Dharma Monkey

In last Saturday’s Washington Post, Karen Armstrong, a respected expert on comparative theology, reminds us that compassion is the cornerstone of each of the world’s major religions.

All the great religious sages insist that compassion is the chief religious duty.  The first person to do so was Confucius, who, five hundred years before Christ, was the first to formulate the Golden Rule: “Do not do to others what you would not like them to do to you.”  It was the central “thread” that ran through all his teaching and should be practised “all day and every day.”  Every single faith has evolved its own version of the Golden Rule, which requires us to look into our own hearts, discover what gives us pain and refuse, under any circumstance whatsoever to inflict that pain on anybody else.

Such beautiful, simple words to describe an equally poetic approach to life and faith, and yet, so much of contemporary religion has strayed from this most basic of concepts.

Fundamentalists, it all too often seems, are focused not on leading a compassionate life, but on passing judgment on those who don’t conform to their narrow worldview. They seem to forget Jesus Christ’s own admonition against judging others, instead selectively following those tenants that suit their present situation. What’s worse, their “mainstream” brethren, who far outnumber those on the fringes, often stand by while the spirit and intent of Christ’s teachings are warped by those who take some Biblical teachings literally while ignoring others. (Reference the 55-year-old Northern Virginia minister who, shortly after his wife died, stood before his congregation and said that, according to the Bible, he was the high priest who had to take a virgin bride from among his flock. He married a 20-year-old parishioner a week later, yet he told the parents of a 16-year-old to either throw their son out on the street for wanting to leave the church or face being excommunicated themselves.)  

There is hope in the progressive elements of modern religion, though they are painfully small in number. Out of 41,800 United Methodist congregations, only 221 have taken the step of saying they believe in the full inclusion of gays and lesbians in the life of the church – that’s one-half of one percent of all congregations.  There are 158,000 Unitarians in American, compared to 16.2 million Southern Baptists; Buddhists like myself number somewhere between 1 million and 4 million.

My guess is that things, on the whole, have changed very little from those days thousands of years ago when Jesus, Buddha and Confucius walked the earth.  People judging the behaviors of others gave the great teachers the opportunity to talk about and demonstrate compassion — to put action behind their words for others to see.  What has changed since then is that fundamentalists now have the means to have their message carried far and wide, which makes the mainstream toleration all the more frustrating.

And yet, even in this situation, I have to recognize that the Golden Rule comes into play.  ”Judge not lest yet be judged” works in both directions.  As a Buddhist, as a progressive, and as a humanist, I have to feel genuine compassion for those who would seek to marginalize me or discriminate against my community, and I must get into the habit of always responding to those who would condemn (or those who otherwise standby in silence) with heartfelt loving-kindness.

Now — and especially now — is the time for compassion.

I know many of the people who read this blog understand where I am coming from, and I would encourage those people to engage in an international dialogue called the Charter for Compassion.  Help make the case in a way that can persuade others to embrace a shared responsibility for fostering mutual respect among all people.

November 17th, 2008 | Tags: Charter for Compassion, compassion, hope, tolerance | Category: Buddhism, Spirituality | Comments (5)

History was made in the United States Tuesday with the election of Barack Obama as our 44th president.

For the last couple of days, I’ve tried writing about any number of topics related to Election Day, but I stop each time because I find myself rehashing feelings accumulated over the last eight years.  At one point, I put together a long list of the current administration’s flaws in an attempt to explain why the reaction to Obama’s win was so jubilant.  In another draft, I found myself picking apart the McCain campaign because it seemed to be based solely on tearing down the opponent rather than presenting solid plans to fix the nation’s problems.

I was also ready to tell the stories of a couple of ultra-conservative acquaintances I have who have spent the last year posting negative (and sometimes even hateful) blog entries.  With the election over and the outcome decided, one of them still can’t come to terms with the fact that Republicans lost, instead focusing much of his energy on conspiracy theory-filled tirades.

I don’t think either activity — me dwelling on the past eight years or diatribes blasting Obama and the Democrats — is especially helpful at this point.  But then again, that’s usually the tough part about politics, especially for someone struggling to walk a middle way.

There is something to be said for practicing mindful politics, which seems to get more difficult each year as the rhetoric gets sharper, or as our collective situation gets more dire — the global economic downtown, our shared climate crisis and genocide raging out of control in hotspots around the planet all work together to create a sense of urgency.

We must find a way to collaborate on our problems, and we can’t do that very well if Politician A has his press people firing off snide statements to the media about every little thing that Politician B does.  We have to find a way to recognize and embrace the fact that we’ve all got the same basic needs, regardless of political party.

We all have an opportunity to seize on the historic nature of Barack Obama’s election and forge a new path.  The challenges that we face are far too important to have our leaders only give 50 percent, with one eye on the problem and the other on the folks across the aisle.

Already, I’ve heard talk of how one party will start working today to gain more seats in 2010, or to capture the White House in 2012.  That approach is short-sighted at best, and could prove to be harmful to all of us in the long run.

Politics should be the vehicle that allows us to improve our lives and the world around us, not an annual bloodsport designed to pit neighbor against neighbor.  It’s important, at least for me, to keep that in perspective, especially now that we have a chance to bring about change, which will require some give-and-take for all involved.

November 9th, 2008 | Category: National Politics | Leave a comment

One of the most distasteful and dishonest tactics employed by far-right conservatives in the years since the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has been to brand liberals, progressives, Democrats and anyone else opposed to the conflicts as unpatriotic and even anti-American. And for the most part, those same liberals, progressives and Democrats have been unable to counter this deceitful claim.

As for me, I am completely opposed to the wars on philosophical grounds. I don’t believe in state-sponsored violence of any type, regardless of whose flag is flying over the battlefield. At the same time, I know that the men and women who are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan are doing so in my name, and in both theaters, these brave soldiers are coming face-to-face with some of the purest forms of evil — terrorists who kill indiscriminately in God’s name.  Simply put, I have to support them in every way possible.

I would challenge everyone who supports the troops but opposes the wars with a basic question: what exactly have you done to actually support them, besides lending them your words? I’ve done nothing at all, other than write about a few stories I’ve seen during the last five years.

But something I saw this morning made me realize we all need to do much more. NBC’s Richard Engel, reporting from Korengal, Afghanistan, on Oct. 16, followed the U.S. Army’s Viper Company into battle against the Taliban in a location ominously dubbed the “Valley of Death.” In the firefight, a 25-year-old soldier, Sgt. John M. Penich of Beach Park, Ill., died, while six others were injured.

Take five minutes and watch Richard’s story, Tragedy for GIs in the Afghan Hills. Think about what the men of Viper Company are going through on a daily basis. And do something to let them know you support them. Send them a care package. Write them a letter. Remember them in your prayers and dedications.

But do something so that that these men know they are not making this sacrifice in vain, and let it be the first of many things you do to put your proverbial money where your mouth is.

Viper Company: The Army servicemen featured in Richard Engel’s reporting from their outpost in Afghanistan would welcome winter hats, gloves and socks, comedy DVDs, videogames, cigars and Christmas treats. Send them to:

FB Restrepo
C/O CPT Jimmy Howell
BCo., 1-26 IN, 3-1 IBCT
Korengal Outpost
APO AE 09354

October 22nd, 2008 | Category: Mindfulness, The War | Comments (3)

A couple of years ago, I heard an interview with His Holiness the Dalai Lama where he discussed global economics from a Buddhist perspective. Aside from topics of interconnectedness and compassion for the poor, he made a remarkably simple point that has stuck with me ever since: in a world of clearly finite resources, it is unrealistic that each nation in the developed world can continue to have year-over-year gains in GDP, especially with the BRIC and smaller members of the developing world coming right up behind us with mind-bending economic growth. We are quickly running out of resources on the planet, so the expectation that global markets must continue to grow each year is a fallacy.

There is also an inequality in wealth between the rich and poor that, at least in the United States, hasn’t been seen since the days leading up to the Great Depression. In today’s America, the richest 1 percent earn more income than the bottom 50 percent, while that same 1 percent holds more wealth than the bottom 90 percent. It is completely commonplace for chief executives to make 250 times more than the workers who are running their organizations.

As I watched the stock markets get pummeled over the last two weeks, I know that my meager retirement savings, which have already been completely wiped out once by one of the largest accounting scandals and bankruptices in history, hang in the balance. The economic situation our county has created, based upon the greed of a few whose actions have jeopardized the future of billions of people around the globe, will result in unimaginable financial pain. Even so, I simply can’t cheer that the S&P 500 Index posted its largest point gain last week because I feel like we are delaying the inevitable.

At some point in the future, be it now or in another 20 years when our climate crisis and failing supply of fossil fuels combine to bring us to our proverbial economic knees, it seems that we are going to have to withstand a painful philosophical correction whereby we acknowledge both that infinite growth in key financial metrics is unrealistic, and that efforts to keep us moving in that upward direction are detrimental to the vast majority of people on the planet, not to mention the very planet itself.

I don’t have a problem with people accumulating money, and in a modern democratic society driven by free markets, wealth is a primary personal motivator and the main reason we enjoy a higher across-the-board standard of living. It is, however, the selfishness, lack of compassion and narrow world view held by some of the wealthy — especially those “in charge” — that causes me concern.

Reference what has happened with Wall Street executives, earning hundreds of millions of dollars a year engaging in what has proven to be toxic business practices, reaping additional rewards as they either cashed out or were removed from the companies. Reference AIG, where top executives spent nearly a half-million dollars on a week-long spa retreat after I and 200 million other taxpayers propped up the company with $85 billion. The same company’s executives went on an AIG-paid partridge hunt in the English countryside at the same time my fellow taxpayers gave the insurance giant another $37.5 billion.

I personally am blessed to have a well-paying job, a comfortable home and all of the other trappings of the American Life. While I give about 7.5 percent of my take-home pay to charity, I recognize that I could do much more, and I am thankful for those who came before me to build an America where I can work hard and benefit from it.  It is, I think, a travesty that our nation, our markets and our world seem to be on a short road to nowhere, the journey fueled by greed and a lack of concern for those whose backs our prosperity is built upon.

I have to wonder if those guys from AIG who relaxed at the St. Regis Resort in Monarch Beach, California for a week on my dime have ever once in their careers thought about the words that for many people – to this day – form the foundation of what America and a prosperous world should stand for:

The New Colossus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Emma Lazarus, 1883

October 19th, 2008 | Category: Buddhism, National Politics, The Economy, World News | Leave a comment