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cityView: rich wiebe
When the opportunity to write this piece arrived in my inbox I jumped at the chance; easy enough, I thought. Then I realized it would, indeed, bring me a difficult task: editing the terribly confounding mass; expressing the seemingly inexpressible in 500 words or less. Forgive me if I go astray of your connotations of faith, or religion.
As spiritual seekers we seem to come to a point in our lives where we ask of the expanse before us: “why?” In my mind a religion provides a framework for finding an answer to this question and prescribe a method one can employ to bring meaning to their life. Zen buddhism provides the framework I can comprehend and put into use with every action I take and decision I have to make.
I think that Buddha or Jesus probably walked this earth. I think that I am just a person. I do not know what exists beyond my perception, it very well may be God as expressed in Christianity. But, I do know what my existence thus far has shown me. What I make of the understanding I infer from my past experience is up to me.
If I take a moment, while not caught up in my mind’s negative perceptions, to understand the mind’s object I know it is beneficial to address it with love and compassion. The object of mind can also be seen with fear and loathing. How do I choose to see? It seems apparent, from experience with this world, that resentment and anger do not have much positive benefit. While fear may bring about an occasional burst of necessary adrenaline to help remove me from a dangerous situation, there are no wolves or bears at my door. The existence, then, of fear is a matter of perception. I find it quite possible, if not guaranteed, that we all have the same emotions brought about by our perceptions.
What, then, could it be that brings about the capacity to have sympathetic responses to the sufferings or joys of others? Looking into the eyes of the people I speak with I can see that they are human. Knowing they have the same capacity for love and fear I can have compassion for their situation. When our similar nature is viewed on a grander scale, it seem possible that we are of the same mind. This capacity to empathize is what I see as the spiritual component of our existence.
Having a deeply abiding love and compassion for others, their creations, and the manifestations of our world seem to me to be the very good way to travel through this life. Sadness and fear may come and go, but with compassion they can be overcome.
May your travels in this life be safe and happy.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by eikonChurch, ryanByrd. ryanByrd said: great #cityView post today on the @eikonchurch blog by rich wiebe from the LR ecumenical buddhist society. http://bit.ly/cPJgZ2 [...]
Interesting, though I’m not sure exactly what the intended take-away was.
I would however, pose this question. What would drive me to exhibit and exercise compassion, if that same compassion is causing me to overcome sadness and fear?
Without sadness and fear, I cannot have true compassion. If I do not share or feel the sadness/pain/suffering of another, then by definition I cannot experience compassion.
Without frownes, smiles would be worthless. Or am I just crazy? :)
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The only other thing that I might add is that if we never have those “wolves or bears” at our doors, we are likely nowhere near the people who need to experience our love and compassion.
I don’t mean these as hackneyed arguement. Just thoughts and questions. Please share thoughts…
I do not see it that compassion causes fear or sadness. Our inability to accept the loss of people and things we cherish is what causes fear and sadness. People get sick, grow old, and die. Our possessions do not last forever and can be stolen or lost. Facts need become root to emotional upheaval of a non-beneficial sort. Having a compassionate heart has been described as a combination of wisdom and love. With wisdom we can see the facts and truth of the situation, and with love we have an emotional core that compels us to act beneficially.
Sure, difficult times help us appreciate the fun times more; but those sad times are just days with challenging circumstances, and not really bad or good.
While true that “wolves” may be at our door, we do not need to inordinately fear them. We can draw upon our vast knowledge base to figure out what to do in that situation. With experience meeting the challenging situations we can become more balanced in our assessment and reaction to these events. So, YES, “wolves or bears” at our doors do help us to become better people.
Wonderful of EIKON to do “CityView”. Great dialogue. I am a practiced Buddhist and baptized Christian so I wanted to comment on the question of Compassion raised by Aaron in response to Rich’s post:
The Buddha taught (As did the Christ, Jesus) that we are not as separate as we might at first think. Jesus said it like “… ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” Mk. 12:31 The Buddha taught the same thing, but emphasizes that we’re not separate at all, which is why it’s best if we love our neighbors as ourselves. So Buddhist compassion and Christian love are the same, not different. The explanations are different. Remember we have very little of Jesus’ teaching, four short little books on a three year ministry. The Buddha taught more than 40 years, leaving many detailed explanations about the how and why of “we’re not separate, so we’d best treat each other the way we want to be treated” or words to that effect. Paul says this in Romans 5:18 “one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all…” Not separate “…so by one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous” 5:19 Not separate.
Harder to see in Christian teaching, ’cause sometimes it can be so bloody cryptic, but none the less there: the idea that since our state is non-separate, our function is compassion.
Enough for now. Peace and thanks for being here and reading.
trey
oops i had a typo in my response of 5:21 pm
paragraph 1, sentence 5 should read: “Facts need not become root to emotional upheaval…”
Having later re-read Aaron’s question i got another impression from it which i did not necessarily address, and may have sent askance with my response. So I expand thusly:
It should not be implied that one could be or should strive to be emotionless - that does not seem possible as a human. Rather, one can more fully understand their situation, define their situation, not be sucked in by uncontrolled emotional upheaval, and then make more rational and humane decisions about their situation.
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“Because self and others can only be understood in terms of relationship, we see that self-interest and others’ interest are closely interrelated and there is no self-interest completely unrelated to others’ interests. Due to the fundamental interconnectedness which lies at the heart of reality, your interest is also my interest: in a deep sense, “my” interest and “your” interest basically converge.” Wanted to share this quote by His Holiness the Dalai Lama that was posted on Facebook today. thanks for reading peace trey