“Truly successful is the one who purifies [their self]” (Qur’an, 87.14)
Posted by: Michael | 11/27/2016
Success
Posted by: Michael | 11/26/2016
The end of the world
Maybe it’s just me but it really seems like things are coming to a rapid end. Sea ice in the arctic is continuing to melt despite it being winter. Trump is president. Corporations and the government are running roughshod over the rights of water protectors at Standing Rock while the last hospital in Aleppo was just bombed. Time will tell but the desperation and pain of the world is almost too much to bear. Sabbe satta sabba dukkha pamuccantu.
Posted in Dhamma
Posted by: Michael | 11/25/2016
Dhammapada Verse 130
Sabbe tasanti dandassa
sabbesam jivitam piyam
attanam upamam katva
na haneyya na ghataye.
Verse 130: All are afraid of the stick, all hold their lives dear. Putting oneself in another’s place, one should not beat or kill others.
The Story of a Group of Six Bhikkhus
While residing at the Jetavana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verse (130) of this book, with reference to a group of six bhikkhus.
After coming to blows the first time, the same two groups of bhikkhus quarrelled again over the same building. As the rule prohibiting beating others had already been laid down, the group of six threatened the other group with upraised hands. The group of seventeen, who were junior to the chabbaggis, cried out in fright. The Buddha hearing about this laid down the disciplinary rule forbidding the raising of hands in threat.
Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:
Verse 130: All are afraid of the stick, all hold their lives dear. Putting oneself in another’s place, one should not beat or kill others.
Posted in Buddha, Buddha Vacana, Buddhism, Dhamma, Theravada | Tags: Dhammapada, nonviolence, satyagraha
Posted by: Michael | 11/22/2016
Passive Resistance
[P]assive resistance is… obtained by self-suffering, self-purification. Violence ever fails.
Passive resistance is always moral; never cruel. And any activity which fails in this test … is undoubtedly not passive resistance.
I’m continually impressed by Gandhi’s writings and an finding much solace there. Yes, as a Hindu his aims and understandings about liberation may differ but it is the self same commitment to living life by the rule of universal love and sympathy.
Posted in Buddha, Buddhism, Daily Practice, Dhamma | Tags: Gandhi, India, Resistance, satyagraha, universal love
Posted by: Michael | 11/21/2016
Activism
I keep returning to the idea, the long-cultivated assumption, that out it’s one thing to be a follower of the Lord Buddha and something else entirely to advocate for and defend the rights of people being targeted for hatred and oppression. And although I still hold the view that this should largely be the case for monastics, the idea is falling flat on its face in light of our new, fascist America.
Clearly, I consume a largely vegan diet, try to limit my conspicuous consumption and support any number of environmental and conservation initiatives. So, why is it any worse to use my gains and free time as a lay person to champion the causes of the downtrodden? It really seems to me that the real concern is to keep my mind and hearty on an even keel. Sympathetic to all. The hater and the hatred. The oppressor and the oppressed. And, luckily, the Dhamma gives us the tools to do so.
May all beings be free from suffering!
Posted by: Michael | 11/20/2016
The Election of Hate
I ran across an insightful and well-written article that I wanted to share. It’s a good reminder of what my friend, the Venerable Dhammadipa wrote to me yesterday, and represents a path forward. Here is an excerpt and the link to the whole article below:
We’ve got to stop acting out hate. I see no less of it in the liberal media than I do in the right-wing. It is just better disguised, hiding beneath pseudo-psychological epithets and dehumanizing ideological labels. Exercising it, we create more of it. What is beneath the hate? My acupuncturist Sarah Fields wrote to me, “Hate is just a bodyguard for grief. When people lose the hate, they are forced to deal with the pain beneath.”
Posted by: Michael | 11/19/2016
Non-Violent Communication
So much of this moment is about communicating our fears, hopes, wants and hoping to get through to the other side. I know I’ve been guilty of failing to communicate effectively, so much so that my business partner (who voted for Trump) refuses to discuss politics with me at all anymore. And, that’s a truly sad loss because once the lines of communication are broken there is no hope of coming to understand one another.
I ran into a post today about NVC or non-violent communication and wanted to share it with you both as a way to practice Right Speech and as a means of activism through conversation. I hope we can all put these strategies to use to help everyone see that we’re all human and all want the same things: to be happy, safe, protected and loved.
May all beings live in peace and safety!
Posted in Buddha, Buddhism, Dhamma, Sammā Vācā, Theravada | Tags: Activism, Nonviolent Communication, Resistance, right speech, trump
Posted by: Michael | 11/18/2016
Satyagraha
I’ve decided to start reading up on Gandhi’s nonviolent movement by reading a collection of his essays and letters. I have always eschewed political activism and I now believe that was largely due to my privilege (yep, I said it). Really, when your like it’s comfortable and undisturbed by prejudice, oppression and hate things like safety and freedom of expression seem superfluous. Sadly, my generation is now finding out they’re not.
Gandhi represents the polar opposite of the fascists who have taken control of our government. Principled, honest, self-abnegating. The power of his virtue is what lead the Indian people to greatness. I hope that, through studying him and others like him, I can make for myself a path towards liberation that confronts oppression with compassion and a courageous heart.
This morning, I had yet another chance to hone my skills when I saw a young man and woman in a physical altercation. I ran across the street (stupidly) and approached them yelling at him to stop. They separated, she walked ahead with him following herb and both of them ignoring me. I followed behind determined not to allow the fight to start up again. Fortunately for all of us, a cop car was parked on the side of the road and she stopped on front of it and began to make her case. I took that a my cue to leave. I hope I would have reacted with patience and forbearance if I needed to get involved physically so I hope to continue to practice to ensure that I have the best chance to do so if necessary.
Things seem to have soured here and I see more violence and animosity everyday. Let’s hope that it’s just my perception though and that I’m just imagining it.
Posted in Buddha, Buddhism, Daily Practice, Dhamma, Theravada | Tags: domestic violence, nonviolence, satyagraha
Posted by: Michael | 11/17/2016
Practicing with Oppression
Everyone wants happiness. No one wants suffering. This is the view that I need to return to and recall at all times. I tocan’t afford to forget it, especially as things appear to be turning for the worse. The anger at “others” needs to be reframed as anger directed you the eradication of ignorance in oneself. And, although I haven’t been Christian for years, this morning in meditation the verses “forgive them Father for they know not what they do” sprung to mind and echoed there in the darkness.
They know not what they do. Whether out if hate, ignorance or desire, all beings want happiness and not suffering. Forgive me for rambling but I’m feeling frayed at the edges.
Posted by: Michael | 11/16/2016
Fight without Hate
My mother voted for Trump. So did my business partner. My favorite uncle too. So many opportunities to be angry sad to feel righteous indignation. In my mind, their is no question that they’re wrong: Trump is openly racist, misogynistic, xenophobic and clearly unprepared for the job ahead. And yet enough people chose him and what he represents that he won.
What that means for my relationships going forward I don’t know but it feels like there are now walls where there never were before. How can I speak the same language as friends and family when words like hate and prejudice mean radically different things to us? Each day it gets worse and yet I’m not able to withdraw or remove myself. The audacity of the hatred I’m seeing has turned me into an unwilling activist. And, this morning, for the first time, I saw the hate in plain sight.
On the train with my kids and an older white woman begins yelling at a Latina that she needs to get away and stop speaking Spanish. I walked up and asked the Latina woman if she needed help in Spanish and she said she was fine. The white woman got up and moved a soon as I walked over. Maybe she was just crazy but I have never seen this in twelve years living in the city.
May we take refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma and the Sangha and chest a path to liberation for ourselves.
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