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Edited on Thu Apr-27-06 10:53 AM by oxbow
We are living through some major history right now. The series of events unfolding before us since 9-11 is about as big as they come. The fall of the Roman Empire, the ministry of Jesus, World War II, all of these times must have been challenging and just plain crazy to live through. Likewise, our days under the Bush Administration are filled with uncertainty and much fear. Fear for our country, our fellow human beings here and abroad, and sadly, for all life on this planet.
It’s not just the United States that's changed dramatically in the past few years though; While our leaders have been off playing the empire building game in Iraq (and failing horribly at it) the world has gone and changed on us. China has been growing at phenomenal rates, and will outshine the US both economically and militarily in the next decade or so. Russia is also slowly getting on its feet, and India has become another powerhouse in the world economies. If the EU finally figures out how to work together, that is another major player on the stage. All of these countries need massive resources, such as oil, metals, wood, silicon and other vital materials, to keep their economies growing. The world is about to get a whole lot flatter, meaning that the American standard of living is taking a major downturn soon. Not to even mention the environmental impact of all this massive growth! Clearly, the world is becoming something else right before our eyes.
Now, all of this change can seem very daunting to someone who cares about the world, and the people in it. There’s so much that needs to be fixed, so many things that we could be doing. It can be paralyzing to even think about things sometimes. Where do we even start when madmen hold the reins of power, and normal people seem unwilling to listen to reason and compassion?
We start by taking a deep breath. Life has existed on this planet for billions of years before us, and will continue to thrive long after we are gone. We might be able to upset the balance temporarily, but nature will eventually restore it without a doubt. Things may not turn out the way we want or expect them to but invariably, they will turn out as well as they can. The sun will still shine tomorrow, no matter how dark things look tonight.
Likewise, even though we have thieves and madmen in charge right now, they have had to lie and cheat their way into power. That means that for the most part, people are goodhearted and compassionate, and actually care about things like freedom and equality. And despite anyone’s best efforts, you can only keep a lie going for so long. Reality has a way of showing up liars for exactly what they are. We are seeing that right now in Iraq, in our inner cities, in New Orleans, on the icecaps (or lack thereof) of our planet’s poles. Like the song says, you can’t fool all the people all the time. Eventually, it becomes too hard to ignore reality.
I don’t know if you believe in God or not, but I think most everyone can believe in fate. You have been put on this earth at this time for a reason. If you don’t believe this, maybe you should start acting like you do. It can’t hurt things, and it might conceivably help you live a life with some meaning (and gratitude). Each of us has a role to play here, so we might as well start acting like it.
This still doesn’t answer my original question though: How do we act in such an uncertain world, where there are so many problems to tackle and so little time and influence for each of us? Simply put, we have to act without caring about the outcome. That means that we understand that whatever we do, things will never turn out exactly the way we want them to. If intent and outcome were the same thing, then the war in Iraq would really have been the cakewalk the Bushies expected it to be. We would have the flowers and the cheap gas they were expecting, and American forces would be already invading Iran right now.
No, in order to act in this world, we have to stop grabbing at outcomes. We have to stop clinging to what we want the world to be like, and dance with it as it really is. This doesn’t mean that we resign ourselves to anything! We can still act upon this world. Indeed, action is the only moral option in the face of injustice. However, we can still act without being dependant upon a certain outcome for our happiness. Things will never turn out the way we imagine them being in the future. We have to accept that or face a life of one disappointment after another. In Buddhism, this is called a state of nonattachment. You identify your values, set your intentions based on them, and act upon the world with a mind not attached to outcome. This way, whatever happens, you can be content in knowing that did your very best and stayed true to your core. You are not dependant on external events to make you happy so much as whether or not your actions reflect your values. You are not responsible for saving the world, only for doing what you can. You have to have a certain amount of trust that things WILL turn out alright in the end to be this way, of course. If you believe in God, that's where He comes in. If you don't, then you can still be comforted by the thought that life is resilient. Despite living in a world that doesn't care much about us or our wishes one way or another, we have made it this far. If the past is any indication, then Life has what it takes to continue living, no matter what the world throws at us.
Let me say one more time that you do not have to resign yourself to anything to live in a state of nonattachment. Change will come to our country and the world no matter what we do. The Neocons cannot control people through fear and lies forever, just as people cannot keep polluting the planet forever. Reality will catch up with them. And when it does, more and more people will see that we have to change the way we run our media, our government, our very way of life, or perish altogether. But until that day comes, we do what we can. We clean up the streams and rivers in our backyards. We educate ourselves and other people in our lives. We help elect people who share our values and compassion for others. We live our lives. And I mean that we LIVE our lives!
We enjoy the little things that bring us joy. The warm sun on our bare skin, the taste of a really good meal, the pleasure of good company, all of these are things we can enjoy even in the darkest hours. The universe could have been made so that such things didn’t bring us pleasure. There is no reason why a flower HAS to be beautiful, or sex MUST feel as good as it does. Miraculously though, it is and it does! Try and remember that when things are rough, and you’ll do just fine. And when you catch yourself enjoying life, say a quick thank you. Thank the universe for being the way it is, and yourself for being the way you are, which is good enough on both accounts.
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