism, sustainability, environmentalism, wildlife, and animal welfare.
Ethical Living is an offshoot of sustainable living in which the individual initially makes a series of small lifestyle changes in order to limit their effect on the environment. Making the decision to start to live ethically can be as easy as beginning to recycle, switching off lights when leaving a room, buying local organic or fair trade produce, or eating less meat, etc.
ETHICAL LIVING AS WAY TO LIVE IN THE MOMENT :
Included in the practice of Ethical Living is the notion of living with intention. In Intentional Living a person is encouraged to become aware of their fundamental beliefs and be willing to make an effort to have their behavior reflect those beliefs.
In this way, instead of constantly being aware and concerned about the future effect of one's actions, a person is more focused on (and mindful of) the intent and inherent moral worth of that which they are currently doing. Instead of being focused on perceived success or failure, a person is more focused on (and mindful of) living with a sense of purpose, and thus, finds comfort and solace by living a purposeful life.
With such a sense of purpose, a person strengthens their resilience and nurtures a will to succeed, thereby fulfilling the dictum that "no mountain is too great, when you have a reason to climb."
ETHICAL LIVING & PSYCHOLOGY :
Since Ethical Living provides comfort and solace by living a life of moral purpose and meaning, Ethical Living contains similar principles as that of Dr. Viktor Frankel's Logotherapy. Often referred to as "The Third Viennese School of Psychotherapy", Logotherapy posits that the primary motivational force in a person's life is their quest ("will") for meaning. In contrast to Freudian psychoanalysis based on one's "will" for pleasure, or Adlerian psychology based on the "will" for power, Logotherapy's "will" for meaning focuses on achieving mental health by finding the meaning of human existence and by encouraging a person to search for such meaning in their daily life.
WHAT IS MENTAL-IMAGERY BASED ETHICAL LIVING :
Mental-imagery Based Ethical Living (MiBEL) is a continuation of the Mental-imagery Based Life Coaching program (MiBLC) which counsels and encourages clients to identify, address and resolve personal challenges by coaching clients how to "Live in the Moment" by being focused on (and mindful of) the intent and inherent moral worth of that which they are currently doing.
To do this, Mental-imagery Based Ethical Living (MiBEL) matches the meditational ideal of the first 4-Steps of the MiBSM technique with the principles of Ethical Living as contained in the last 4-Steps of the MiBSM technique in way in which one's present sense of "being" becomes a present sense of "purpose":
Step 5: Seeing a World of Good
* Tap flashes of intuition
* Foster a sixth sense
Step 6: Making a World of Good - The Power of a Simple Deed
* Feel the force of creation in all that you do
* You, your deeds & the force of creation are one
Final Step-7: Complete Transformation - The Power of Change
* Realizing a new "you"
* Going beyond the force of creation
Plenary Session-8: Be Righteous
* Self-less motivation
* Living to do the right thing
Conclusion Step-9: Eternal Good
* All "enemies" become "friends"
* Inner negativity becomes positive
Copyright (c) 2014 by Adam Stein