Migraine day

Since the allergist diagnosed a mast cell disorder and started me on cromolyn sodium four times a day, I have been almost free of migraines. However once in a while, I still get one, and it will lay waste to a day. Today was one such day. I didn't leave the house till dusk, and then only because I needed milk; but I have always loved that time of day. Lights go on in people's houses, and I look up at the lit windows and wonder what lives are going on there. Who do they love? What do they fear? What occupies their minds? What kind of environment do they create for themselves? I love gazing up at lit windows and wondering.

The other thing I did today, besides lie on the couch and try not to vomit, was transcribe part of one of my favorite Buddhist talks since the election, by Bhikku Bodhi. It was something I could do once the worst of the migraine had passed and I could stand the screen again. He inspires me with his wisdom and understanding of politics, and there is about ten minutes of a talk he gave in March that I wanted to type up so I could look at it, as I am more a visual than an aural learner. I am going to paste it here because it cuts through all the crap of American politics and goes right to the core of things. If that's not of any interest to you, dear reader, feel free to move on to something else.

In this talk with teacher James Baraz, at minute 26:38:

Bikkhu Bodhi: “I would make a distinction between anger as an unwholesome state, and what I would call ‘moral outrage.’ So this is not--moral outrage is not a mental condition where you are overcome with anger to the point where you lose self-control. But rather it’s when you witness how people with power and privilege are using their power and privilege to oppress and decimate other people, to deceive them, to promote and push through policies that are detrimental to the well-being of people. One uses that as a way to arouse what I call a strong moral force of resistance and opposition in one’s mind and a strong commitment to take action in whatever way one can, to oppose those kinds of detrimental policies. Instead to stand up, to defend those who are being oppressed or marginalized or plunged into unfortunate situations; instead to advocate strongly for wholesome and transformative policies. I coined an expression for this; I call it “conscientious compassion.” So it’s not just compassion as an inner spiritual state or mental state, but it’s a kind of compassion which rises up and activates the sense of conscience. So one feels that it’s not enough just for me to witness this and to extend benevolent thoughts, but I must do something to prevent harm and to promote what is truly good and beneficial.”

James Baraz: “Beautiful, so conscientious compassion and moral outrage, and then when anger does arise, if it does, how would you suggest people work with it, who aren’t quite in touch with the moral outrage part but say, ‘What’s going on with these guys?’" [Referring to the then newly-inaugurated right wing government.] 

BB: “This is where the mindfulness and the meditation comes in. When the anger arises and it’s threatening to overthrow the mind and to force one to lose self-control, then one brings in the mindfulness and the contemplation of that anger, to let it arise, watch it, let it bubble through the mind and realize that what underlies that anger is, in this case, a wholesome motivation. It’s not that you are angry if you have a kid because he’s going out at night and you want him to stay home, or angry with your wife because she went out and bought some new dresses. [Laughter.] Or angry with the weather because it’s snowing when you were plannning to fly back to New York and then you fell into James’s trap.... [Laughter] 

"This is anger which is because you see that there are some people, again powerful people in positions of privilege who are taking advantage of their position to exploit and harm others. And so you realize that beneath the anger is a wholesome motivation but that the anger itself is harmful to oneself, possibly harmful to others, and it doesn’t allow one to effectively fulfill one’s aim. So let the anger settle down, and then transform it into this driving moral outrage--which is a little misleading, the expression, ‘cause it suggests a state of rage, a loss of self-control. But this is--maybe ‘conscientious compassion’ is a better expression in this case. But it’s that force of conscience that pushes one into the arena of transformative action.”

JB: “So going underneath the anger to that place of caring...caring and compassion and love. Rabbi Michael Lerner says that cynics are frustrated idealists, but instead of going cynical you can use that caring.” 

[Unidentified female-sounding voice]: “I’m just thinking about where we are in this country right now. And we have this crazy political system....” [and she goes on for a while about a “great divide among the practitioners” and how Republican or conservative Buddhists, or Buddhists who voted for Trump, are feeling “marginalized,” asks what BB can say to those who identify as “conservative or Republican.”]

BB: OK, I think not so much in terms of political parties but in terms of what are the values to which we are committed as followers of Buddha-dharma, and what are the kinds of policies that would best implement those values. The kinds of values that I would consider fundamental would be, of course, the value of compassion, which means the wish to liberate or rescue those who are facing suffering, and particularly suffering in this country such as discrimination based on race, religion, ethnicity; the suffering due to hunger, lack of food and security, suffering due to lack of adequate medical care, lack of sufficient heating in the east and the north, for example, during the winters. These are some of the kinds of policies that can be addressed through compassion. Another value is justice, to insure that there’s a reasonable degree of economic and social justice. So for example on the political score, that everybody has the right to vote, and that voters are not being suppressed, and their votes are not being discounted. A third major issue would be preserving a livable climate, a sustainable climate. So these are three basic fundamental issues that come out with three basic values from our commitment to the Buddha-dharma. 

'Then based on these values, we look at the different policies being proposed by the different political parties, and we’re not trying to choose one party over another or one candidate over another because we have a liking for that party or that candidate, but what kinds of policies have a reasonable chance of implementing these values, putting them into action? And who are the candidates that are best, that are behind those policies? There could be, I have to say, differences between liberal or progressive approaches to implementing these policies, and conservative approaches, but what we have now--and I’m going to speak very frankly and candidly--from the Republicans, that is not Conservatism any more. That is a cruel and vicious type of extremism which is using sometimes glowing expressions, like promoting the good of the American people, but we can see what the underlying agenda is. It is spite and malice underlying all of those proposals. Like somebody mentioned the budget, the proposed budget--which we have to say, it’s just the budget proposal coming from the White House. The actual budget is made up by Congress, which is not exactly a ground for relief either--but cutting the Environmental Protection Agency 30%, cutting different kinds of social welfare programs...education is going to be slapped down badly. Where are the big increases in spending going? Fighter jets, like we need more fighter jets. Military. Building a wall between the southern border and Mexico. So can somebody honestly say that those expenditures or a budget like that is an expression of compassion, kindness towards others? Social and economic justice? Looking after the welfare of the people?

"There’s a sutra, it’s in the one that I didn’t translate, this is the Digha Nikaya, I think it’s Sutra number 26, called [Pali words], 'The Lion’s Roar on the Wheel-Turning King,' so this is where the Buddha is setting up criteria of the ideal form of political administration, of rulership. And this of course in the Buddha’s time is set in the frame of monarchy. So the ideal ruler, according to the Buddhist texts, is what is called the 'Wheel-Turning King.' And the king does not inherit that status of a wheel-turning king; he has to earn it. In order to earn that status of a wheel-turning king, he has to meet certain criteria. One of those criteria is to insure that there is no poverty within his realm. And then it happens that if one man who becomes king fails to eliminate poverty, then he loses that status of being the wheel-turning king. It is from poverty breaking out in his realm that all the other evils, step by step erupt. So this shows that even though the Buddha doesn’t develop systematical political thought, from these kinds of passages we can infer that the primary responsibility of government is to insure that everybody has a satisfactory standard of living, that there is no degrading poverty.”

Gratitude to Bhikku Bodhi, to James Baraz, and to Dharmaseed for making the talk available online.