Hello Matt,
We've never met personally, but I've followed your career for some time. I stumbled on your blog a few years ago when you were still going it alone.
Now you're writing for the Daily Wire, rubbing elbows with the likes of Ben Shapiro. Congratulations on your success.
I grew up in a fundamentalist Christian church, and I recognize a lot of my upbringing in your writing. Sometimes, I wonder if I'm drawn to your blog because part of me misses the "fire and brimstone" of my youth.
I rarely agree with your opinions.
However, I appreciate when people can articulate their points without resorting to mouth-foaming outrage, and you're very good at that. So I keep reading your stuff.
That being said, one of your articles gave me pause, and I'd like to share my thoughts with you. It was entitled, There Can Be No Unity in America, and the basic gist was that America can never be a united nation because the people are too different.
To be sure, America faces some unique challenges. We're a country filled with people of various races, religions, and political ideologies, and when we hold on too tightly to these differences, the results are terrible. But there's still hope.
From the Buddhist perspective, humans are caught in the illusion of a separate self, which results in us mistreating each other. Meditation is an effective way of breaking through this illusion. As we sit in silence, we're able to let go of divisive thought patterns and see the interconnectedness of all living beings.
To be clear, that doesn't mean that our individual identities don't exist. You're a Christian, and I'm a Buddhist. These things are objectively true, and society couldn't function if we didn't recognize they exist.
However, the teaching is meant to show us that there are connections between people that run much deeper than religion and politics.
I'd compare it to being part of a very large family. I don't know if you have any siblings, but I do. And we've said some awful things to each other over the years. But even in the midst of our most vicious arguments, the thing that kept us together was the understanding that we're family before anything else.
No matter what my brother says to me today, I have a duty to protect him tomorrow. And no matter what my sister did to me when we were kids, I'm still responsible for her well-being today. Similarly, you and I are worlds apart in many ways. We differ in terms of race, religion, politics, etc.
No matter what happens, you're my brother, and I have a responsibility to care for you just like I care for my own hands. As long as this connection exists, unity exists. We just need to train ourselves to see it.
So, I must respectfully disagree with your suggestion that America will never be a united country. To be sure, we'll never be a country where everyone thinks, looks, and prays in the same way. But I would argue that these things aren't necessary for unity.
Rather, for America to become unified in the conventional sense of the word, we need to realize that we're already unified in much deeper sense.
I'm confident that this will happen one day; when we tap into that beautiful part of ourselves where the illusion of separateness disappears, and we remember that we're family.
Gassho,
Alex Kakuyo, Sensei
Upcoming Events:
Annual Day of Meditation: Meditation groups from all over the country will meditate at the same time and live stream the practice on Facebook! I'll be partnering with my friends at The Tattooed Buddha to lead the Cleveland, OH meditation, which will take place 6/30 in Willard Park/ Free Stamp Plaza at 4:30pm. You can RSVP to the Cleveland meditation by clicking here.
The Official Animal Rights March | Columbus, OH: The march started in 2016 in London with 2,500 participants. And it grew to 5,000 participants by 2017. This year, I will participate in the Columbus, OH portion of the march, and deliver a Dharma talk afterwards. You can RSVP for the event by clicking here.
From the Buddhist perspective, humans are caught in the illusion of a separate self, which results in us mistreating each other. Meditation is an effective way of breaking through this illusion. As we sit in silence, we're able to let go of divisive thought patterns and see the interconnectedness of all living beings.
Once the illusion of separateness is broken, we naturally care for each other in the same way that we care for our own hands.
To be clear, that doesn't mean that our individual identities don't exist. You're a Christian, and I'm a Buddhist. These things are objectively true, and society couldn't function if we didn't recognize they exist.
However, the teaching is meant to show us that there are connections between people that run much deeper than religion and politics.
I'd compare it to being part of a very large family. I don't know if you have any siblings, but I do. And we've said some awful things to each other over the years. But even in the midst of our most vicious arguments, the thing that kept us together was the understanding that we're family before anything else.
No matter what my brother says to me today, I have a duty to protect him tomorrow. And no matter what my sister did to me when we were kids, I'm still responsible for her well-being today. Similarly, you and I are worlds apart in many ways. We differ in terms of race, religion, politics, etc.
But Buddhism teaches that there's a connection between us that runs deeper than our differences.
No matter what happens, you're my brother, and I have a responsibility to care for you just like I care for my own hands. As long as this connection exists, unity exists. We just need to train ourselves to see it.
So, I must respectfully disagree with your suggestion that America will never be a united country. To be sure, we'll never be a country where everyone thinks, looks, and prays in the same way. But I would argue that these things aren't necessary for unity.
Rather, for America to become unified in the conventional sense of the word, we need to realize that we're already unified in much deeper sense.
I'm confident that this will happen one day; when we tap into that beautiful part of ourselves where the illusion of separateness disappears, and we remember that we're family.
Gassho,
Alex Kakuyo, Sensei
Upcoming Events:
Annual Day of Meditation: Meditation groups from all over the country will meditate at the same time and live stream the practice on Facebook! I'll be partnering with my friends at The Tattooed Buddha to lead the Cleveland, OH meditation, which will take place 6/30 in Willard Park/ Free Stamp Plaza at 4:30pm. You can RSVP to the Cleveland meditation by clicking here.
The Official Animal Rights March | Columbus, OH: The march started in 2016 in London with 2,500 participants. And it grew to 5,000 participants by 2017. This year, I will participate in the Columbus, OH portion of the march, and deliver a Dharma talk afterwards. You can RSVP for the event by clicking here.
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