by Domyo Burk | May 8, 2018 | Responding to the Cries of the World
It’s tricky – we want our spiritual communities to be places of refuge from the over-stimulation and conflict in the world outside our temple walls. No one wants to come to practice at the Zen center only to participate in a political debate, or be told what they should be doing as a good Buddhist.
And yet… if we don’t challenge our comfort levels as a Buddhist community in order to witness and respond to the often acute suffering in the world around us, especially of those much less privileged than we are, are we fulfilling our bodhisattva vows? Are we missing an opportunity to test and deepen our practice?
Bright Way Zen’s new Sangha Stewardship Committee is thinking about how our Sangha might get involved in addressing the suffering in our community – some communal cause or project we could take on together, and explore compassionate response as Buddhists, together. If you have any thoughts on this, please speak to Domyo or Myoju (directly, or through email, info@brightwayzen.org).
Here’s a very thoughtful, short, balanced article on this topic by a Soto Zen priest who leads a Sangha in New York:
BY ROSHI PAT ENKYO O’HARA | NOVEMBER 10, 2014 – Lion’s Roar Magazine
by Domyo Burk | Apr 21, 2017 | Responding to the Cries of the World
For millennia, spiritual traditions have recognized that greed, hatred, and ignorance cause suffering in the human heart. Now it’s time to recognize that greed, hatred, and ignorance inevitably cause suffering at whatever scale they manifest: individual, family, community, national, or global.
For too long we have separated our values from our economic and political systems. Few of us would ever consider tormenting or stealing from our neighbor, or watching him suffer without lending a hand. And yet we think it’s okay to allow injustice, inequality, and exploitation to be the outcome of our political and economic systems. We have allowed almost every sphere of human life to become governed by a profit motive, relegating things like education, social support, and generosity to a list of “nice” services that will be offered as long as they can fit in the budget. Concern for the well-being of others at the systems level is seen as a soft, bleeding-heart pastime of middle-class people who don’t have enough to do.
We have been hoodwinked by the people who have gotten immensely rich and powerful through our current system. They have led us to believe that unregulated competition, unbridled profit motive, and unending growth are essential to a healthy “economy,” and any attempt to introduce other values into the system will cause stagnation and collapse. They encourage our fear by invoking images of demoralized people standing in bread lines during the downfall of the Soviet Union. “See what would happen?” they say. “Communism doesn’t work.”
Fortunately, there are plenty of examples around the world of thriving political and economic systems that fall in between the two extremes of communism and unbridled capitalism. We don’t have to buy the story the rich and powerful are telling us.
We can adopt the values of generosity, tolerance, and understanding no matter what our religious or spiritual leanings. We can refuse to let these values be confined to personal or religious spheres, and insist on seeing them incorporated into our political and economic systems. It will not make us soft. It will not destroy our economy. It will not dampen individual creativity or productivity. It will not lead to a bleak society devoid healthy competition or rewards for hard work. Instead, systems that no longer depend on sustaining greed, hatred, and ignorance will increase the quality of life for the vast majority of us and allow us to heal our planet.
In Buddhism, greed, hatred, and ignorance are called the Three Poisons. (In Buddhist imagery, a rooster-like bird represents greed or grasping, a snake hatred or aversion, and a pig ignorance or delusion.) For over 2,500 years – and probably much longer than that – wise people have identified these three factors as being the root of all suffering. Those same wise people have also insisted that human beings are perfectly capable of recognizing and letting of the Three Poisons, and cultivating positive values and wisdom instead. Other spiritual and religious traditions have similar teachings. Why do we limit the sphere of our collective wisdom to the personal? Why don’t we apply what we know to be true to life at all levels, from the individual to the global?
It may be because we fear the totalitarianism that social change movements have become trapped in before. No matter how lovely the values a movement is fighting for, if the methods of oppression, judgement, persecution, and propaganda are employed the results are a disaster. Fortunately, there are also alternatives here. We can work to advance the values of generosity, tolerance, and understanding in our political and economic systems while allowing those values to guide our actions. In other words, we walk our talk. We don’t intimidate people into being generous, and don’t vilify people while we fight for tolerance. At the same time we speak out, work for change, and vote our conscience.
Let’s get the Three Poisons out of our economic and political systems. All the beautiful things about life on this planet depend on it.
by Domyo Burk | Apr 7, 2017 | Responding to the Cries of the World
How do we remain open when we witness incredible suffering without being overwhelmed with despair? If we close ourselves off, we deactivate our conscience, hide out in denial and ignorance, reduce our sense of intimacy with all life, and let our heart atrophy. How do we walk the middle path that is neither denial nor despair? It’s possible, although it’s not easy.
One: Allow the Awfulness to Be
First, we have to allow the awful stuff to be. That is, we have to give up the relative comfort of denial. We can’t wait to face what’s going on until we have a complete solution. We have to open our eyes, ears, and minds, and – for the moment – just perceive. This may be scary. It may hurt. But it’s a necessary part of the process of becoming a full human being and doing our part to benefit the world.
We naturally want to protect ourselves from the pain of facing suffering, whether it is our own suffering or the suffering of others for which we bear some responsibility. We keep ourselves busy, entertained, or numb. We create stories of shame or blame to give us an illusion of control over the suffering. We’ll ordinarily do anything but just “allow” it to be true (as if we can make it untrue simply by wishing it). This is why Buddhists meditate – it helps us get to know our minds, and to use our faculty of awareness without dependence on all of our reactions and commentary.
Two: Embrace Not-Knowing
Second, we have to embrace not-knowing. We can think all kinds of things about what’s going on – who’s to blame, what should be done, how horrible the future might be – but then forget that, actually, we don’t really know what’s going to happen. We don’t know what the next moment is going to bring, let alone the next year or decade.
This is not the same as saying as willful ignorance, like, “We are running toward a cliff, but who knows? Maybe once we hit the edge, we’ll be able to fly!” Embracing not-knowing is realistic, not optimistic. The most important aspect of it is, “My thoughts are just my thoughts, not reality itself. I can’t control the world with my mind.“
Three: Cultivate Determination to Save the World
Third, we have to cultivate determination to save the world. You won’t do it singlehandedly, but you don’t have to. We may not know exactly how we’re going to do it, but we know human beings are immensely resourceful when they finally get their acts together. Our determination to save the world can’t be based on how likely we believe we are to succeed. There’s no other option. And in order for me to save the world I need others, so convincing you to get on board is all part of the process. It’s not about moral superiority or inferiority, it’s about advocating for an inspiring cause: Let’s save our planet and the wondrous creatures that inhabit it!
This is another area where meditation can help. Over time, you can develop greater facility in using your mind instead of letting it use you. You can turn it, like a horse being turned with reins, toward a healthy, fruitful path (such as loving determination) and away from a negative, dangerous path that leads to ruin (such as despair). You don’t make a choice like that based on “objective” facts. You don’t become determined to help save the world because you become convinced that the “save the world” side is winning. You just change your mind. It’s not easy, but it is that simple.
Four: Do Whatever We Can within the Context of Our Own Lives
Fourth and finally, we have to help however we can and stop comparing ourselves to others. Activists aren’t just those with the time and inclination to attend protest rallies.
At the same time, we don’t have to keep on with business as usual just because everyone else seems to be. There are no rules limiting your generosity with respect to the world. In fact, revered spiritual teachers throughout human history have sacrificed their lives for the sake of others. A legend about Shakyamuni Buddha tells of how, in a previous life, he jumped off a cliff in order to offer his body to a starving tigress and her cubs. Stories like this may seem extreme, but they remind us of what’s possible, and of the depth of the connection between ourselves and all living beings.
If you’re unwilling to abandon your comfort and pleasure in order to sacrifice yourself for the sake of others (and few of us are!), at least own that fact for what it is and don’t take refuge in justifications. Even as you decide what to do within the context of your own life, remain open to new possibilities and keep witnessing. You don’t have to be perfect to care, and you don’t have to have the solution in order for your empathy and sense of responsibility to matter in the world.
If you sincerely practice the first three steps of this process, a way forward will open for you – a middle way between despair and denial. A way for you to help save the world.
Photo by Freedom House, Flickr Commons
by Domyo Burk | Mar 31, 2017 | Responding to the Cries of the World
Most of us try to find some kind of balance between too much media consumption and too little, particularly when it involves exposing ourselves to bad news. Too much negative information – about war, injustice, global warming, poverty, you name it – and we get overwhelmed, anxious, depressed or jaded. Too little and we risk losing touch. We may ignore things we actually care deeply about, or fail to see how we are contributing to the suffering.
I try to think of my media consumption as a diet. Media nourishes me and helps me grow as a person, even if much of it also makes me sad. It informs me about what’s going on in the world. It can educate me, broaden my perspectives, and allow me to make better choices. It can arouse my compassion, awaken my conscience, and fuel my determination to support change.
On the other hand, if I expose myself to too much negative information, media can start having a harmful effect. I can start to shut down, go numb, or feel aversion to any story or commentary that seems to be trying to educate me or make me feel guilty. I can cling even more strongly to my opinions and habits because it feels like they are under attack, or because I need to take solace in something familiar or pleasant. I can turn away from my compassion, conscience, and determination because it seems I will be sucked dry of any positivity before anything really changes.
If I look at my media consumption as a diet, I can mindfully monitor the state of my mental and physical health in order to know what to expose myself to, how much, and when. I don’t have to abstain completely because media consumption is pointless or harmful. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn’t. I also don’t have to read, watch, or listen to everything.
I know I need more exposure to news and challenging information when I get complacent. That’s when it feels like the stories about war, injustice, global warming, poverty, etc. are impeding on my space, and seem irrelevant to my life – as if they’re happening in some parallel universe and my compassion can’t quite reach across the space between worlds. Then I need to watch one of those heart-rending documentaries and remember in a visceral way it’s all my world. I am intimately connected to all of it. To forget that means to forget part of myself, to shut down a whole dimension of my experience as a human being.
It also helps to think of my media consumption as a diet because I am well aware a healthy diet isn’t easy to maintain!
Photo by Spencer E Holtaway (creative commons)
by Domyo Burk | Mar 17, 2017 | Responding to the Cries of the World
A priest and leader of a congregation needs to be thoughtful about when to speak up about “political issues,” but I want to offer three practices for Buddhists in troubled political times.
Why now? At a certain point, things happening in political spheres become moral issues, and our Zen Buddhist practice becomes directly relevant. We need our practice to maintain sanity and perspective, but our practice also calls us to Right Action and the path of the Bodhisattva. And let’s not forget, the central champion of Zen is Truth itself.
Right now, those in power are denying the fact of human-caused climate change and rolling back environmental protections that were already too little, too late to prevent worldwide suffering and chaos. Five million people are facing starvation in Africa, but the U.S. is planning to cut aid in order to place America First. People of color are once again being scapegoated as we target Muslims and undocumented Latino immigrants, as if excluding them from our country will be able to prevent terrorism and fix our deep, systemic economic problems. The U.S. has just given North Korea – one of the most dangerous and volatile countries in the world – an ultimatum, while our Commander in Chief is someone who reacts angrily to parody and determines foreign policy by Tweet in the middle of the night. If the current administration’s budget gets accepted, seniors will go without meals and infants without formula so we can build an incredibly expensive wall on the Mexican border to prevent illegal immigration just when such immigration has fallen to the lowest levels in nearly 50 years. Facts don’t seem to matter, and compassion seems to be out of fashion.
What can we do, as Buddhists? Three things.
First, we keep our Buddhist practice strong: sitting zazen, spending time with Sangha, practicing mindfulness in our everyday life, studying the Dharma, periodically renewing ourselves in the space of a meditation retreat. We have to take care of ourselves and our lives in order to do the next two things to the best of our ability.
Two, we keep ourselves informed. This is the practice of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion, who “perceives the cries of the world.” Sure, it can be overwhelming and depressing. Sure, we need to take a break sometimes, consider carefully what news sources we consume, and find the dynamic middle way between bad-news-overload and putting our heads in the sand. But this is our obligation as bodhisattvas and citizens of the world. It’s not always easy to witness! (Click here for a post I wrote about what happened to Avalokiteshvara when he was overwhelmed by the suffering of the world.)
Three, we do something to change our world and come to the aid of suffering beings. Anything! But the more active the doing, the more it brings us into contact with others, the better! Why? Not only because we might benefit someone else, but because it’s the best medicine in the world for denial, overwhelm and despair. As Buddhists, we are not limited to a doctrinal playbook. We observe what relieves suffering, increases wisdom, and strengthens compassion – and then we do it. If exercise relieves your depression, then exercise needs to be part of your practice. If writing poetry increases your sense of appreciation for your life, than make writing poetry part of your practice. If gardening keeps you present in your body, your gardening is Zen practice.
Activism expands your focus beyond your own life, and directly counteracts passivity and a sense of helplessness. Once you find something to do, you can put aside grief and worry in order to devote yourself to your task. Periodically, of course, you need to ask yourself if you can do more, or whether your time and energy would be better spent elsewhere. But only periodically. The rest of the time you can find some solace in knowing you’re doing what you can, and supporting others in the fight for compassion and justice.
A lovely side-effect of activism? Community building! It lets you get to know people outside of your regular circles. I’m new to activism myself, and was delighted to find my local Indivisible Group – a bunch of concerned and defiant neighbors of mine who gather regularly to learn, support one another, and enjoy beverages, snacks, and humor!
Photo credit: By Kathryn Kendall, of a #SomosPortland action in November 2016.
