{"id":9070,"date":"2020-08-30T14:19:29","date_gmt":"2020-08-30T20:19:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/?p=9070"},"modified":"2020-08-30T14:20:28","modified_gmt":"2020-08-30T20:20:28","slug":"in-strife-and-uncertainty-let-us-remember-loving-kindness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2020\/08\/in-strife-and-uncertainty-let-us-remember-loving-kindness.html","title":{"rendered":"In strife and uncertainty: let us remember loving-kindness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
For some twenty years now, the metta sutta and\u00a0metta<\/em>-bhavana<\/em> (cultivation of loving-kindness) have been at or near the heart of my practice. Competing practices, such as seeking the very particular truth of matters near and far, large and small; as well as seeking out social justice, rights, and recognition for those ignored and diminished in today\u2019s society, sometimes pull me away from\u00a0metta<\/em> in a given moment.<\/p>\n
A case in point could be a lively debate on the meaning of a term in Buddhism<\/a>, such as dharma<\/a> or karma. These are important discussions, but sometimes the back-and-forth nature of debate causes one (or me, to be specific) to lose sight of the attendant need for compassion and care. And in my work to raise up marginalized people or groups, for instance sharing the experiences of being a black Buddhist<\/a> in America by Lama Rod Owens, or of being a contemporary nun in a tradition that offers unequal support to women by Ven. Ayya Yeshe, I often face push-back from people who I too easily in tern \u201cother-ize\u201d as an enemy to progress.<\/p>\n
Returning to the\u00a0metta sutta<\/em>, we read:<\/p>\n
This is what should be done*
\nBy one who is skilled in goodness,
\nAnd who knows the path of peace:
\nLet them be able and upright,
\nStraightforward and gentle in speech,
\nHumble and not conceited,
\nContented and easily satisfied,
\nUnburdened with duties and frugal in their ways.
*\n(From accesstoinsight<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/a>
Image from pixabay<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n*
** Easy enough to comprehend; but a lifetime of work to put into practice.<\/p>\n
** There is a reason that the Buddha\u2019s teachings are known as going \u201cagainst the stream.\u201d It is so easy to go with streams of various mob mentalities. The us-vs-them rhetoric, an old stay of authoritarians in politics and religion, seems to almost trigger a positive response. Of course WE all want to be the good ones, the us<\/em> fighting against a clearly defined them<\/em>.<\/p>\n
** But compassion and loving-kindness force us to see the \u201cus\u201d in the \u201cthem.\u201d<\/p>\n
** *This doesn\u2019t and shouldn\u2019t mean we become complacent: indeed the opposite. In our quest to stomp out racism, for instance, we can first look at ourselves (it\u2019s in a way easiest, as it\u2019s\u00a0right here<\/em>, but it\u2019s also emotionally the most difficult, as we, again, want to live in the narrative of being the good ones). I know I have much work to do on this, as I imagine many of you do too. As we see and work on our own racism, we can better see and work on the racism of those around us \u2013 seeing, again, that they are us.<\/p>\nThis leads, I think, to more of the \u201ccalling-in\u201d direction that many are trying to cultivate in the activist world. As Loretta Ross writes in, \u201cI\u2019m a Black Feminist. I Think Call-Out Culture Is Toxic<\/a>:\u201d<\/p>\n
"\n*
** Call-outs make people fearful of being targeted. People avoid meaningful conversations when hypervigilant perfectionists point out apparent mistakes, feeding the cannibalistic maw of the cancel culture. Shaming people for when they \u201cwoke up\u201d presupposes rigid political standards for acceptable discourse and enlists others to pile on. Sometimes it\u2019s just ruthless hazing.<\/p>\n
** We can change this culture. Calling-in is simply a call-out done with love. Some corrections can be made privately. Others will necessarily be public, but done with respect. It is not tone policing, protecting white fragility or covering up abuse. It helps avoid the weaponization of suffering that prevents constructive healing.<\/p>\n
** Calling-in engages in debates with words and actions of healing and restoration, and without the self-indulgence of drama.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
** Her words are echoed across progressive culture. In a time of incredible stress and uncertainty, we are often expending untold energy policing one another reactively. That is not to say policing shouldn\u2019t happen, but simply that we also must take the time\u2013perhaps a lot of it\u2013to ensure that our own motivation is love.<\/p>\n
** Again, no easy task. Contemporary culture and the ways that debates and discussions are structured by some make it seem impossible: the only way \u201cwe\u201d can win is to hate the other or to destroy them. The Buddhist teaching, as far as I understand it, disagrees.<\/p>\n
** What we need to destroy is ignorance, greed, and aversion. We can do this most easily in ourselves first through diligent practice. And we can and should extend the practice to hold, and at times perhaps even confront, others from a place of love.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
** *For some twenty years now, the metta sutta and\u00a0metta-bhavana (cultivation of loving-kindness) have been at or near the heart of my practice. Competing practices, such as seeking the very particular truth of matters near and far, large and small; as well as seeking out social justice, rights, and recognition for those ignored and diminished in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":118,"featured_media":9072,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,189,27],"tags":[233,698],"class_list":["post-9070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buddhism","category-buddhism-today","category-politics","tag-love","tag-loving-kindness"],"yoast_head":"\nIn strife and uncertainty: let us remember loving-kindness<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For some twenty years now, the metta sutta and\u00a0metta-bhavana (cultivation of loving-kindness) have been at or near the heart of my practice. 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