Maybe the rain and forecast thunderstorms here in Portland today will thin out the crowds for today’s #BlackLivesMatter protests. I hope not. How does a privileged old white mystic view this, and what right do I even have to comment regarding the suffering of people as the result of ingrained societal white privilege and supremacy? Even the loftiest spiritual beings of history were also all very human. They had all the same bodily functions as anyone else, they bled, they got angry (at times), they were anxious for their fellow human beings and they decomposed back into the earth in the end. But they displayed unconditional love as well, that comes from a place beyond words. I am saddened by our current leadership’s inability to lead, console and unite. In order to remedy social injustice, it is up to us to develop a good heart and translate whatever insights are gained through spiritual work into concrete action. This is physical and mental work of listening, controlling reactivity, volunteering, donating, educating oneself and others, and speaking and thinking kindly with less self-orientation. It’s about being with one’s own pain, and the world’s , in an honest and transparent way.
What do Covid 19 and racism have in common? Well, at least three things. One, both are diseases, two, we are all in this together and three, people of color as well as those below the poverty line are bearing impacts of Covid 19 disproportionately higher than those with greater privilege.
The Covid 19 pandemic and now the frustrations of seeing black men die time and time again on national television has increased the anxiety level of Americans. A Zoloft shortage has been reported. Use is way up. And even though we can act socially responsibly and not just spin wheels and grit teeth, we can’t always “fix things.” Matter of fact one of the reasons humans act “crazy” is that we so often, in our heads, want it only our way, and are always planning how it’s going to work out better for “me”–so we race toward that goal. This is exhibited in many ways, from impatience in the grocery line, to reckless driving, to unhealthy consumption of all kinds, violence against others and property, to unhealthy affiliation with the left or the right. And yes, it includes at times, at least for me, relying too much on spiritual rituals and meditation thinking that it will fix all things in this world, which is a world forever in flux. Even this blog is an example. And we don’t spend enough time integrating the pain of the world and facing reality just the way it is, in order to be able to act compassionately, whether it be to a partner, stranger or an unjust social construct.
For me, the healing and translation of anxiety into something productive and helpful begins with the Buddhist concept of Right View. Here is a paragraph from a recent email from Dharma Rain Zen Center by abbot Kakumyo Lowe-Charde:
Right view is one of our foundations of practice. Right view is seeing the world with an understanding through the lens of the four noble truths. It tells us that we have a responsibility to manage our intentions and actions to reduce suffering, and that the pivotal manner in which we cause suffering is the assumption of separateness. We are deeply conditioned to see “I, me and mine” as somehow different from the field of awareness. When we perceive this separateness we will frame difference as conflict: We imagine a right and a wrong, a hero and an enemy; we perceive scarcity, we hoard privilege. This stance of separateness colludes with a violent system, and reinforces greed, anger and delusion at structural, institutional and individual levels.
Love is certainly an antidote to the perception of separateness. I have noticed during the Covid-19 lock down, most neighbors and even people at the stores that are open, seem kinder and more willing to acknowledge each other — there is less of “I, me and mine.” It’s kind of like those astronauts that see our fragile planet in the distance as they journey to the moon. Separateness just breaks down, if but for a little while. This is hard work, not to feel so separate. I’ll conclude with a Christian perspective:
1 John 2:9-11
He that says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness even until now.
He that loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no occasion of stumbling in him.
But he that hates his brother is in darkness, and walks in darkness, and knows not whither he goes because that darkness has blinded his eyes.
Little Known Mystic 