 A Different World
by Burleigh Custis
Since the events of September 11th many of us have heard the commentary presented by the news media that has labeled these events as defining ones in the history of the United States, ones which have changed the course of our history. We have even been told that it is now a different world since the September 11th tragedy, that the event has radically redefined our lives, our outlook on the world, and our place in it.
Like many who beheld these events, I also reacted with shock, dismay, and grief. I, too, had much concern for loved ones who live and work in those areas as to their safety and well-being during that time. Even after being assured of my own loved ones’ safety, my concern remained for the thousands of others who had suffered loss of life or of a loved one. There can be no doubt that the events were tragic, and that the causes that gave rise to the events are a grave cause for concern.
When any event of this sort occurs, there is a natural tendency in us to ask immediately why such a thing could happen. What was the means by which this occurred? What was the cause of this event? We have all heard now the specifics of the causes behind this event, about the terrorists and their fundamentalist agenda, about the Taliban and its role in supporting terrorism, about the world-wide network of terrorists and their plots to subvert western interests, and so on and so forth. But is this the real cause on this tragedy? Is this all there is to say?
When one considers this event from the perspective of the Dhamma, a radically different light is shed on the whole affair. According to the Buddha’s teachings, all unwholesome actions are based upon three mental defilements: lobha, dosa, & moha -- greed, hatred, and delusion. As an act of mass murder, the September 11th event is a clear example of an unwholesome act, which was primarily motivated by dosa, or hatred. The Dhamma also explains that the defilements do not differ in their substance from one being to another—in other words, the dosa which motivated this event is the same dosa that motivates all acts of violence in all beings. The dosa in the minds of the terrorists who undertook this horrible act is none other that the same dosa that can be found in our own minds.
When do we see this dosa in our own minds? When he look upon another being with hatred, with fear, with suspicion, when we recoil in aversion from anything that causes us displeasure, then we see that same dosa at work in ourselves. It is not a different dosa that was at work in the minds of those who committed these acts. It was the same dosa, the same hatred and aversion. The same dosa now motivates others to lash out in hatred against them, to fear them and their kind.
To react to these events with aversion, fear, and even with desire for retaliation is a natural response for all human beings. The Dhamma instructs us, however, that it is precisely this reaction that keeps us bound to the very misery from which we seek freedom.
"He abused me, he struck me, he overpowered me, he robbed me." Those who harbor such thoughts do not still their hatred.
"He abused me, he struck me, he overpowered me, he robbed me." Those who do not harbor such thoughts still their hatred.
Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world. By non-hatred alone is hatred appeased. This is an eternal law.
Dhmp 3-5
What is this ‘non-hatred’ that the Dhammapada refers to here? What is the opposite of, the antidote to dosa? What is adosa? It is none other than metta, or lovingkindness.
The Lord Buddha was certainly not so naive as to suggest that you can easily develop lovingkindness towards someone who has violently abused you. He was in fact keenly aware of the workings and natural tendencies of the human mind. Indeed, such development requires tremendous, sustained effort. The Buddha’s teaching are filled with numerous exhortations to strive diligently towards the working out of our own liberation, to put into practice the path that the Buddha showed to us. In fact, such were his final words to his disciples.
It is never an easy path. It runs against the current of all of Samsara, which seeks to keep us moving in our accustomed ways. We are driven forward by great forces that ultimately do nothing more than keep us embroiled in the same cycle of birth, old age and death. The same world we have known for birth after birth after birth. The same world from which the Buddha found liberation. The same world before or after September 11th.
We do not inhabit a different world than we did two months ago, no matter how shocking, incredible, or fearful the unfolding of that day. We can, however, create a different world for ourselves by striving to put into practice the Buddha’s teaching in order to attain to the same goal that he himself attained—the purely peaceful, deathless state, Nibbana.
Burleigh Custis
Austin, Texas |
