there is so much anger in everyone today, especially when it comes to politics. anger comes with so much hurtful baggage: spite, sarcasm, blame, accusations.
people today demand respect for martin luther king while simultaneously rejecting his central message of love and compassion with contempt. i think about ml king a lot lately, and the respect that he had for the vietnamese zen monk thich nhat hanh.
this is not an argument for inaction, or moral relativism. we're human, we're going to pick sides. but as practicioners of zen we have an incredible opportunity right now. can you act, or even just observe, while still having compassion for those inevitable negative emotions in both yourself and others? can you see in your "opponents" the same desires as in yourself? the desire to be right, the feeling of righteousness. can you hold these emotions with patience instead of letting them simmer and boil?
if you can, or if you can even try, there are a lot of chances to practice today. watching cable news. holiday dinner with family. idle political conversations on the bus. it's like the zen olympics out there right now.
Submitted December 18, 2019 at 02:16PM by country__zen https://ift.tt/2EquINz
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