What is Kai-Zing?

Kai-Zing means constant spiritual improvement – seeking ever more Love, ever more Joy and ever more Oneness in every aspect of Life.

The inspiration for Kai-Zing comes from the Japanese philosophy of Kaizen which is applied to areas of endeavour like engineering and manufacturing. Kaizen is about seeking constant improvement in every step of every process. The result is greater efficiency, less wastage, and improved products from improved productivity. It is a very human-centered philosophy that seeks to empower each and every person involved and encourages learning, experimentation and taking ownership. It’s a great philosophy for corporations and the like. And it got me thinking about how I can apply that kind of thinking to my life. And here is how:

I begin by recognising that everything right now is perfect in its imperfection; I love my life exactly as it is. But even so I strive to improve all parts of it whenever I can. I seek to allow every single choice that I make to move my life ever more in the direction of Love, Joy and Oneness.

So, for example, I used to eat eggs and enjoy them. Then I did a little homework and discovered that factory farming methods of producing eggs are, to my mind, unacceptably cruel. So I then began to buy “free range” eggs. That was a step towards Kai-Zing. Then, in the spirit of continual improvement as embodied in the philosophy of Kai-Zing, I decided to do some more research and found out that all so-called “free-range” eggs are not created equal. Large retailers purchase their eggs from chicken farmers who get “free range” certification based upon certain basic requirements. The chickens still live in tiny little cages – now they are just big enough to turn around in. And when they hatch a proportion of the eggs to get new laying hens about 50% are, of course, male chicks. These are disposed of, usually, by tossing them live into a grinder. I kid you not! And this is not the end of the litany of woes for the poor chickens that are still considered to be “free range” but I don’t need to belabour the point. What I realised from myself was that the idyllic scene of chickens happily playing in the sunshine and scratching in the dirt I had in mind when I read the “free range” label on the box of eggs simply did not match with reality. This is still factory farming with a handful of minor concessions. It is, to my mind, still unacceptably cruel. Given this discovery it was time to institute another bit of Kai-Zing. Now I decided, wherever possible, to only eat eggs from chickens that I had seen. If they look happy and healthy to me, if they have space to walk around, and if the male chicks don’t get tossed into a grinder… then I’ll eat the eggs.

Is this the end of the road? Are these the perfect eggs that I will keep eating for ever-and-ever-amen? No. But it is the best that I can do for now and I shall keep seeking improvement. Kai-Zing, you see?

And Kai-Zing also means non-judgement. So I don’t get up on a pedestal and look down upon others that are making choices other than my own. Getting judgemental does not improve anything, least of all ME!

And that, really is all there is to it. I don’t get obsessive about it and I don’t beat myself up for not thinking about it ALL THE TIME. But I do make an effort and I do strive for improvement.

If there is a different choice that can make the world a happier place for some one (person, animal, plant or the planet as a whole), that wastes less, damages less, hurts less or pollutes less… If there is a different choice that can bring more love, peace and joy to the world… If there is a way to do something that is more fun… If there is a way to spread more love…then discovering and taking that choice IS Kai-Zing.

Please leave a comment if you have some thoughts or ideas about choices that are Kai-Zing. I’d love to hear about them and also blog about them myself if your idea inspires me.