[Challenging Times] - (5) - I Hate Donald Tr*** - Zenki Mary Mocine

[Jundo]

Dear Readers of All Political Persuasions,

I thought that this essay, written in the divided times soon after the U.S. 2016 election, would be out of date by now. Alas, the divisions and issues continue today, as relevant as ever, in the U.S. and in many other countries. We are all frustrated by the state of society, and the "other guys" whose views and attitudes differ from our own (often in violent and quite ugly ways), no matter where we stand ourselves.

By the way, people sometimes assume that almost all Western Buddhists are "left" in view, maybe centerish, and perhaps the great majority are. But I have discovered that there are many quite conservative Western Buddhists too, not to mention that much of Asian Buddhism can be quite conservative too.

Thus, our reading today is entitled, "I Hate Donald Tr***" ... and is about how to avoid political anger, even as we remain concerned and sometimes disgusted with events. It begins on page 67 of the book.

For those who do not yet have a copy, I have made a PDF version available here for those waiting for their ordered book, or those unable to afford or obtain the book:https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/show...those-who-need

Mary Mocine, the author (and a wonderful priest and successor to the late Mel Weitsman of the Berkeley Zen Center) will be here at Treeleaf in three weeks (Saturday, April 29th at 10:10am, California time) to offer a guest teaching, and Q&A, related to this essay and other Zen teachings. You are all invited (details to be posted closer to the date).

Gassho, Jundo

stlah

[Koushi]

May we all be heard and free of suffering.

And may the wheels of justice also grind especially fine.

Gassho,
Koushi
STLaH

[paulashby]

This chapter brought up some painful history. The church I served in Tulsa welcomed
GLBTQ persons starting in the 1980's and in 2013 we were picketed on Sunday mornings
by Westboro Baptist Church, the cult family of Fred Phelps. They screamed words of hate
Sunday after Sunday. Their protest posters where visual hate crimes. I am open to talk with
anyone but each time I approached and asked to talk the yelling was elevated and they chanted-
throw out the sodomites. Being a straight,married boring white guy did not open a path for dialogue.
In their universe I loved and supported the enemies of their god.
I would like to ask Myosho Ann how she relates to Trump after 5 more years of his destructive,selfish,bullying,racist behavior?
Yes, we can hold no preferences but also hold back the fists of those who want to directly hurt African American,GLBTQ,
Hispanic, Asian Americans who are the targets of Trump MAGA reactionaries dreaming of those great years before
civil rights. Yes, the great McCarthy era years.
I up in MAGA land Southside rural Virginia and had family members in the KKK and later in the Tea Party.
I am the weird one who has friends of every race and hangs out with Buddhists and Hindus.
The tension between holding no preferences that tastes the goodness of life with no labels and
holding back a Neo-Nazi group that threatened the synagogue by giving the synagogue a key
to come across the street to our church is real world tension in 2023. There are times to hold no
preference and times to hold back those who wish to do harm.
Gassho, Paul Ashby sat lah

[JohnS]

And there are times to cease nonsensical generalized assumptions and CNN regurgitations. There are times to be aware of the utter hypocrisy and purposeful blindness of the left when their own do the same things they criticize the right for. I have seen just as much intolerance from the so called tolerant "love wins" crowd as I have from those like Westboro ( I cant bring myself to call them a church). Perhaps less vilifying one side, and more of realizing the fault lies in players on BOTH side, would do well to bring the healing you are looking for.

I strongly debated whether to post to this thread at all, but since Jundo put it in play, I decided to speak my peace. Now before the usual assumptions begin, I'll save the time. No, Im not a Trump supporter. I also am not fooled by one sided propaganda, regardless of the side perpetuating it.

Gassho,

John

SatToday LAH

[Kokuu]

Dear all

I thought this was an interesting chapter, especially as I have been involved in politics in some way for most of my adult life.

The advice at the end to just listen to others seems like a very good teaching, and also one that I can struggle to put into practice.

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday-

[Naiko]

I confess this was the first chapter I read several years ago when I received this book. Jundo is correct in saying it is not out of date, sadly. Listening is very good advice, but as others have noted, it is often extremely difficult to practice. A calm, measured response gets drowned out by increasingly inflammatory rhetoric that circulates like wildfire. I look forward to hearing Rev. ZenKi’s perspective on this now.
Gassho,
Naiko
st

[aprapti]

reading this interesting essay and some reactions, i remembered this beautiful poem by Thich Nhat Hanh:

Please Call Me by My True Names

Don’t say that I will depart tomorrow —
even today I am still arriving.

Look deeply: every second I am arriving
to be a bud on a Spring branch,
to be a tiny bird, with still-fragile wings,
learning to sing in my new nest,
to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower,
to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.

I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry,
to fear and to hope.

The rhythm of my heart is the birth and death
of all that is alive.

I am the mayfly metamorphosing
on the surface of the river.
And I am the bird
that swoops down to swallow the mayfly.

I am the frog swimming happily
in the clear water of a pond.
And I am the grass-snake
that silently feeds itself on the frog.

I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones,
my legs as thin as bamboo sticks.
And I am the arms merchant,
selling deadly weapons to Uganda.

I am the twelve-year-old girl,
refugee on a small boat,
who throws herself into the ocean
after being raped by a sea pirate.
And I am the pirate,
my heart not yet capable
of seeing and loving.

I am a member of the politburo,
with plenty of power in my hands.
And I am the man who has to pay
his “debt of blood” to my people
dying slowly in a forced-labor camp.

My joy is like Spring, so warm
it makes flowers bloom all over the Earth.
My pain is like a river of tears,
so vast it fills the four oceans.

Please call me by my true names,
so I can hear all my cries and my laughter at once,
so I can see that my joy and pain are one.

Please call me by my true names,
so I can wake up,
and so the door of my heart
can be left open,
the door of compassion.


aprapti


sat

[Gareth]

reading this interesting essay and some reactions, i remembered this beautiful poem by Thich Nhat Hanh:

Please Call Me by My True Names

Don’t say that I will depart tomorrow —
even today I am still arriving.

Look deeply: every second I am arriving
to be a bud on a Spring branch,
to be a tiny bird, with still-fragile wings,
learning to sing in my new nest,
to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower,
to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.

I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry,
to fear and to hope.

The rhythm of my heart is the birth and death
of all that is alive.

I am the mayfly metamorphosing
on the surface of the river.
And I am the bird
that swoops down to swallow the mayfly.

I am the frog swimming happily
in the clear water of a pond.
And I am the grass-snake
that silently feeds itself on the frog.

I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones,
my legs as thin as bamboo sticks.
And I am the arms merchant,
selling deadly weapons to Uganda.

I am the twelve-year-old girl,
refugee on a small boat,
who throws herself into the ocean
after being raped by a sea pirate.
And I am the pirate,
my heart not yet capable
of seeing and loving.

I am a member of the politburo,
with plenty of power in my hands.
And I am the man who has to pay
his “debt of blood” to my people
dying slowly in a forced-labor camp.

My joy is like Spring, so warm
it makes flowers bloom all over the Earth.
My pain is like a river of tears,
so vast it fills the four oceans.

Please call me by my true names,
so I can hear all my cries and my laughter at once,
so I can see that my joy and pain are one.

Please call me by my true names,
so I can wake up,
and so the door of my heart
can be left open,
the door of compassion.


aprapti


sat

[Onkai]

Thank you for bringing that poem to this discussion, Aprapti. It puts my mind into a place where I can conceive of listening as recommended in this article.

Gassho, Onkai
Sat lah

[Tairin]

Tairin
Sat today and lah

[Tokan]

Hey all

I thought this opened with very honest and raw introductory paragraphs. The beast still lurks within but we remain forever human and sometimes surprised by our powerful reactions. The tension between saying "it'll work out okay" and "it'll never be okay," plays on our minds, feeding that tension, drawing our attention away from our ears into the recesses of our minds. Why work to save all sentient beings if you sit back and take this! Yet take it we must at times as it is all the great unfolding, and our bodhisattva eyes, ears, arms and hands must be those that always are ready to receive. Positive action sometimes rightly starts with discomfort - your response might be to actively campaign for the Democrats, but you first have to want the Republicans out of office, to be hurt or offended in some way by what they represent and promote in society – as Mary Mocine describes.

No one wants to suffer, this is a core teaching. Our path is to understand the true nature of our suffering, the internal basis of it, the interdependent nature of it, the mind states that give rise to it. Other people look outside themselves for the causes of their suffering – are we to judge them for this? Were not you and I once 'ignorant' in this way (I was maybe you were better prepared). Perhaps we rarely engage in hurtful or destructive behaviours, but at heart, seeing the other as 'the other' is a divisive act, duality is by nature, violent, because duality is the cause and end of all things at once. Divisive thoughts can become destructive acts. We guard ourselves against this with our vows and practice.

This essay spoke to me more than the others, perhaps because I deeply feel the issues she speaks of. Not many directly affect me, such as racism, misogyny, or homophobia, but the whole ball of confusion (great Motown song by the way - The Temptations) that modern life appears to have become (in its own unique and contemporary way), which threatens our very world and therefore our survival, affects each and every one of us. These issues are not just physical survival but also include the survival of the good things that define the best of 'human nature'.

Perhaps this is sometimes the best a bodhisattva can do in trying times, not to change anything or anyone, but to represent (embody) the change that is possible for everyone.

Sorry for long response, and quite off the cuff, so excuse any off-the-mark comments

Gassho, Tokan

satlah

[paulashby]

As a student of Thich Nhat Hanh for 30 years I heard his poem at least once a year at annual
retreats. But we need to also reflect upon the author who was politically engaged to hold back the
harm being done in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Of course, he was accused of nonsensical
assumptions, hypocrisy, blindness, radicalism and forced into exile for trying to hold back the
harm being done. It does not work to quote the poem but overlook his active commitment to
justice and peace or to say after Charlottsville... There are "very fine people on both sides."
Last month our local synagogue canceled services and closed after receiving threats for the
Neo-Nazi Day of Hate. I listened to their fears for over an hour yesterday. To listen is vital for the future but what Bodhisattva would not hold back the hands of those seeking to harm others?
And yes, a left-wing pastor who confronted racism in America nominated Thich Nhat Hanh
for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Gassho, Paul Ashby sat lah

[Heikyo]

This essay was interesting - Zenki Mary suggests how we can use people who we do not like or agree with as part of our practice, rather than rejecting negative feelings that we have about them outright. This is difficult to do in our busy lives, and involves opening up and listening - not to necessarily find any common ground between your views and theirs, but to develop a sense of 'common humanity'. I think sometimes this can be incredibly difficult to do, but practices like the metta practice (in the section where we think of a difficult person) can help with this.

Gassho
Heikyo
Sat today, LAH

[Chikyou]

This is a great article and I wish I had found Buddhism sooner, as it would have helped me a lot a few years ago; I struggled greatly with the fear, grief, disappointment, and many other painful emotions that sprung up as a result of recent political events. As a member of multiple targeted parties (I'm female, nonbinary and not Christian) I'm terrified of what the future will bring, I'm appalled that so many people I love can support a political party that directly targets me. I can't deny that. I'm still struggling with how to come to terms with it; to practice with it is a new idea that I will certainly use.

Gassho,
SatLah
Kelly