Vol. 9. November 9, 2020
On March 4, 1865, with the end of the Civil War in sight, Abraham Lincoln addressed the nation: “With malice toward none, with charity for all … let us … bind up the nation’s wounds.”
It seems as if America has been through another Civil War. The Election of 2020 has left America bitterly divided. Feelings are raw. Hatred goes deep. Misunderstanding rules the day. Opposing sides can’t talk to each other. If they communicate at all, they argue.
It’s a sad state of affairs. Buddhism calls it suffering in samsara.
Enduring images of the last four years include children ripped away from mothers at the border, Black people murdered in the streets, protesters gassed, immigrants banned, allies alienated, science dismissed, women belittled, empathy obliterated. In a word, Cruelty.
The better angels of our nature don’t do that. But humans suffering samsara do. America needs to heal. How can Buddhism help bind up the wounds of our nation?
Easy. Good moral behavior.
Rock bottom Buddhist morality boils down to five things: Don’t lie. Don’t steal. Don’t kill. Don’t misuse sexuality. And don’t use intoxicants.
Think of where America could be if she hadn’t had a deafening stream of lies for the last four years. [Let alone the sex scandals, the blood shed over race, and the bilking of money by corruption.]
Compassion
The Five Precepts are basic morality for any Buddhist. But for those hearts who want to go one step further there is compassion. The term literally means “suffering with” people in the sorrows of samsara. Bodhisattvas do it. And so can we.
Instead of insults, offer compliments. Instead of hoarding wealth through tax cuts, share the wealth with those in dire need.
Compassion resets the moral compass away from selfish desires and toward selfless concerns. People hurting need love, not cruelty.
Why get mad at anything when all things are empty? Why hate anybody when all people are equally loved? Why suffer in samsara when we are all becoming Buddhas?
Gentle behavior and mild speech is not a teahead vision of reality. It’s the way of the Buddhas.
On March 4, 1861, desperately hoping to avoid a terrible Civil War, Lincoln addressed the nation with an impassioned plea:
“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”
His word didn’t work then. But they might work now.
Especially if one follows the path of the Buddhas.
The Buddha Times 