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Doing Good in the Face of Evil

One of the hardest parts of Buddhist practice is that I have to feel my emotions. I can't distract myself with booze or bad TV.

 I have to sit with what I'm experiencing and let every painful ounce of it wash over my soul.

That's what I'm doing now as I read news coverage about yet another school shooting. This one happened in Santa Clarita, California. The L.A. Times had this to say about the incident:

The violence broke out just after 7:30 a.m., when students at the school were scheduled to be in their first-period classes. Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said the department got a call at 7:38 a.m. Two minutes later, he said, sheriff’s deputies arrived at the school and found six students, including the suspected shooter, with gunshot wounds.

I don't like the emotions that this paragraph brings up. I don't like the sadness, I don't like the heaviness in my chest, the tension in my shoulders, or the way a co-worker described the shooting by saying, "Hey, there's been another one," like he was describing a sale at the local deli.

But it's happening whether I like it, or not. Mass murder is becoming commonplace whether I like it, or not. And now I have to cope with this reoccurring nightmare whether I like it, or not. 

In times like this, I think about Eihei Dogen. Dogen was the founder of the Soto Zen Buddhist tradition in Japan. And his early life was filled with tragedy. Both of his parents died when he was very young. He was taken in by his uncle, and eventually, he decided to climb Mt. Hiei, and become a monk in the Tendai Buddhist tradition. 

But his life didn't get any easier as a monk. Eventually, he left the Tendai school and traveled to China where he studied with Chan Buddhist masters. When he returned to Japan, he promoted the practice of Shikantaza of "just sitting" meditation.

But political infighting and tension between him and the Tendai school forced Dogen to leave the city of Kyoto, Japan and live in the mountains where he founded Eihei-ji monastery. I've read stories that say the fighting near the temple was so bad that sometimes a nearby river ran red with blood and human body parts. 

I wonder how Dogen managed to keep going in the midst of so much pain. His parents were dead. His friends had turned on him. And he was forced to live a hard life in the mountains where he had to see dead bodies floating down the river. I think a clue can be found in Brad Warner's book, Don't Be a Jerk, where Dogen states:

“Even if the whole universe is nothing but a bunch of jerks doing all kinds of jerk-type things, there is still liberation in simply not being a jerk.”

In other words, even if we live in a world surrounded by evil, we can still find salvation in doing good. That makes a lot of sense to me. It makes the pain go away.  Because I can't do anything to change our nation's gun laws.  And I can't get inside the head of a teenager to figure out what makes them want to kill people.  But I can do good.

I can take care of the people, animals, and plants around me.  I can tidy up my living room.  I can work to make my corner of the world as good as it can possibly be, and through those actions, I can find peace.  More importantly, I can make life better for others in the wake of this nightmare.

That's the proper response to tragedy.  Yes, it's a source of sorrow.  But it's also a wakeup call, a reminder that we must keep doing good.  And no act is too small or insignificant.  Smiling at a coworker, calling a sick friend, walking the dog one more time before bed; these are all sources of liberation.

And they represent the good that must be done in the face of evil.


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Doing Good in the Face of Evil

Comments

  1. I agree wholeheartedly with this

    I had a neighbor who was very kind to me he became my friend that day by taking me because my mom worked. We talked a little bit here and there.

    I had no friends in elementary school.
    I got jumped in bathroom by "so called friends"
    After that moment trusting others was a mistake.
    Except my neighbor

    One day I was coming home I passed by his floor
    I felt something hit me he was going to die but I didn't tell him

    Weeks later he was shot robbed for two dollars
    Was hooked up to on life support but never got better.
    I hated the world then I was angry and depressed
    Etc.
    I wanted blood at age 11,18
    But now that I am older I came to the realization that I can't bring back my friend
    Violence sovles nothing only brings destruction
    ☸️

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