Oh boy, a Republican taking a lead in the presidential polls…anyone else having an acid-reflux inducing Monday? If you are, I have some good news – these are not the polls you’re looking for.
This week, after the exuberance of the democratic convention and the cringy-ness of the republican convention, my class in Buddhist studies started up again, and just in time. As a rule, sincere Buddhist practitioners do not involve themselves in partisan politics. This “hey, we’re Switzerland” stance is encouraged for many reasons. First, as Buddhists we’re supposed to be training our minds in things like peace and equanimity, and if there’s anything that will make your mind unpeaceful, and will make you think that all people are not like you, and that certain groups of people are worthy of your anger, it’s politics. Also, it’s usually the case that if one group of people gets what they want, that means another group of people doesn’t, and the whole point of training your mind to the point of enlightenment is so that you can relieve the suffering of all living beings without exception. And that means that all living beings without exception are legitimate objects of your love and compassion, even republicans.
But! You exclaim, Some parties/candidates are more about helping people than others are. Doesn’t that matter?! And my answer to that is this post, because I know I'm not the only one feeling some anxiety about all this. Here goes...
Say you want to elect a candidate that is all about hope, and bringing people together, and not starting ridiculous wars, and helping people out of poverty, and taking responsibility for our planet. How exactly do you do that?
Well, you might say, you canvass, you call people, you donate money, you get involved, you get active you do, you know, political stuff. Okay, people have been doing that, and here we are. So let me bring in a different perspective with a small quote from Mahatma Ghandi:
Be the change you wish to see in the world.
With that in mind, I’ll ask the same question again. Say you want to elect a candidate who’s all about hope, and helping people and bringing people together. How do you do that? And now let’s say you watched the republican convention and now you’ve seen the follow up polls, and now you’re feeling angry, and maybe a little discouraged, and you can’t possibly fathom how some people can believe the things they do, and maybe you’re saying things like “Sarah Palin is the devil,” and maybe you want to strike someone down with your hatred.
Is that you being the change you wish to see in the world? No, that’s you crossing over to the dark side and making the emperor gleeful.
EMPEROR: Good. I can feel your anger. I am defenseless. Take your weapon! Strike me down with all your hatred, and your journey towards the dark side will be complete.
(And, here, again, by “you” I mean “me”, and by emperor I mean the forces of darkness, I think we know who they are.)
But now, with the dark side threatening, maybe it’s better to take advice from Yoda and not from the evil emperor.
YODA: Remember, a Jedi's strength flows from the Force. But beware. Anger,fear, aggression. The dark side are they. Once you start down the dark path, foreverwill it dominate your destiny.
Hands up, who feels like our destiny is currently dominated by anger, fear and aggression? I don’t think I’m the only one raising my hand.
But, here’s a surprise, guess where that anger, fear and aggression is coming from? You, young Skywalker, you.
My mom once asked me, from a Buddhist perspective, why we have George Bush as a president who got us into a war that many of us did not want. The (possible) answer (possible, because, as some of you may be aware, I am not omniscient, so this is just my best guess), is collective karma.
Buddha taught that it is impossible for us to experience anything that we did not create the karma to experience. He also taught that the world “out there” is not separate from our mind. In fact, the world out there is a perfect reflection of our own minds. (In other words, Republicans don’t make us angry. Our anger makes Republicans.)
Bad news, this means you can’t blame anyone or anything for your unhappiness, even Republicans. The good news is, in order to change the world, the only thing you need to do is change your mind.
So, one more time (this time with feeling), say you want to elect a candidate who is all about hope, and helping people and bringing people together. How do you do that? By cultivating hope, and peace, and love within our own minds. (Yes, you must even love Republicans – just think of them all as your Republican grandmother, it makes it easier). Our minds are the most powerful things in the universe, and karma changes moment by moment. Anything can happen. And if we want people (and by “people” I mean “swing voters”), to act out of hope love and compassion instead of anger and fear and aggression, we have to do the same thing.
Because that’s how things work. So sayeth one of the most powerful “agents of change” to ever walk our shores.
We are tied together in the single garment of destiny, caught in an inescapable network of mutuality. And whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. For some strange reason I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. And you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. This is the way God’s universe is made; this is the way it is structured. – Martin Luther King
Keep hope (and love, and compassion) alive. Because if you do that, the world can’t help but change.
Jen
…and now, because I am in showbiz and am thus superstitious, just to balance out the word count, because I am in showbiz and am thusly superstitious: Democrat Obama Democrat Obama Democrat Obama Democrat Obama Democrat Obama Democrat Obama Democrat Obama Democrat Obama Democrat Obama Democrat Obama Democrat Obama Democrat Obama Democrat Obama Democrat Obama Democrat Obama Democrat Obama Democrat Obama Democrat Obama Democrat Obama Democrat Obama Democrat Obama
Monday, September 8, 2008
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