sevaka v0.36: Pratyahara and the News

The news is devastating and we are all but about to face an economic collapse. It is not an if but when at this point. But getting tied to the news is depressing because it doesn’t allow you to function. I am addicted to how things will fall apart. While this is useful for preparing for the inevitable it is also useful to not pay attention to this and let Isvara do His job.

In that regard I am trying to limit the scope of when I am going to pay attention to the news as well as my scope of worldly topics. I am in a way addicted to the learning aspect and not enough of the action aspect. I like to read more and more, listen more and more, to get more and more knowledge about the worldly affairs, but all of this makes me more and more depressed because we can’t control it in anyway. We can control the little part of life that we have, but not the grand experiment.

This will require quite a few changes.

• Minimize News. I am going to limit my news period to the sakha time meaning I am only going to read and watch news for about an 2 hours during the day at most. This will happen in the evening time when I am already not doing a whole lot of work.
• Optimize for the Real. I am going to focus more on the sevaka side of things and focus on things that don’t change. The only thing real is that which doesn’t change. That which doesn’t change is Isvara. So meditation, gardening, and other activities that are not based on the world are good enough.
• Limit Argument. I am no longer going to argue with people about politics and the news. It just doesn’t provide any happiness, I am up in arms about things, and I am just unpleasant to talk to. It is better to build a better world, than to talk about the dying of the world. I will not discuss or get into it with people.

These three things are going to be what I am going to try to address.