Last night Sen. John Mccain died. I remember him well because he ran for president against Barack Obama. It was amazing to see him stand up to a supporter at a town hall meeting during his campaign and defend his opponent, when she (the supporter) said Obama was an Arab. His speech at the end calling his supporters to embrace Obama as their President was admirable. I think the US has depended on such decency from their politicians and to some degree had taken it for granted. I think we as humans depend on basic human decency towards one another. If not towards others, we expect that one would hold oneself with decency and honor, just because.
But we live in times when decency and honor are just feel good words. They are quickly becoming things of the past. At least it seems that way to me. I am not only talking about US politics or politics in the world of any kind. I am talking about how we are losing such core qualities that make us rise above ourselves to something greater. It happens in every strata of life and society and institution. We hear how Catholic priests have abused thousands of children and how they have continued to go on being members of the clergy and how such individuals have been protected by other members of the clergy. We hear about corporate executives putting their need to fill the pockets at the expense of the their customers financial well-being. We hear much these days about how basic human decency and honor is put on the back burner where money, fame, power is concerned.
It is easy to look at what others do and don't do and engage in blame and criticism. I think this is part of the problem. We somehow think that we are separate from those we think live without decency and honor. But instead we ought to take long hard look at ourselves and how we live our lives and what we propagate and if our lives are lived with decency and honor.
It's hard to switch on the TV and not see constant criticism of Donald Trump and his behavior. Yes of course he is all that and perhaps more. I don't know him personally so I cannot speak about him. But what I see is constant criticism of the guy. Now maybe he is all that....but the fact that we somehow see that he is separate from us is a funny thing to me. I mean after all, almost half the people who voted, elected him as the President right? And while the other half might taken their hands off and say they did not elect him, I think they are just as responsible for electing him as those who voted. Then what about those who never even voted?! It's like watching a crime scene unfold. If you watch someone shoot someone and you didn't try to stop it...then you are just as responsible. May not be in the legal system but morally you are just as responsible cause you did nothing about it. Now their maybe valid reasons but the fact is that you did nothing.
In Buddhas teachings, the five basic precepts (basic rules to live by) that we lay people (householders) are recommended to observe have two aspects to it. One is abstaining from breaking the precept but also proactively protecting it. For example, the second precept is not stealing but that is only not breaking it. The protecting part is not taking what is not given. It's much more that just not breaking it. But in this day and age people seem to just care about protecting their backsides, be it the political situation or working in the corporate world or even within families. We just scrape by so that our backs are not sitting on the fire. Or so that we don't have face the blame. We don't care about others, or we don't care that in protecting our own backsides we may have subjected another to it. We just don't seem to have much of that in us these days. And I am not saying that everyone is like this but I see enough to know that this is happening quite frequently.
The unfortunate part is not the happening of such things because it's happened for a millennia...but what is most disturbing is that some of us choose to sit on the side and cheer it or worse turn a blind eye to it. Somehow somewhere we have missed the fact that being silent can be just as bad as cheering on. It is evident in the political scene in the US. Where members of the senate, congress and all levels of government feel that being silent is OK. Or they do it for their political gain in the future. I think it's atrocious that someone like Paul Ryan can say as little as he does or nothing at all, and think he is not part of the problem and that some day he can run for president. Come on man...give me a break. But the fact is that they do it, because they believe that is it possible. Which also means that the electorate is also going to make is possible. So it goes round and round in a circle.
It is a shame what we as humans would like to think that we stand apart from all other being because of our ability to call to a higher purpose. I think each one of us, as politicians, corporate executives, clergy, mothers, father, grandparents, friends, enemies, need to recognize that each one of us individually must call upon that higher purpose. It's not good enough to wait for a mother Theresa or a Ghandi to come our way to waken us up to a higher purpose. We each one of us must waken ourselves to that.
Yesterday I was at a meditation retreat. The teachers said that we don't want to wake ourselves up to the realities. Either because we don't want to or because we think that being in our self induced coma is a better way to live and die. I think it was very relevant that he made that comment. For the most part, all of us life our lives in a routines. Just going through the motions and thinking that is the way to love. I assure you no matter how good that feels, it is no way to live. There is little purpose to such a life. There is no awakening of the human spirit in such a life. We are numbed to most of it and conditioned to be numbed by the rest.
I hope we wake up. We wake up to the realities of our times - good and bad. Hope we, each of us, wake up to the potential and the goodness that lie in us. Hope we wake up to the fact that we are similar than different. That we, no matter how different we are, want only the best for ourselves and would not want that taken away from us. That we want to be loved, respected and kindness. If we can do that, and not get selfish or high-minded or victimized by our circumstances, perhaps their might be that day the collective goodness can gather enough strength to shift the world into a more awakened state. If not, at least, those who put in the effort for themselves, will find peace in their awakening.
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