MARCH NEWSLETTER

GOOD AND EVIL

I was at a dinner party and the conversation turned to the state of the world. The man sitting next to me said, “I think people are inherently destructive. Look at the state of the world.” He went on to list the atrocities, a list we are all familiar with from a greater awareness of conditions in distant lands in this age of media. I added, “The Buddha taught that it is part of the human condition to experience love, generosity and wisdom as well as anger, greed and ignorance. Look at how people spontainiously opened their wallets after the tsunami and hurricane.” He looked at me in a strange way and went on. I sometimes forget that not everyone is interested in Buddhism or open to that perspective.

In the West we are born into a belief system which starts from the premise that there is something wrong with us that we need to fix. This is laced throughout our judeo-christian religions as well as our psychological pedagogy. We go to therapy to fix a problem. We engage in spiritual practice to improve ourselves. The Catholic tenet of original sin is perhaps the most honest and open expression of this.

Buddhism starts with the premise that we are all subject to greed, hatred and ignorance yet we are also all subject to love, generosity and wisdom. This is a relief for those of us who feel ashamed for angry, needy, greedy, jealous, stupid, dull thoughts and actions. We are not alone but share these feelings with every single human being who has ever walked on this Earth. Yet we in the West need to remember that loving, generous, open-hearted, wise feelings are also a part of our human psychological makeup as is the case with every other human being who has walked the face of this Earth.

I watched as my six month old grandbaby offered me some of her dinner. She stuck the food into my face like a mother imploring me to “Eat, Eat.” She and I like to sit down and read books. Her favorite book is a picture book about the story of the Buddha. As I turn each page she loves to kiss the people on the page, especially the picture of the sick person and the monk the Buddha sees who enlightens him to the human condition. I watch her seem to know when my heart is open and when it is closed. When it is open she comes to me joyfully. When it is closed she stays away. Where does this expression of generosity, wisdom and love come from? It seems innate. I also watch her throw tantrums when she doesn’t get what she wants, amass all her toys in a private place and not watch where she is going. This seems innate as well.

We need to learn to accept our dark side without giving it power and cultivate our light side by spiritual practice. One way to look at enlightenment might be a gradual increase of the wholesome aspects and a waning of the unwholesome aspects. The Buddha taught that until full enlightenment we still have traces of unwholesome qualities, pride being one of the last to go. So given that we will be experiencing anger, greed and ignorance until complete enlightenment we may as well get comfortable with these feelings. We may as well release any sense of inherent badness and keep reminding ourselves that this is just a part of being a human being. When we look at someone who is doing something cruel or stupid we can remember that they too share in the human birthright of also containing love and generosity. When we look at someone, a teacher or spiritual icon, we can remember that they too share in the human birthright of experiencing, or having experienced, anger, greed and delusion. Isn’t that a relief!

Jacqueline

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