The Conscience of Consciousness

By Jill Ettinger

Of all  attributes inherent in nature, balance is unequivocally the most prominent, even if not the most obvious. Seeds that lay dormant for seasons awaken cyclically with fine detail, yet their fierce beauty proves temporary. This is true for all things living - at least until now. Anything and everything is possible though. But for now, what goes up, must come down.

Humans (well, those that drive industry, at least) have taken a stance of sorts that we do not depend on nature. The inevitable force that pushes up green through cracks in thick pavement is a reminder that we are not in control, no matter how much one deludes themselves through greed, false power and the tired games of war. I suppose for some, the stagnation of a tree can serve as an all too heavy reminder of that which will outlive us. (Ironic how the fear of death drives us straight into its arms.)

For the last several hundred years, as corporate industry has been developed, economic gardens replace yields of traditional crops, producing fruits that are bitter. The harsh, morally questionable toiling leaves soil much too dry for another harvest. The benefit to this is the realization that we must find another way of pushing forward. “Going Green” is heading up those last few hesitant clicks of the rollercoaster track, preparing for the thrilling descent into mainstream. Giant catalysts for this change, Whole Foods Market, is now facing an antitrust case for their recent $600 million merger with Wild Oats.

While it’s unlikely that the FTC will block this merger, it’s a loud commentary on the fear-based corporate mindset. Though the complaint is that Whole Foods buying out Wild Oats will then hold too much “power” over the organic and natural market, with an ability to manipulate pricing and availability, it’s more likely the opposite is true. The real push comes from the fear that organic options will become too accessible, diverting interest (and addiction) away from mainstream “food” options and the livelihood of the trillion dollar mega-corporations who thrive on the misfortune of others.

I was thinking about this whole process the other evening as I sat at dinner with a friend who is beginning to manufacture a natural food product. He had a lot of questions about packaging and marketing. I found it amusing as we talked about the industry standards and expectations, how movements intent on reprogramming our food supply system still have to play into the passé marketing strategies thought up by crusty old steak-eating and cigar-smoking men almost a century ago. Customers, now generations into being dazzled and wowed by soda and potato chips, automobiles and running shoes, forget the mere functionality of such things as necessity – or at the very least - commodity, and value these items as sadly, identity.

Which is why this Whole Foods antitrust accusation is comical. It misses the point entirely of what it is this business in particular is, at its core. Of course there are “green” gimmicks. An example I see often, as I live half my life in hotels, is their pitch being that they are so committed to preserving the environment by encouraging reuse of towels. We see through these facades with green-colored glasses. Even though it’s most obviously a money-driven practice, we know every little bit still makes a difference.

But Whole Foods takes these practices to heart. Their Whole Trade program, for example, is not something you’ll find at Wal- Mart. Yet, anyway. But no doubt it will catch on. And that’s entirely the point of the merger. Whole Foods is buying out Wild Oats at roughly 12% of what Coke just paid for Glaceau. But it’s much more significant a purchase than the soda giant gulping down Smart Water. Glaceau may have sold their soul, but Whole Foods is buying theirs back. The merger is a milestone, acknowledging a growing movement that no longer involves wimpy-organic-granola-tree-hugging-co-op-shoppers, but a strong new culture demanding healthy options for families and farmers. Whole Foods dresses it up a bit (OK, a lot) but they are in essence, a brave David, as in, about to slingshot Goliath.

The effect of “waking up” is causing those that cling to bank accounts and status to cringe. If going green is a virus, these are the people pushing children and elderly out of their way to get to the front of the vaccine line. Unfortunately for them, it doesn’t seem as there is any stopping this germ. Awareness happens, as it always has. Humans have evolved over time, each step bringing a more engaged responsiveness to their environment, and themselves. We can only pretend we are in control for so long before we have to go out and weed the cracking pavement of our rigidity.

The Rising Price of Free

By Derek Beres

Each morning as I descend the steps onto the PATH train in Jersey City, then again as I exit in New York City, and twice more entering and exiting subways - not to mention the attempted stop as I merely walk by one subway entrance en route to the Fulton St - I’m, for lack of a better term, assaulted by overconfident men and women trying to shove a copy of a daily newspaper into my hands. “It’s free!” is their battle cry, but each time I hear that slogan I think about how much it really costs.

A lot.

A few years ago, not one, but two dailies hit the streets of NYC: Metro and AM New York. Metro is an international effort published in three American cities, while AM NY is the free offshoot of Newsday. Both are similar in their USA Today-style approach to “news”: lots of pictures, big headlines and as few words as possible. Celebrity gossip takes as big a chunk as sports scores, while the one or two daily stories about something relevant to New Yorkers is placed front and center - the perfect layout for these paper’s actual missions. That is, advertising revenues.

Today’s edition, the one that set me over the edge to write this blog, was something I’ve seen a number of times: the front cover was not a news item, but a full-page Starbucks ad.

On their website, Metro states its claim: “Metro is a free daily newspaper written and designed for young and ambitious professionals. It fits into a 15-minute read and gives metropolitans all they need to know, Monday to Friday, in their morning commutes.”

If the latest Jessica Alba wardrobe and a calculator figuring out how long a hotel heiress will be behind bars is all I need to know, I’m either in great shape, or a lot of trouble. I’m guessing the latter.

Perhaps it is just me, someone that likes content and meaning to what is labeled news. USA Today became the “nation’s number one newspaper” (in circulation) because it did what other newspapers were scared to do: include full-color graphics, lots of pie charts and photos, less content and more pictures. It appealed to the laziness in its readership, and won their hearts. In the wake of that mid-’90s debacle, nearly every media outlet has followed suit.

Most distressing is the aggressiveness of the vendors. After attempting to shove the paper into your hand and you refusing, they then take offense. After the aforementioned battle cry quiets, they continue blocking the entrance to the subways and PATH trains. A friend of mine was once employed to ride the light rail to “check up” on each distributor and make sure they were actively pimping the papers. It’s not just a job, it’s an adventure. And I’m left to wonder what really is free in this world, as its certainly not these gossip columns disguised as news, nor the undeniably large number of commuters who take that as their actual media source. But hey, Paris certainly tastes best with a double-shot latte.

CyberRipOff

By Derek Beres

Yogascittavrttinirodhah - Yoga is stilling the fluctuations in (one’s) consciousness. Such is the translation of the main tenet of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, a main text for modern yoga practice when delving to the roots of what this practice is all about. More importantly, it remains the central focus of yoga: to still the mind in meditation, and become absorbed in samadhi, or, roughly put, to understand the the process inside you and the processes of the world partake in the same patterns. Enlightenment is recognizing this, and being present with all the fluctuations, so as to find that inner stillness.

So when a friend sent me a link to Cyber Yoga, I could only shake my head.  Purporting itself as “The Science of Meditation,” it combines biofeedback awareness to the art of meditation. What struck me immediately was seeing how they referenced the Dalai Lama’s welcoming of the cross-disciplinary work (not of Cyber Yoga, but of nueroscience). In fact, his book The Universe in a Single Atom is devoted to his lifelong passion of finding ways to integrate modern scientific findings with the ancient Tibetan philosophies, ones evolved from Indian yogic techniques. In it he writes

“The amount of scientific knowledge and the range of technological possibilities are so enormous that the only limitations on what we do may be the results of insufficient imagination.”

He heralds the cause of ethically-pure scientific research, if it, in some way, alleviates the suffering of humankind. A few paragraphs later, however, his plea reminds what of exactly what Cyber Yoga and such initiatives are guilty of.

“Much of what is soon going to be possible is less in the form of new breakthroughs or paradigms in science than in the development of new technological options combined with the financial calculations of business and the political and economic calculations of governments.”

When scientific studies show proof that practices like meditation help reduce stress, that’s great. Thing is, people that meditate already knew that. Hooking someone up to a computer program - for the price of $249, no less - is not only unnecessary, it’s dishonest. Mediation is the practice of ekagrata, or one-pointed focus. While that one point can be on many things, such as mandalas, breathing or an image of a deity, it’s hard to swallow following computer guidance will help the process in any way.

In their testimonial section someone writes, “Cyberyoga is the most advanced and fastest method I have seen for getting real results and mastering the essential skills of meditation, relaxation, and stress reduction.” Meditation has nothing to do with speed. If anything, it’s anti-speed. Hurrying up to get somewhere that requires slowing down is not going to cut it. Some people use those sacred images, or mandalas, or mala beads as tools to help focus the mind. Once that focus is attained, the instrument is no longer necessary. Trying to charge people into spending an absurd amount of money for something inherent inside of us reminds me of trying to sell someone jade mala beads instead of simple wood ones. It may look pretty, but it’s only going to be a distraction if inner peace is really your goal.

Why InnerContinental Loves Fat Freddy’s Drop

Big Metal Pill

By Jill Ettinger

Coca Cola recently introduced Diet Coke Plus, the number one selling diet beverage now enhanced with vitamins and minerals. Driving through NJ the other day I saw a giant billboard lavishly touting the new super soft drink, and suddenly a sense of irony and queasiness overcame me.

I’ve steered away from soda for more than the last decade. When I do indulge, it is definitely organic. However, I recently drank a Diet Coke - well a few sips anyway. Life is nothing if not a series of experiments, right? I was on a cross-continental flight, and for some reason my travel agent booked me an aisle seat instead of my preferred window. Usually I am peering out at the passing country, self-supplied with snacks and beverages. But as the drink cart filled my only view,  I became curiously up for some research, and asked the flight attendant to pour me half-cup of the caramel colored poison, er, refreshing beverage.

First thing I noticed was its lack of effervescence. My recollection was that of the two leading cola brands, Coke was the bubblier, but this serving bordered on brown water. I started to wonder, do bubbles cost a lot? Are they something that can slowly be skimped on without the customer knowing they are suddenly getting less fizz for the same price? How does one really measure bubbliness anyway? It’s not a listed ingredient, and the nutrition panel makes no mention of sparkle content. Hmmm.

One of my favorite memories of childhood was the engaging experience of drinking soda. I remember smiling in anticipation as I put my nose close to a freshly popped can or bottle, and feel the spray of fizz on my face, and taste the first tingle on my tongue as I sipped the syrupy liquid. Nostalgic recollection met with somber reality as the plastic cup sat in an uneventful placidity on my tray table.

Second thing I noticed was the soapy chemical-like flavor. When I was a frequent soda drinker, it was rarely diet drinks (Cherry Coke was my absolute favorite), so I have few memories of what this particular flavor actually tastes like. (And I grew up in what I suppose is called a Pepsi family.) Perhaps I’ve spent too much time with juicy organic fruits and high mountain oolong teas, but soft this drink was not.  It was beyond medicinal, and  unlike medicine (where one knows there is  benefit) the taste is more bearable. With the addition of vitamins and minerals only now joining the formula, it’s puzzling to consider that for the last several decades people have been washing down this diet drink not only under the guise of good-for-them, but good-tasting. What came to mind as I winced down the last few drops, was that this is a very strange tasting pill, with or without B-12.

But perhaps even more interesting than vitaminizing the anti-vitamin is Coke’s latest acquisition, Glaceau. It’s not the $4.1 billion they invested that I find most alarming. It’s the wolf in sheep’s clothing retrofitting that the soda monsters surely plan to exercise with covert caution as they integrate. Glaceau revolutionized the water category with brands Vitamin Water and Smart Water. Though they’ve positioned themselves in the very mainstream market in the last few years (campaigns like Formula 50  co-conspired with rapper 50 Cent), Glaceau is treading some very murky waters with this news.

Though there are no hard facts to prove this, isn’t it rumored that Coca Cola’s secret recipe has highly addictive properties besides caffeine? And what about the recent stolen recipe caper conveniently painting Coke in the “original” leader light? One wonders if the whole thing wasn’t just a publicity stunt intended to do stir up the good old soda wars (Pepsi Challenge anyone?). Just a few weeks ago, I was at the All Things Organic Show in Chicago, which is part of the Power of Five show (or what I often  call the crumbling, opulent, Power of Jive), where  five food industry trade shows are combined in one massive McCormick Place. Leading brands of Babylon are present, like Kraft, General Mills, Nestle and of course, Coke. I stepped into their booth area with hesitation. A neon emptiness filled the freshly carpeted stall, which is considerably larger than my spacious two-bedroom apartment. Sales people in polyester tried their best to look  hip and relaxed, which is commendable considering they were probably all jacked on the Full Throttle energy drink on display. What is this booth going to look like next year I wonder?

Dropping $4.1 billion is no sneeze. The Glaceau buyout is a HUGE investment for the soda company. (They even give Vitamin and Smart Water top billing when you go to the product page on the Coca Cola website.) Part of me hopes and wishes the beast has been blessed with an opportunity to use their marketing power to promote not only healthy water, but an alternative to soda in general. At the same time though, there’s part of me incredibly suspicious about “flavorings” and secret ingredients finding their way into more and more healthy beverages. I guess only time will tell. I’m reminded of a trip I took to Santiago Chile in 2000 for the New Year celebration. The city of six million collected like fireflies in the center of town around the Coca Cola-sponsored Christmas tree decorated in its own likeness. Maybe they’ve just realized their inevitable destination lies not in nutrition after all, but as shiny aluminum ornaments.