Why did America's leading environmental groups jet to Copenhagen and lobby for policies that will lead to the faster death of the rainforests--and runaway global warming? Why are their lobbyists on Capitol Hill dismissing the only real solutions to climate change as "unworkable" and "unrealistic," as though they were just another sooty tentacle of Big Coal?
At first glance, these questions will seem bizarre. Groups like Conservation International are among the most trusted "brands" in America, pledged to protect and defend nature. Yet as we confront the biggest ecological crisis in human history, many of the green organizations meant to be leading the fight are busy shoveling up hard cash from the world's worst polluters--and burying science-based environmentalism in return. Sometimes the corruption is subtle; sometimes it is blatant. In the middle of a swirl of bogus climate scandals trumped up by deniers, here is the real Climategate, waiting to be exposed.
Johann Hari's piece "The Wrong Kind of Green" takes mainstream environmental groups to task for selling out their principles, often in exchange for money from the worst polluters.
You’ll also find this article in the “Going It Alone: Making it Work as an Unaffiliated Buddhist” section of the new, Spring 2010 issue of Buddhadharma: The Practitioner’s Quarterly, but you can read it online here and now.
We are human beings walking a path of liberation, and the value of community is linked to our fundamental humanity. As Suzuki Roshi said, “Buddhanature is just another name for our human nature.” As human beings, we are strongly affected by those around us: we share in their joys and sorrows, and we look at what is happening in our immediate environment and feel discouraged or inspired. Nowadays, evolutionary scientists tell us we are “hardwired” as social beings; it is human nature to be influenced by our association with family, friends, colleagues, neighbors, the communities we work and live in. The English word “influenza” comes from the same root, and the view here is that awakening is positively contagious: we catch each other’s wisdom and compassion, because wakeful examples resonate so strongly with our own innate nature.
In the various Buddhist traditions, “sangha” sometimes means, primarily, the community of nuns and monks walking the path, but more generally it includes all those committed to waking up. So we could extend this view of practicing in community: let us receive inspiration from the examples of basic goodness we encounter around us, from the people who are manifesting bravery and compassion in everyday life. Whether they are religiously affiliated or not, surely these are spiritual warriors, and our own commitment to cultivating fearlessness is strengthened by their shining examples.
When we appreciate the kindness of a co-worker or the thoughtfulness of a neighbor, we enter a virtuous gathering—whether we are in a zendo, temple, or meditation center at that moment or not. So, finding the noble community of the wakeful is in part a matter of perception. In this wider sense, traditional teachings on the supreme value of Noble Sangha are part of a “lion’s roar” proclaiming the fundamental goodness of all beings, encouraging our appreciation of the sanity and warmth in the diverse communities around us.
Yet what about the neurotic confusion, the selfishness, and greed we also see in our social environments? These too act as a mirror for us, reminding us of the strength of our own habitual patterns of delusion. There is something uncomfortably familiar in seeing others’ acts of stupidity and aggression. Inner mindfulness is sparked to take note of our own thoughts, speech, and actions—and their harmful or helpful effects. As Jamgon Kongtrul the Great wrote: “Seeing bad qualities in others is like looking in the mirror at the dirt on one’s own face.” We are all engaged in a learning process together, and the feedback we receive from others (even if not always egolessly pure) can be very valuable in guiding our journey.
So the path here is to value our existing connections, whether it’s as part of an environmental action group or hanging out with others after a strenuous yoga class. Our individual spiritual practice bears fruit in these collective human interactions.
The great Tibetan meditation master Patrul Rinpoche often greeted his students this way: “Has your heart been kind?” How we are with others is a revealing mirror. We should be somewhat suspicious of any developing sense of “personal awakening” that does not show up as increased compassion and care for others’ well-being. Wisdom shows its smiling face in the spontaneous joy of being with others.
Appreciating spiritual companionship means associating with any wakeful groups dedicated to compassionate activity. If slander and sarcasm are the daily bread of our communal meals, the determination to awaken gradually weakens and grows dim. Basic confidence and life-force energy decline. In a chapter in Ruling Your World called “Hanging Out with the Right Crowd,” Sakyong Mipham asks: “Life is precious. Whom are we going to spend it with?”
Gaylon Ferguson is the author of Natural Wakefulness: Discovering the Sanity We Are Born With. He teaches religious and interdisciplinary studies at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, and is a senior teacher (acharya) in the Shambhala Buddhist tradition.
I have really been into reciting the metta sutta to my kids when they go to sleep. One night I was reciting:
To reach the state of peace Those skilled in the Good Should be
Capable and upright, Straightforward and easy to speak to, Gentle and not proud, Contented and easily supported, Living lightly and with few duties,
when my son interrupts and asks incredulously,
"Dad why are you talking about doodies?"
This is the omelet my kids and I made for my wife for last Mother's Day. It had a little of everything from our fridge and cupboards including tuna fish from a can. The potatoes were from our garden and so were the flowers!
I often feel overworked, overcommitted, and overwhelmed in situations of my own making verging on being out of control, in imminent danger of bringing myself and the organization I helped start come crashing down in flames.
Yes somewhat dramatic but I often lie awake or am awakened at night by feelings of panic. What if we don’t find the funding we need for next year? Or to buy land we need? What if we can’t find the staff we need to run the program? What is happening to the youth we are trying to help? How are we going to get the reporting due to so many different donors with different formats done? How are we going to make the new programs work? What if things don’t work out? What if, what if, what if?
Yet somehow things always do work out and more than five years later the program has steadily progressed, expanded in scope, and gained support. At times it feels like this has happened in spite of my stress and worry, not because of it.
Last week I had a phone interview with Ines, my wise teacher from the online IMC course I recently participated in. After I conveyed what I have been feeling, she asked me, “So what if you did fail?” and this question gave me immediate perspective and clarity. Yes so what if I did fail? It would not be the end of the world. And why should I expect or hope to be free of failure? Isn’t that part of the vicissitudes of life? Praise and blame, gain and loss, joy and sorrow and what else? Despite meditation and intentionally trying to cultivate awareness of annica, why in my heart of hearts do I still expect to be immune?
This fear of failure and the mental gyrations I have been doing around those feelings have been part of the suffering I have heaped on myself. This is the type of insight that once realized, we are amazed that we have been blind to it for so long…
Another thing she pointed out to me was that the reason I have difficulty concentrating on my administrative tasks is because I am experiencing aversion. Duh! It’s so obvious now but I have been beating myself endlessly with my inability to bear down and concentrate on getting all the financial and programmatic reporting done on time. Yes aversion. Makes total sense now but again up to now I had been totally blind to this. Amazing how blind we can be to our own problems and correspondingly perceptive about the problems of others...
Ines also said that this was a good place to be. This meaning realizing that I have aversion and now having the opportunity to start applying mindfulness to it.
Work is a really tough place for me in general though. It’s a job and organization entirely of my own making from the initial concept, to the board of trustees, the donors, the staff, the curriculum etc. We do really meaningful work – training drop outs, unemployed youth, street youth in organic farming, life skills and entrepreneurship in a residential program. We also work with local farmers on the border of the national park – training them in organic farming, agro-forestry and conservation. We will soon be installing biogas, solar panels and windmills for renewable energy generation. We just received a grant to work with alumni so they can further develop and train others in their communities. We are involved in a large project to provide life skills training and organic farming curriculum to organizations who will be training thousands of former child workers who are being returned to their homes and put back in school. We are in discussions to open an organic gardening and sustainable living learning center in the largest entertainment park in Indonesia.
Yet I complain, gripe, stress, moan and worry all the time. I often fantasize about leaving and getting some cushy job or a very simple job or even better yet a cushy, simple job, any of which in reality would make me extremely unhappy. I fantasize about winning the lottery, having some anonymous benefactor or longlost distant relative give me millions or about finding precious jewels or a bagful of money lying on the street. Other times I think about just getting up and walking away from it all, without any explanation and never coming back. I would walk barefoot across Java without any help or money until I reached the sea.
Conceptually, theoretically I realize that these feelings are where my practice is or should be. Being aware of and applying mindfulness to intense and ongoing feelings of aversion and fear. Fear of failure, fear of the additional work and responsibility success brings, fear of not doing something significant. Aversion to the parts of the work I don’t like, fear of not doing what I should be doing and so not being present and not enjoying the many blessings involved in nurturing disadvantaged youth to care about themselves, other people and nature. A path with heart has embraced me, and shaped my life, yet I am still busy judging myself and finding myself wanting…
My response up to now has been to seek refuge in meditation as a way to get distance, calm down and try to create separation so I can somewhat leave fear and aversion at work. Now it seems like its time to use meditation and the tools as skillful means to engage and explore these feelings.
#1 Po from Kung Fu Panda: The first time I saw this movie in the theater with my kids it was great and I willingly went back again for a second viewing. The third time I noted reluctance and faint aversion. Then the kids got the DVD (pirated) and continued to watch it over and over again, without seeming to lose enthusiasm. When I would just fall sleep, my kids would happily use me as backrest or even stretch out and lie on top of me horizontally as if I was a mattress.
Po is adorable - and besides Jack Black's great voice, Po points to many lessons for us on the path.
#2 Aang from Avatar: Aang the hero is the last Airbender and has a very graceful movement style. He is a vegetarian and does not want to hurt anyone else. A very interesting dilemma he faces is how to save the world from the destruction of the Fire Nation but without having to kill the Fire Lord or anyone else. Actually a lot of substance here in terms of morality, power, friendship, personal and spiritual development. Pretty cool for a 12 year old kid who is expected to save the world. My kids and I are bummed out about the whole movie thing though...Sad and strange this is still an issue decades after David Carradine was chosen over Bruce Lee for Kung Fu.
#3 Uncle Iroh: Despite appearances, Iroh is no slouch and besides being able to kick butt with style is also down to earth, wise, patient and modest in appearance and behavior, things we can all aspire to be. He likes tea, playing Pai Shō and the simple pleasures in life. When we talk about who in our family resembles which Avatar character, this is who my kids say I am but unfortunately I think they are referring to physical appearance rather than character.
#4 Jet Li as Wong Fei Hong in Once Upon A Time In China: This movie was like magic when I first saw it from the dramatic opening music and panorama to Jet Li's grace, finesse and restraint and the acrobatic finale. Loved the cinematography and fascinating historical backdrop of China starting to be influenced by the West and the struggle between tradition and the drive to modernize.
#5 Donnie Yen as Ip Man: This movie was a lot of fun and the choreography was great too. Highlighting the positioning and timing of the throws was a personal favorite. Lots of humor too. My kids love to rewind and watch over and over the part where the guy gets his pants pulled down. Some parts were too brutal and not suitable for viewing by children but pretty much standard for this genre - complete with anti-Japanese rivalry and wounded Chinese nationalism and honor in need of avenging.
#6 Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon: Bruce Lee was my gateway into martial arts and martial arts movies. Spent way too much time with nunchakas as a teenager... In many ways he was the original or forerunner of MMA that is so popular today. Bruce Lee was disdainful of tradition and wanted martial arts to be based on effectiveness and efficiency, something of a similar debate to that in Buddhism today between Asian Buddhism and Western Buddhism.
Not really sure where I stand on either debate and not sure that it matters. I have often chafed under the limitations and restrictions of tradition and in general tend towards "pragmatism" but as I get older there is much more appreciation for tradition and style as the vehicle or container for preserving science or knowledge whether martial or spiritual. There is something comforting and rooting knowing that you stand as a very small point in a long continuum. Perhaps its not an "either or" question, a debate that doesn't need to be resolved. It is the discussion itself that is of use to all involved. Tradition exists in a context and is inherently dynamic, reinterpreted and reapplied with the passing of time. Often self proclaimed, most "conservative" movements have the most radical reinterpretation or analysis given how much society has changed since their historical referents.
"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few." - Suzuki Roshi
One of the many wonderful things about having children is watching them experience the world with “beginner’s minds” unencumbered by the burdens we adults carry.
Having a family was what finally and irrevocably brought my path to Buddhism. Seeing how directly the influence of who I am and what I do on my children was powerful motivation to do delve deeper, to start to come to grips with my own suffering and self-destructive ways of being in the world.
For me the driving question was as a father – what was the legacy I wanted to leave my children with? The answer was light, joy and happiness. But these are not things we can give to other people but rather must embrace ourselves before we can share them with others.
This means not striving for perfection or measuring oneself against a standard of what should be. For me it has meant willingly and lovingly making time for telling simple and silly stories, falling asleep while watching cartoons, turning on a light in a dark room, and assembling Legos. It means creating and sharing a world where stuffed animals, imaginary friends and dogs, live and talk, act out and reflect, giving us the opportunity to share our true selves with those we love!
Another wonderful manifestation of beginner's mind is how I appreciate my relationship with my partner. She seems wiser, more caring, loving and attentive. Sometimes she talks and I find myself thinking admiringly - wow that was a pearl of wisdom, where did that come from? Or she will say something and I'll think - that's Buddhism! Or I find myself with this sneaking suspicion she has secretly been listening to my Gil Fronsdal talks from Audio Dharma while I have been sleeping... How is it that she has changed while I am the one who gets up early every morning to meditate?! And is it really so? Or is it that I am more able to appreciate and see her true self? Or is it that somehow our paths are intertwined and mutually supporting? She is a natural Bodhisattva. Wisdom and learning does not always need to be named.
How strange and wonderful to find that while my partner and children haven't taken to meditation, that we are partners, fellow seekers on the path! That they are my teachers in ways big and small.
It is a tender almost heart bursting joy when they come in to kiss my cheek while I meditate. Or cover my legs with a blanket. It seems like this is what it means to be truly human.
May we always embrace our beginner's mind!
May we open our hearts and minds to find teachers and friends in unexpected places, forms and guises,
~ Albert Camus (quoted from A Path With Heart by Jack Kornfield)
“We all carry within us our places of exile, our crimes, our ravages. Our task is not to unleash them on the world; it is to transform them in ourselves.”
"If I were really asked to define myself, I wouldn't start with race; I wouldn't start with blackness; I wouldn't start with gender; I wouldn't start with feminism. I would start with stripping down to what fundamentally informs my life, which is that I'm a seeker on the path. I think of feminism, and I think of anti-racist struggles as part of it. But where I stand spiritually is, steadfastly, on a path about love"
