“Hold
tight
Wait ‘til
the party’s over
Hold
tight
We’re
in for nasty weather
There
has to be a way
Burning
down the house.” ~
Talking Heads
“All
my ancient twisted karma
From
beginingless greed, hate and delusion
Born
through body, speech and mind
I
now fully avow.” ~ Buddhist chant of
repentance
In a way, we can be grateful
to Donald Trump. He is the spokesperson, the big screen poster boy, for greed,
hate and delusion. The whole world can see this darkness clearly, broadcast
every day on national headlines. As a symptom of a deep disease, we can now see
and address chaos and evil as never before. (Note: I almost never use the word “evil,”
but now it seems appropriate.)
HATE is tearing us apart:
personally, within families and nationally. Now, with Trump, it is more
apparent, more blatant, more shocking. His mouth is a megaphone for hate. American
politics has devolved into open, partisan contempt and hatred. There is
internal warfare among families, fractured because people will say on Facebook
what they will not say openly face-to-face. Open hostility on the road has escalated. The
other day I accidentally cut off a man’s car because he was in my blind spot.
He positioned his car right in front of mine and continually braked, while
leering in his rearview mirror.
And I am really pissed off.
Corporate GREED is ravaging
our planet. We all know the evidence: anthropogenic global warming, melting artic
ice caps, destruction of the Great Barrier reef, daily extinction of animal and
plant species – perhaps all irreversible, perhaps a downward spiral. This
catastrophe is ignored for reasons of personal aggrandizement and greed by the
1% - Trump and his club of billionaires, especially Tillerson, his Secretary of
State.
DELUSION: Humans are not an
isolated species with unlimited power to manipulate and control. Interconnection
and codependence are reality, not some beautiful Buddhist ideas. It is worth
noting that Trump’s mental pathology is malignant narcissism, which means he
cares for no-one but himself. But this delusion is hardly limited to Trump. Fundamentally
we all share the delusion that the only thing that really matters is ME.
So is the house being burned
down, or can we burn down the house? The latter calls for a revolution. A
revolution and transformation of consciousness that is beautifully called The Great Turning by Joanna Macy. She
says, “Having evolved us into self-reflexive consciousness, the world can now
know itself through us, behold its own majesty – and also respond to its own
suffering.” ( see her website http://www.joannamacy.net/thegreatturning.html
I have sat vigil for the
earth in Union Square, San Francisco, but a far deeper transformation is called
for in me. I need to recognize my own
anger and how it is daily triggered by the news and the all-pervasive, ambient
anger.
I have made it a daily
practice to recognize my anger and work with it mindfully. I see how anger
destroys peace of mind. I pause and ask myself Where does this anger come from? What am I trying to protect? Why am I
afraid? If I can learn to be accepting and compassionate with my own greed,
hate and delusion, I can move toward treating everyone in the same way through kindness and compassionate action.
If corporate America is
burning down the house, I feel helpless and in despair. If I can burn down my
own house of anger and just be a flowing
fountain, then that is, at least, a step forward from this insanity.
