Coping with the Election Results

Coping with the Election Results

Let us cease from wrath, and refrain from angry looks. Nor let us be resentful when others differ from us. For all beings have hearts, and each heart has its own leanings. Their right is our wrong, and our right is their wrong. We are not unquestionably sages, nor are they unquestionably fools. We are both simply ordinary beings. How can anyone lay down a rule by which to distinguish right from wrong? For we are all, one with another, wise and foolish, like a ring which has no end.

– Shotoku Taishi

 

I sat down to work on my Dharma Thought earlier this week, but I was so distracted. It was the evening of the election, and I was feeling incredibly stressed as the results were being tallied. Sometimes it’s better to give these feelings attention so they can run their course. Remember the book Noreen read a few months ago? The monster went away after it was giving attention.

My original Dharma Thought was about Alice in Wonderland, so I decided to do as Alice did and give myself a little bit of advice. Some Buddhist advice. This is what unfolded…

With the results of the election some people will be relieved, elated, and excited their candidate won, and some will be devastated, angry, and frightened. I didn’t know who the winner or the loser would be at the time I wrote this, but it really didn’t matter either. What I did know is many people were experiencing strong feelings and would continue to do so in the weeks, maybe even years, to come. Their feelings and convictions are just as real and strong as my own. We are all feeling beings. That’s what this Dharma Thought is about. It’s coming together as human beings with feelings.

You ever notice how many ways we have of categorizing people – race, gender, religion, political affiliation, and so on. We’ve done a great job dividing ourselves into groups. But we often overlook the fact we are all part of one big group.

We are all human.

In scientific terms we are called Homo sapiens. Homo coming from the Greek word homos means the same. Our scientific name literally has “the same” in the title. We share many traits across our species including the fact we all have feelings. We experience the same range of emotions albeit to different things.

As the reading today suggests, what one person finds delightful, another may see as disgusting: In a climate where people are so divided, we can make a vow to not yuck someone else’s yum. You know who else made some great vows? Bodhisattva Dharmākara.

Bodhisattva Dharmākara, who became Amida Buddha, made a pledge to make all residents of the Pure Land “be the color of genuine gold.” We can interpret this in many ways. In this case, genuine gold doesn’t literally mean the color gold. Gold is precious and therefore signifies that everyone shines as a precious existence in the Pure Land. Other interpretations say Amida Buddha’s 3rd Vow is the wish to liberate all beings from suffering regardless of race, color, etc. No matter how we look at this vow, there is a common theme that we are all equal and we are all precious.

With this idea of precious and equal in mind, I’d like to invite you to join me in a little challenge this week. Before we respond to someone, let’s remind ourselves they are a feeling being. Whether it’s face to face, in a text, post, or any other form of communication, just say “feeling being” in your head before responding. In the words of Bodhipaksa, “let this phrase – feeling being – be an empathetic reminder of others’ feelings. Their joys and their sorrows are as vivid and real to them as ours are to us.” As we go about this practice, let’s notice how this small pause of saying “feeling being” affects our attitudes and behaviors. Let’s work to bridge the gaps that have divided us and come together as one group of feeling beings.

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