Beloved Community,
As 2020 rolls to a close, we remain mired in multiple crises—a surging pandemic, climate change, and the ongoing impact of hundreds of years of brutal systemic racism and injustice. These are deep, profound issues that will take every ounce of our human creativity and ingenuity to address. Yet the extraordinary turnout of voters in the recent election has revealed the rift at the heart of America—80 million blue votes, and almost 74 million red ones.
Disagreement can be the grist for rich, lively dialogue and debate and the ground for opening to new perspectives. But not this time. Instead we have two sides staring, shouting, accusing and texting at one another across a seemingly impossible rift.
So how can we heal the divide?
Buddhist psychology describes that our discursive, binary mind continuously churns out distinctions: me and you, here and there, good and bad, us and them. This process is built into the structure of our untended, moment-to-moment consciousness. Fortunately, it is not the whole story.
When we engage in mindful awareness, we begin to catch on to the habits and energies of the untended mind. We learn to become aware of what we think, feel and sense—without automatically believing it. We don’t need to reject or deny our thoughts, feelings or opinions. We just need to understand them for what they are—fleeting, sometimes useful, sometimes not.
As our mindfulness deepens, we also begin to see and see through the content of what we are aware of toward the vast, open spaciousness of awareness itself. And as we widen into this perspective, we come to understand that we are part of living web of connection; that what we see, where we look, and what we value are shaped by the time, place and culture we are part of—our personal and collective history, family, race, ethnicity, class and gender. As the great Indian spiritual teacher Krishnamurti put it: “You think you are thinking your thoughts. You are not. You are thinking the culture’s thoughts.”
So in the midst of a deeply divided culture, what are we to do?
Perhaps the most important first step is to acknowledge our limits and partiality; to cop to the bias built into our knowing; to recognize that no matter how much we understand, there is always more to be understood. Then instead of judging and accusing, we can infuse our awareness with curiosity, interest, and humility, and take up the ever-unfolding project of learning and being stretched.
In this spirit, here are a few resources that have inspired me recently:
• Over the past weeks, I have been watching the fabulous PBS documentary on the history of Jazz.
In addition to providing an evening dose of stunningly beautiful music, it also provides a unique perspective on American history told through the lives of American musicians.
• If you haven’t yet, please read “Caste,” by Isabelle Wilkerson (the Pulitzer Prize winning author of “The Warmth of Other Suns.”) With her detailed research, powerful story-telling, and beautiful prose, Wilkerson lays out the history of the American caste system with clarity and precision. Searing, eye-opening and hopeful.
