Post-Election Thoughts #7

Leaving the Dhamma center yesterday, our friend said "During the meditation I was focusing on spreading lovingkindness and guess who popped into my head? F'ing Donald Trump!" Yes. Of all the people in America who need kindness and compassion and empathy, Trump is near the top of the list. The things he has said and done and the things he has proposed could only come from the mind of someone who is deeply, profoundly troubled, self-loathing and suffering, and doesn't know the skillful ways to deal with it. So it goes to reason that we should look past the vitriolic rhetoric and hateful actions and see the fear and pain and weakness that is causing it, just as we should with ANY bully. After that statement, our friend said "can you imagine if we all did that? If we all wished Donald Trump peace and compassion?" Agreed, and taking it one step further, we can and should counter every thing he and his supporters say and do that is detrimental with something that is nourishing. Election results aside, we are still in the majority, by a long shot. So let's push back with compassion and wisdom, the only true antidotes to their hate and ignorance. If he or his supporters say something awful, let's all say something wonderful. If they dismiss, we listen. If they break down, we build up. If they lash out with fear, we fight back with love. If they are uncaring, we should reach out. We should offer our support not only to those who will suffer at their hands, but to them and the deep pain that is at the root of their anger and hate. It won't change things overnight, but we can prove that hate may have won this temporary battle, but it will not win the war.

Post-Election Thoughts #6

Starting this past Wednesday morning, I am ignoring the mass media (I mostly have been for months anyway). The worst of them exist only for their own selfish ends and are largely responsible for the circus of insanity that got us to this point. The best of them are commendable for their candor and motives, but the stories they report are still only going to create discontent over things I cannot change at this point. I do not need my outrage to be developed and nurtured, there is nothing to be gained by mulling over details and investing energy into them. It is like this. Things are what they are but do not need to remain so. Alix and I will teach our children to be compassionate to all, to not attach to either fear or happiness, and to be good people. I will donate to charity and volunteer my time and skills to worthy causes that benefit others. I will help support the afflicted and abused, especially those victimized by what is yet to come. I will cultivate my own morality by acknowledging my own mortality and seek to pass that along when I can. I will vote with my wisdom and dollars and pen, but not with my emotions. I will not, however, hang on every juicy detail of a nightmare come true. I will not repost angry rants or gossip with like-minded people. I won't scan my News Feed or other news sources for thoughts that only serve to reinforce my existing beliefs, and then self-righteously proclaim all others to be worthless. Life is too short for moral outrage, even if the outrage is perfectly justified. Life is too beautiful to stay mired in sadness and anger and vengeance. In the grand scale of the universe, even these major events are insignificant. Life goes on, one breath at a time. There is something better than being right, better than getting what we want, better than not getting what we don't want - and that is peace from within, regardless of what happens in the external world. Ajahn Chah said "I don't talk about politics. I only talk about things that have an end." Things like suffering, the delusion of self, the myth of permanence. Those are what really matter. And so those are all I wish to talk about, too. Be well friends, and may you find peace in all things.

Post-Election Thoughts #5

The Dalai Lama tells the story of a monk who was captured and was being tortured daily by government authorities. The monk said " The worst part wasn't the torture. It was the times I almost lost my compassion and empathy for the people torturing me." If that monk could keep his compassion and equanimity in those circumstances, we can keep ours in this one.

Post-Election Thoughts #4

If you can set aside your anger and grief for a moment, consider this… Why would someone vote for Donald Trump? They could be an ignorant, racist, misogynist... but I will bet that they are in a minority. More likely, there are millions of people who are suffering greatly, who have been fed a diet of fear and hate for the last eight years by conservative overlords and media, and their vote is a sign of their worry and frustration. It matters not whether their fears are justified or unjustified, they deserve our compassion, and honestly, only compassion and understanding is going to turn the tide. Vitriol and barriers will only exacerbate the problem. Openness and wisdom will prevail. I am trying to be mindful of the fear and lack of hope that underlies the Trump voters outward hate and bitterness, and having empathy for them. It is extremely difficult, but it is the only right way.

Post-Election Thoughts #3

The Buddhist monk Ajahn Sumedho had been given the task of building up a new monastery in England. He went back to Thailand to visit his teacher Ajahn Chah, who asked him how things were going. He replied that everything was great, all the people were wonderful, and everything was going smoothly. Ajahn Chah grunted and said " well you will never learn anything that way!" Bad times are tests of our mettle and our ability to maintain equanimity, peace, and grace. We learn the most about ourselves and our strengths when things go wrong, not when things are going well. Welcome this time with openness and use it as an opportunity to see inside yourself, to learn and grow.

Post-Election Thoughts #2

Nothing is permanent. These things too shall come to pass, and any damage done can hopefully be minimized and reversed. It will only be four years, maybe less. If we let this result anger us too greatly, cause us to suffer too badly, then we give hate and ignorance even more power than they have already been given. He will soon control the oval office, do you really want to give him control over your heart and mind as well?

Post-Election Thoughts #1

One of the best metaphors from the Buddha that is very appropriate today is this: when we suffer, it is often because we are hit by two arrows. The first arrow is the negative situation itself… we lose our job, our partner leaves us, or Donald Trump is elected president... and the second arrow is our aversion, our negative reaction to it. We don't always have a choice whether or not we are hit by the first arrow, but we definitely have a choice to not get hit by the second arrow. Let's try to avoid the second arrow today, shall we?