In a time of political divisiveness, many of us look to the three treasures of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha for solace, strength, and guidance. I offer a few Dharma teachings I have found useful for practicing in tumultuous times.
(Note: I am working on the seventh chapter of my book, The Ten Fields of Zen: A Primer for Practitioners – to be released before the end of the month – and fighting a cold, so this episode is a little shorter than usual. Besides – I wanted to offer something relevant to the times but have already published alot on these topics, so this serves as a review of some of my past episodes.)
Quicklinks to Article Content:
A Recipe for Sustainable Bodhisattva Practice
The Magic of the Middle Way
Practicing with Fear, Hatred, and Anger
Practicing Kshanti – Patience or Forbearance – Especially with One Another
A Recipe for Sustainable Bodhisattva Practice
If you care about the welfare of all beings, not just you and yours, there are sustainable ways to live your life as a bodhisattva. In December 2021, I published Episode 188 What Does Practice Look Like When Your Country Is Broken?” where I offered three ingredients or components that need to be included in your practice if you want to maintain an open and attentive heart and a bodhisattva’s sense of responsibility, but also avoid burnout, overwhelm, depression, or despair. I have discussed these three ingredients many times on the podcast: Bearing Witness to the suffering in the world; Taking Care of yourself and your life in order to stay strong, and Taking Action, or generous engagement with the world.
I recommend listening to Episode 188 for more on how to balance the three ingredients in the stew of your practice in a potent and sustainable way.
I recently realized my three ingredients are almost exactly the same as the Three Tenets of the Zen Peacemakers Order: Not Knowing, Bearing Witness, and Taking Action. “Not Knowing” is defined as “letting go of fixed ideas about yourself, others, and the universe.” I discussed what we mean by “not-knowing” in Zen in Episode 32 – The Practice of Not-Knowing: Relief, Intimacy, and Ground for Effective Action and I agree that it’s extremely important. I do like my formulation of three ingredients because of the inclusion of Taking Care – acknowledging that we won’t be able to do the other aspects of the practice if we don’t take care of ourselves and our lives, but maybe that goes without saying. Zen teacher Bernie Glassman and the ZPO have a lot more credibility than I do when it comes to social action, so I recommend checking them out (see link above).
The Magic of the Middle Way
It’s amazing how often the teaching of the Middle Way is applicable to our life and practice. The Middle Way is a dynamic and responsive engagement with life achieved by refusing to get caught on either side of a dualism. Whenever we seem to be faced with only two alternatives, neither of which seems great, we can look for the Middle Way.
I thought of the Middle Way after our recent national election when I saw myself and others being pulled either toward a conclusion that everything was going to be okay, or toward a conclusion that the world was going to hell in a handbasket. I even heard people arguing about which side was correct. Heck, I wanted to jump in and argue for one side or another. However, Reality can’t be reduced to dualisms. We have to make judgment calls in order to make decisions in life, but there is nothing inherently true about either half of a dualism, and getting attached to either side is a recipe for misery. I discuss this kind of application of the Middle Way teaching at length in Episode 191 – Contemplating the Future: The Middle Way Between Dread and Hope.
Practicing with Fear, Hatred, and Anger
“Practicing” with something means you turn toward your experience of it and ask, “What can I do in this situation to relieve suffering and increase my peace of mind, clarity, and compassion?” We don’t have control over everything, and sometimes negative and painful emotions will arise. Sometimes it’s even appropriate that they arise. However, in our practice we cultivate faith that there is always something we can do to improve our internal experience of a situation, no matter what is happening around us.
In Episode 130 – Practicing with Fear in Buddhism, I talk about steps we can take when we experience fear. First, we become mindful of it: “Fear has arisen in me.” Then we look closely at our fear, trying to discern which parts of it are natural, informative, and even motivating, and which parts are debilitating and based on attachments, expectations, or assumptions we can let go of. Then we take steps that we know promote our well-being, including keeping up our practice and spending time with good spiritual friends who will support our efforts to cultivate clarity, equanimity, and compassion, rather than feeding our fears. You might also listen to Episode 147 – Loving-Kindness (Metta) Practice as an Antidote to Fear and Anxiety.
If you need a Buddhist perspective on the prevalence of fear, anger, and hatred in our larger world, check out Episode 65 – Dealing with Fear, Anger, and Hatred as a Buddhist. There I discuss what leads human beings to indulge and manifest their fear, anger, and hatred in the world, and how we aspire to respond to it with non-hatred and compassion – but also by setting boundaries.
Clearly, finding an authentic Buddhist response to suffering in the world has been a topic of great interest to me throughout my practice. You might want to listen to or read a creative exercise I did in Episode 266 – What Would the Buddha Say About the Suffering in the World? where I created an imaginary dialogue between a student – like myself, wondering how the individual practitioner addresses collective suffering – and the Buddha himself.
Practicing Kshanti – Patience or Forbearance – Especially with One Another
Finally, I suggest turning to the teachings on the perfection of Kshanti, which can be translated as patience, forbearance, endurance, or tolerance. I discuss Kshanti in detail in Episode 153 – Kshanti, The Perfection of Endurance: Life’s Not Always a Bed of Roses. Naturally, the practice of Kshanti is valuable with respect to the situations we are faced with in the world, and with respect to our own attempt to understand, cope, and respond to things. In particular, though, I’ve recently been thinking about the importance of practicing Kshanti with those we are used to more or less agreeing with.
I’ve noticed a whole host of reactions to the recent US presidential election, for example. Among those unhappy with the result, there are people firmly convinced everything will be okay, and people deeply impacted by ongoing fear and anxiety. There are people who think they understand why everything has turned out the way it has, and others who are struggling with shock and confusion. There are people who can’t bear to watch any news or talk about politics at all, and others who can’t stop talking about it.
All this diversity in reactions isn’t in itself problematic, but I notice my own inclination to feel impatience or judgmental about certain kinds of reactions, and to convince others to feel the way I do. It seems like a skillful way to support one another at this time is to listen and accept one another’s responses, at least for the time being, setting our own concerns aside to witness how someone else is dealing with the situation.
When witnessing someone’s response, it may help you to remain silent or be gentle about your own point of view if you keep in mind the teaching of skillful means. I discuss this in Episode 40 – Being Beneficial Instead of Right: The Buddhist Concept of Skillful Means. Even if you are convinced you are right, to speak skillfully you consider a number of things, including: Can the person even hear you at the moment? Are they able to understand and consider what you’re saying? If someone can’t accept or agree with you, is there some goal you might hold in common? Even if someone ends up agreeing with you, how much change are they capable of at this time?
That’s it for now… I will be back soon with a new, full episode. Thanks for listening/reading!
