I'm a digester. It takes me awhile to actually delve into, reflect upon, process and digest anything difficult, and the election results message, from close to half of the American population, has not yet been fully digested. Now we have a learning moment, while all the votes are not yet in regarding what it all means...
I'm also a survivor, a champion for those in need, and messenger of and ombudsman for hope, mutual understanding, and collaboration. So let's begin, reach deep, roll up our sleeves, and keep in mind the bigger picture and long term possibilities, paving a sustainable path forward for a sane, just, safe and equitable future to be possible.
When Richard Nixon was elected in autumn of 1968 and my family felt very disappointed, I remember my friend's grandfather said, "We've had a lot of presidents---good, bad, and in-between-- and we'll have a lot more. Don't worry too much, we'll just do what we can together." This was a very helpful lesson for me, an idealistic, callow kid from a small New York suburban town, who was venturing off to college, far from home, that very that year.
A Buddhist maxim is "this too shall pass." I try to keep that in mind. A good lesson I've learned is that we rarely if ever know and understand as much as we assume we do, and that nothing matters as much as you may think it does in the very moment, so beware of impulsive actions, words and decisions. Try to take a breath or two, relax, center, breathe again-- and then take another good look after a little while. If we really knew all about any given situation, we might very well have different views and feelings about it.
Charles Eisenstein writes: "We hate what we fear, and we fear what we do not know. So let's stop making our opponents invisible behind a caricature of evil. We've got to stop acting out hate. If we can stare hate in the face and never waver from that knowledge, we will access inexhaustible tools of creative engagement, and hold a compelling invitation to the haters to fulfill their beauty."
It seems the world (and we personally too) need the liberating Dharma and some sort of unifying-field-theory more than ever. What Dharma's experiential spiritual wisdom development can contribute to society and the future, near and far, remains to be worked on and worked out together, altho' plenty has already been done in this direction---check it out! Help yourself.
As many of us prepare for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, I ask you to focus on fortifying your inner heart-center and local base, whether it be family or friends, with loving kindness and mindful words and actions, and peer into your minds for signs of prejudice or dogmatism. As the Buddha professed, practicing mindful awareness frees us from unfulfilling habitual patterns, opening up a space for awareness in between stimulus and response, allowing us to consciously choose how, when, and if, to respond to things rather than just blindly, reflexively reacting. This is the key to Mindful Anger Management and emotional maturity.
Let's do what we can, thinking globally while acting locally, beginning with ourselves and each other, here in our great land.
Take god care of urSelf. Enjoy the bright autumn daze.
Love is the way, the truth and the life.
With Love and blessings,
Lama Surya Das
Nov 2016
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