Dear Common Ground Friends,
In our world animated by so much greed and hate, history teaches us that power often does what power can get away with doing, regardless of the harm caused. Now we see the tremendous suffering that follows from those with power harming our immigrant neighbors here in our local community and around the country. I don’t know what the United States immigration policy should be, but I do have unwavering confidence that hate begets hate. It does not set anything good in motion. It doesn’t resolve anyone’s suffering in any way. The Buddha called this an eternal truth. How we choose to respond to this situation or the many others that might be asking for our attention can be grounded in what we know to be true from our own experience – hate is not the way forward. We can aspire to recognize and skillfully respond to the misuse of power being acted out in any situation, whether we are the perpetrator or the victim. Our dharma practice doesn’t tell us what to do, but it does provide guidance as we feel our way forward. The Buddha advises us to discern how motivations of greed and ill-will are a cause for our own suffering and the suffering of others. And, motivations of generosity, renunciation, kindness, and compassion support our well-being and the well-being of others. Bev Berntson, a long time practitioner and leader in the Duluth meditation community, recently sent me this reflection on how her practice is supporting her in these challenging times.
I Am Alive, Now… In These Times
Not the past times of
Imagined security,
That ship has sailed,
But, These Times.
I Am Alive….Now,
Not in the future
which hasn’t even arrived,
Those times are Fantasy,
Not Reality, but
In These Times.
I Am Alive Now, In These Times.
May our confidence in how to set good in motion and how to refrain from causing more harm guide our way and be a cause for the deepest healing and freedom all around, no one left out.
Mark Nunberg
Co-Guiding Teacher