Showing posts with label Mushim Patricia Ikeda. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mushim Patricia Ikeda. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 10, 2020

to lessen hostility and extreme reactivity

 
 
 

 

Today, November 6, 2020, the United States, my home, 
is a nation divided against itself, with all sides striving to win.
 This is the karma of white supremacy and colonization
 manifesting in the midst of a global pandemic and climate crisis.
 I live in California, a state that is, literally, on fire.

The Buddha said this:

Winning gives birth to hostility.
Losing, one lies down in pain.
The calmed lie down with ease,
having set
winning & losing
aside.

“Winning gives birth to hostility.”
 Another translator more colloquially put it this way:
 “The winner sows hatred because the loser suffers.”

I believe in strategic political action and liberatory movement-building. 
I have cast my vote. And these are my Bodhisattva vows as I move with you
 into the coming months and years:
 What actions can I take to lessen hostility and extreme reactivity,
 and to encourage civil discourse and respectful democratic process?

May we all complete the great journe
y of awakening together.
 
 
~  Mushim Patricia Ikeda, 
East Bay Meditation Center