Vicious mental cycle. Anyone can answer, but preferably from a Soto zen perspective =)?

For example it will start out like this: my friends want to get some munchies so they choose McDonald's and I say a few of the billion reasons why going there is bad for the earth but for everyone else the fact that it is cheap/convenient overrules that. Or someone will by a new pair of nike shoes and let me know that they are fully aware that they are supporting child labour and sweatshops but they think 'looking cool' is much more important and I get told to 'stop being such a Lisa Simpson/hippie/attention seeker'. So I get covered with labels and feel like an outcast or that I should be more apathetic or forget my ethics for social reasons. I know that's a terrible negative thinking idea but I start to feel like no one cares about anything and that I wish people would be as aware of things or as ethical as me. However those thought make me think I'm egotistical and should get over myself because I hate when people put themselves above others. Though deep I know I'm not doing that.

Vicious mental cycle. Anyone can answer, but preferably from a Soto zen perspective =)?
Everyone is connected to you. You are connected to everyone.





Though you are not able to influence your friends in huge ways like choosing what or where they eat or buy their products, you are giving a mind set. You are at the least shedding some light on their view of others. You cannot decide what others do. You cannot affect their free will but you can help influence them.





The world needs thinkers like you. Without them the eco-movement would not exist. Without people like you, recycling would never have become an issue. But without people who are less environmentally friendly, or socially conscientious, there would be no need for people like you. People who care. Therefore it is a magnetic field. One needs the other to exist.
Reply:You have answered your own question. You wrote "I start to feel like no one cares about anything". That pretty accurate. in general, people don't about others, the environment, global issues, etc. People are, at their base, very selfish and self-serving...mostly and ofetn within contexts. i don't know anyone that is NOT that way across all contexts. everyone has some of that self-fullness at some point.
Reply:from a zen perspective, there are no labels. If you are attaching labels to things, situations, people, or yourself, then you have not let go of your attachments. When you do, the way of the universe will be clear.





I find it very related: "That which is called the tao is not the tao", and the same for Zen....
Reply:The only thing you can really do short of insulting them is living minimally yourself and hoping to rub off on them. I find that my lifestyle actually affects a lot of my friends in ways that aren't entirely noticeable to them. Most people really don't care about these issues, and while it's sad, they're not going to change their minds because of something from you that they perceive as arrogant. Maybe you could just use your responses to change things. When they say, "Do you want to go to McDonald's?" you can answer, "No. I'm not really into the way they're treating the earth." Stay firm in this, but don't extend it to a "You shouldn't, either" argument, or else they're likely to retaliate or ignore you. Say something enough and it might sink in (at least that's the psychological aspect of a lot of advertisements).
Reply:Zen training enables us to perceive how the mind constantly produces strong emotions (desire, fear, love, anger, etc.) and Zen also helps us see that nothing can satisfy desire. We can't satisfy craving through acquisition.





When we practice Zen, three things happen:


- Our center becomes strong, so that we can see desire as empty. We don't get "hooked" by desires.


- Our heart opens so that our natural compassion emerges. This makes the impulse help others part of our natural state.


- Our wisdom matures so that we can skillfully act in ways that benefit other people.





So if you practice Zen today, keep at it. It will make an enormous difference in your life, and in the lives of everyone you touch.
Reply:Buddha didn't tell others what to do he waited until they asked.



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