Reflections

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. ~ Abraham Lincoln Thanks to some stimulating conversation on Speculative Non-Buddhism , I have been thinking a lot about the subject of power.   It seems to me there are three main takes on it. There are those who view power as intrinsically naughty, as a destructive drive or appetite that, like Nietzsche’s “will to power”, becomes blind and dangerous ambition when left to its own devices.   On this view, power is apt to lead to the ruthless domination and subjugation of others unless it is curbed by an equal and opposing benevolent force like altruism or the “will to love” as in When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace (Jimi Hendrix). There are those who, on the contrary, view power as a rather “good” thing but something that, like a natural resource, should be equally apportioned to prevent it becoming concentrated in the...

As far as I'm concerned, if you're going to make things right and wrong you can never even talk about fulfilling your bodhisattva vows. ~ Pema Chodron; No Right or Wrong , an online interview published on Tricycle I am no moralist.   My doctoral thesis explored the reasons why women in various countries endorsed the practice of female circumcision.   The thesis called for cultural sensitivity and was, in a sense, an apologetics more than a dissertation.   Even if the tradition of circumcision appeared to me as harmful and senseless, I argued, there is no absolute right or wrong, no absolute moral standard, by which I, as a cultural outsider, can judge this practice or the people who endorse it as intrinsically “bad”.   Moral values and judgments are relative to our cultures and traditions.   Far be it from me to declare any action universally wrong even if I may see it as wrong myself. I stand by this argument.    What I cannot stand i...

Don't confuse symmetry with balance.  ~ Tom Robbins What is good, what is right, what is wholesome?   What is awakening, moral wisdom or sanity?    Despite obvious epistemological divergences in how they understand “mind”, there is significant convergence between the moral, philosophical and psychological points of view.    Moralists describe goodness, or moral conscience, as a sense of responsibility that motivates compassionate action.    Philosophers and mystics describe awakening as a quickening of awareness that reveals the nature of experience more clearly.   Psychologists describe mental health in terms of our adaptability, the ability to adapt to our lives and the people in it.     Responsibility, awareness, adaptability.   These are qualities that characterize a sound person, whether from the point of view of morality, psychology or religion.    What do th...

 The social connections between the community of practitioners, the so-called sangha, are based mainly on the shared ideology and not on a truly personal level.  A sure sign of this is that any open criticism of the “master” or the ideology leads to more or less immediate distancing from the other group members, or even to aggression.  ~ Ralf Halfmann on “groupthink” Recently, Christopher Hammacher read a paper at the International Cultic Studies Association conference in Montreal in which he presented two well-known cases of teacher misconduct taken from within the Zen community*.  His paper was of interest to me in that, beyond a description of the individual or group pathology of students and/or followers, or the usual emphasis on the sleazy qualities we tend to equate with “cult leaders”, Mr. Hammacher elucidates some of the subtler characteristics of these two Zen teachers that, unchecked, allowed their misconduct to continue, in some c...

 See the fowls of the air: they sow not, neither do they reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much better than they? (Mathhew 6:26) Like one in water crying I thirst (Hakuin; Chant in Praise ofZazen) There’s a leak in the roof and a crack in the foundation.   You’re single and alone with no money and two kids to feed.   You have no idea what you’re going to do.   It’s a disaster and you just want to die. There are two things I’ve found helpful in these kinds of situations.    The first is to expect that things will get worse before they get better.   I am not sure why this is but, when you expect that things can’t possibly get any worse, they usually do.   It’s a bit like when you’re in a heat wave and the forecast keeps promising thunderstorms to break the oppressive humidity but the rain never comes and the air just keeps getting heavier and heavier.   As the days go by...